As it has already been noted, racism in the United States has always been and remains one of the most pressing issues. This conclusion is confirmed by a recent Gallup survey in the US. However, this time respondents were asked to asses the state of race relations at the end of Obama’s second term.
As follows from the results of the survey, Americans are far less positive today about what Barack Obama’s presidency means for the advancement of blacks in the US than they were shortly after his historic election. Regardless of how Americans feel about Obama and his policies, they believe black-white relations are much worse now than earlier in his presidency. But it is clear that the optimism Americans initially had for a black president’s ability to improve race relations and the situation for blacks has long since faded. There’s a growing number of those who are convinced that the first black president hasn’t just failed the expectations people in the US had, but aggravated the problem further.
Americans are the most armed in the world, for every 100 inhabitants there is an average of 89 weapons. Therefore, numerous armed groups across the country have been declaring their readiness to defend their communities against any sort of discrimination.
Moreover, a recent Washington Post analysis showed that the number of fatal shootings by police officers increased from 465 in the first six months of last year to 491 for the same period this year. Other research suggests that a young African-American has three times the chance of becoming the victim of police violence than the average white youth.
It is, therefore, not surprising that those who have lost her faith in the president and nation’s authorities have been witnessing an increasing number of racial discrimination cases with the burning anger rising within them. There’s an ever increasing number of violent groups, who are prepared to defend the black population of the US with arms.
The New Black Panther Party (NBPP), the War on the Horizon, the Black Foot Soldier Network… many of such groups can be found on the Internet. Their exact number and their capabilities are difficult to assess, since behind each of these names lies a long story of struggle against racism. According to the Liberation, experts on extremist groups suggest the existence of at least 180 “black separatist” organizations across the US. This number indicates the existence of a number of local offices in every state, says the publication.
The New Black Panther Party was founded in Dallas in 1989 and calls itself the successor of the Black Panthers, an African-American revolutionary movement of 60s-70s, although the founders of the Black Panthers strongly disagree with this notion, calling the NBPP a racist group that abuses the name and symbols of the original movement. The activists of NBPP aggressively oppose the white population and the police, demanding new laws to be drafted exclusively for the black population.
In recent years, we’ve witnessed the rapid growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is perhaps the biggest political movement in the US since the mid 60s. Although this movement supports black transsexuals, lesbians, beggars and illegal migrants, it is increasingly being accused of inciting violence against the police and the white population. After the murder of eight police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Washington received numerous demands to put the Black Lives Matter movement on the list of radical racial groups and even recognize it as a “terrorist organization.”
As noted by various analysts, the two terms of the first black president in the US history resulted in the considerable deterioration of security across the country. America has virtually been plunged into a veritable race war. This term was used by various analysts who were commenting on the recent events in Dallas, where several white police officers were killed. This was retaliation for the police violence that the black population has suffered extensively.
No Western state has witnesses such mayhem amid racial violence, mistrust, accusations and massive demonstrations in quite some time. However, it is not just a matter of violence, but the fact that African Americans are much poorer than the white population of the US which aggravates the situation. That’s why we’re witnessing the rise of crime, drugs, and all sorts of violence …
The situation in the US today is stain on the reputation of the Obama administration and the ruling elites. It’s clear that the Democratic Party is not interested in fighting racism, instead it prefers to use the existing racial unrest in its political games and it will continue to do so if Hillary Clinton becomes president in the upcoming presidential election.
Under these circumstances, it’s safe to say that Washington is bound to take urgent steps on a national level to eliminate the existing mutual racial distrust and address these pressing social problems.
Martin Berger is a freelance journalist and geopolitical analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
