It's not safe anywhere, for African Americans, white | adult | American
In recent days, the shooting of African American pregnant women by Ohio state police during law enforcement has continued to escalate.
On the 24th of last month, in Brendon, Ohio, 21-year-old Takia Young was stopped by two police officers on suspicion of theft when she left a supermarket and returned to her car, and was ordered to get off the car.
Takiya denied stealing and attempted to drive away, but was shot dead by the police through the car window. Her unborn child also did not survive.
After the local police recently released a law enforcement video, Takiya's family accused the involved police of "serious abuse of force and power," emphasizing that Takiya's death "could have been avoided.".
Screenshot of CBS report
Why do they live in anxiety?
At present, the investigation into this incident is still ongoing. However, incidents of police violence that could have been avoided are far more than just this one.
According to the "Police Violence Map" website in the United States, as of the last data update on August 15th, 725 people have died at the hands of police officers in the United States this year.
Among them, African Americans, who account for only 13% of the total population in the United States, account for 26% of all victims.
Screenshot of the "Police Violence Map" website
For African Americans, the tradition of violent law enforcement by American police, which originated from slavery, is not the most terrifying, but rather the ubiquitous "white terror".
On August 26th, two days after Takiya was shot dead by the police, a white man shot and killed three African American residents in a store in Jacksonville, northern Florida, before committing suicide.
According to the police's characterization, this is a racially motivated crime.
Screenshot of a report by the Public Television Network in the United States
It is widely believed that the increasingly distorted racial history in American society has led to this massacre.
As one of the contents of a series of education reforms promoted by Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate DeSantis, the Florida Board of Education just approved a new set of standards in July this year on how public schools in the state teach African American history, deliberately downplaying the harm of white supremacy, which has sparked widespread questioning and strong criticism.
ABC website: Jacksonville Congressman Angie Nixon emphasized that racial violence in the United States has been perpetuated by rhetoric and policies aimed at attacking African Americans, "we cannot sit idly by and let our history be erased, let our lives be devalued.".
Although President Biden once again condemned white supremacy after the shooting incident, the fact is that white supremacy has become increasingly prevalent in the United States in recent years.
The Anti Defamation Alliance in the United States recorded over 6700 white supremacist propaganda and on-site activities throughout last year, setting a new historical record.
Data shows that 84% of the 25 large-scale killings involving racial extremism in the United States last year were related to white supremacists.
Screenshot of NBC website report
The police brutality and hate crimes filled with racial prejudice have left African Americans with no sense of security.
According to a report by The Guardian, citing racial trauma expert Kenneth Hardy, the threat of attack and discrimination against African Americans extends almost to every public space, especially in the context of increasingly rampant hate crimes in the United States, where they can only live in sustained anxiety and fear.
Jessica Lopresti, a psychology professor at Suffolk University in the United States, further pointed out that the violent behavior of American police against African Americans has also exacerbated safety anxiety. Many African Americans believe that seeking help from law enforcement agencies may expose them to more violence.
Screenshot of a report by The Guardian in the UK
"It is impossible to achieve racial equality in the United States"
On August 28th, shortly after, it was the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the American civil rights movement, delivering his famous speech "I Have a Dream".
However, 60 years have passed, and Kim's dream of racial justice and equal rights remains an endless dream to this day.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King delivered a speech titled "I Have a Dream" to thousands of people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In addition to police violence and hate crimes, African Americans also continue to suffer from systemic racism discrimination and harm in areas such as income, education, housing, and healthcare.
The latest series of poll results released by the Pew Research Center show that the majority of respondents believe that the United States is still not doing enough to ensure equality for all without distinction of race.
Among them, the proportion of African Americans who hold this view is as high as 83%, far higher than the 44% of white people.
Pew Research Center official website chart
58% of adult white respondents believe that racial equality in the United States has made significant or considerable progress in the past 60 years; Only 30% of adult African Americans hold the same view.
By contrast, about one-third of African Americans believe that the United States has not made much or no progress in racial equality in the past 60 years; Only 11% of white people hold the same view.
Pew Research Center official website chart
The vast majority of people believe that significant reforms are needed in each of the six major areas of the American system, including the prison system, policing, political system, healthcare system, courts and judicial procedures, and economic system, which involve racial justice.
Pew Research Center official website chart
Looking ahead, there are far more Americans who hold a pessimistic attitude towards the country's ability to ensure equality for all races than those who hold an optimistic attitude.
Most people believe that achieving racial equality in the United States during their lifetime is impossible.
Screenshot of the official website of the Pew Research Center
Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr. and the chairman of the American Dream Center at the First Policy Research Institute in the United States, recently wrote a commemorative article lamenting that her uncle's vision of "equality for all" is increasingly being attacked after 60 years, especially by politicians who pretend to speak out for ethnic minorities.
"These political figures did not advocate for the values of freedom, justice, and equality; instead, they attempted to do everything possible to divide people, causing white and African Americans to oppose each other... This is the hatred and division that we see on television and social media every day."
Screenshot of Fox News report
Source: Global Information Radio's "Global Deep Observation"
Planning | Wang Jian
Reporter | Liu Peng
Editor | Lin Wei
Signature and Review | Wang Jian
Producer | Guan Juanjuan
