V
V.Balasubramani
Guest
The scourge of racism
The gunattack that killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, isa violent reminder that racism courses through America’s veins even 50 yearsafter an unarmed civil rights activist was killed by an Alabama state trooper,an incident that led to the historic Selma to Montgomery marches. The targetthis time was a storied African-American church and the victims included astate senator. Thearrested suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, 21, apparently wanted to ignite a“civil war”. The incident should be seen in the backdropof a risingtrend of crimes in the U.S. against African-Americans, involving both personsin authority and members of the public. Charleston’s victims are simply thelatest in a long list from recent years. They include WalterScott, who was shot from behind by a police officer on April 4 in NorthCharleston; MichaelBrown, shot by the police in Ferguson in August last year; Eric Garner, whodied in New York in July 2014 after the police got him in a chokehold, and TrayvonMartin, shot in Florida by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in 2012. Theelection of Barack Obama as the first black President of the country in 2008had raised hopes about the dawn of a post-racial era. But African-Americans arestill being frequently targeted.
Read more at: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-scourge-of-racism/article7333975.ece
