US and its remnants of racism.

The recent announcement by the grand jury not to indict Ferguson policeman Darren Wilson sparked street protests in Ferguson, with other states also witnessing similar protests but on a much smaller scale. Even then, the protests mean something. Many US citizens feel a strong sense of injustice that the police officer who fatally shot 18 year old Michael Brown, a black wasn't brought to justice. They felt that the fact that the victim was black played a pivotal role in the turnout of events at the point in time. After all, Michael Brown was unarmed at that time.

The fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager was already an issue. But the bigger issue at hand is the fact that he was black. For many, the decision not to indict Darren Wilson is an unwelcoming sign that America is after all, still a very much polarized nation. Ferguson is inhabited by a predominantly black population, however, the more powerful jobs are occupied by the whites - most of the police are whites. This which already presents an undesirable barricade for peaceful coexistence.

"We have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the past several decades. I've witnessed that in my own life. And to deny that progress I think is to deny America's capacity for change" Obama sums up his views in his response to the Ferguson Crisis.

Indeed, America was once notorious for its racial tensions but over the years, progress has been made to ameliorate the predicament. Today, the blacks and whites can live comfortably together. There has been no doubt, positive change in relations between both parties. Yet today at this time and place, we see sporadic protests once again sprouting around the United States due to the perceived racism element hidden behind the death of Michael Brown. The protests, for good or for worse, does prove to a certain extent that the US people are eager to achieve peace in a nation where both the blacks and whites live together. The fact that the protests occurred not just in Ferguson attests to the verity that many people hold similar thoughts with regard to the crisis at hand.

Is there still remnants of racism in the US? After all, this calamitous outbreak was caused by one man's decision to fire that shot who in fact claimed that he would have done the same if he faced a white instead of a black.

If the victim was a white, do you think there would be mass protests like today? Hard to say. If your answer was no. Then I think that racism is still perceived to be an existential problem in the eyes of many in the United States. And paradoxically, it wouldn't be the racism that culminated in the Ferguson crisis, but rather, how the Ferguson crisis has in fact exposed the fact that racism is still a perceived problem significant enough to haunt many in the United States.

Don't you think?

~My Opinion