George Floyd's death reopens deepest wound of American racism: Expert

By Wang Yiming
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, June 5, 2020
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Police officers monitor a protest over the death of George Floyd in New York, the United States, June 2, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

"The death of George Floyd has reopened the deepest wound of American racism," Zhang Yonghe, standing director of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, said in an interview with China.org.cn.

"I don't see any willingness in Trump administration's actions to heal it," Zhang added.

Over the past week, protests over the death of African-American George Floyd have escalated across the U.S.

On Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to send in the military to quell growing civil unrest in the U.S. if cities and states failed to control the protests. His response drew criticism and fanned the flames.

"The death of George Floyd is another racial bias incident," Zhang said. He also mentioned Michael Brown's case, an unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a white police officer in 2014. "Only this time, it happened to George Floyd."

Zhang regarded the American civil rights movement in the 1960s as a compromise and believed that the Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln's freeing of slaves didn't stamp out racial injustice.

"Trump administration's terrible reactions and attitudes toward demonstrators came down to racial arrogance. If racial arrogance is not eliminated, similar incidents will reoccur."

Zhang said, "Given its systemic human rights problems and Trump administration's series of actions, the U.S. should stop priding itself as a beacon of democracy and liberty."

"Withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, refusing to ratify international human rights treaties, and threatening to terminate its relationship with the WHO amid the COVID-19 outbreak are actions of deglobalization. These actions were made in the sole interest of the U.S.," Zhang added. "The 'America First' policy itself is against human rights spirits."

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