Trump’s Flack Says She Doesn’t “Resemble” Terrorists: Except this One

By William K. Black
January 30, 2017     Bloomington, MN

Maybe it is because I am part Irish, or because I am flying to Dublin this week to present at the Trinity Economic Forum, but Kellyanne Conway’s claim that though she does not “resemble” any “terrorist,” she has to go through security checks at airports, stunned me.  Given her name and looks, that struck me as a bizarre statement.  Surely, she must “resemble” some of the IRA terrorists.  It took me four minutes of research to find an Irish terrorist that she resembles.

This is a photo of Conway.

Conway

Now, we all know what she means when she says that she does not “resemble” a terrorist – she does not look like her origins were the Middle East.  She looks like her family origins were in Northern Europe.  (Yes, I know, we all share African origins.)  Her family name was “Fitzpatrick” prior to her marriage.  Her dad was Irish and her mom Italian.  She went to Catholic schools.

It is no surprise, therefore, that she closely resembles terrorists.  Conway (nee Fitzpatrick), meet the famous Irish terrorist Dolours Price who grew up attending Catholic schools in Belfast – and helped blow up Old Bailey.

Left: The wreckage after the Old Bailey bombing in March 1973. Right: Dolours Price in her Dublin home in 2010

Give Conway and Price matching hair lengths and photos at the same age and you have a close resemblance.

In addition to the Old Bailey bombing that injured hundreds and sparked a lethal heart attack, Price aided in the murder of Jean McConville.  She was the mother of 10 children.  The IRA believed was an informer.  Price was a real, lethal terrorist.  She was also viewed as famous and a hero by a disturbing number of people in Northern Ireland.

Criminologists’ warning that “looks can be deceiving” remains excellent advice when it comes to terrorists.  What Conway and Trump really mean when they refer to terrorists, of course, is “Muslim.”  Muslims “resemble” everyone, because there are tens of millions of Muslims of every race.  I know this because in addition to being part Irish, I grew up in Dearborn, Michigan.  Dearborn has a large, diverse, and vibrant community of Americans whose family origins were in the Middle East.  Many of them are Muslims and many of them are Christians.  These Arab-Americans are so diverse in appearance that, collectively, they “resemble” everyone.