Demonstrations over the police killing of African-American George Floyd continue to spread across the United States.

Shen Dingli, professor from the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, said that deep-rooted racial inequality was the profound cause of the rapidly escalating situation.

In an interview with China.org.cn, Shen said despite some landmark progress toward racial equality in the U.S., minority groups still suffer from de facto unequal treatment in every aspect of their lives.

He said African Americans have the poorest access to education, employment, health services, political participation, and thus little opportunity to improve their livelihood and social influence.

In the book "Ethnic America: A History," U.S. scholar Thomas Sowell writes: "Color has obviously played a major role in determining the fate of many Americans."

Shen said the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hobbled the American economy, is making African Americans' lives worse and further widened the wealth gap in the country.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the country lost 20.5 million jobs in April, with much of the economy shutdown to prevent the spread of virus. The unemployment rate soared to 14.7%, its highest level since the BLS started recording the monthly rate in 1948.

Kevin Hassett, a senior White House economic adviser, predicted the U.S. could see steep unemployment rates in May and June amid the health crisis.

African Americans have borne the brunt of the impact as many of them work in the service sector which has been heavily hit by the pandemic, Shen said.

George Floyd, 46, died on May 25. A video showed him groaning and repeatedly saying "I can't breathe" as a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Shen said the footage, which went viral online, aroused the outrage of other minority group members, as they had experienced police brutality themselves.

He said the widespread protests may prompt the U.S. government to take fundamental and concrete measures to increase the socio-economic status of minority groups, especially African Americans.

However, Shen also expressed concern about violent protests, which run counter to the strategy of "nonviolent resistance" advocated by Martin Luther King Jr.

"No righteous ends can justify the use of violence. We should criticize practices of racial discrimination in the U.S., but at the same time we must not applaud any form of violence," he said.

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