United States has never shone a light on liberty

AMERICA was never a beacon of freedom. America did some great things and achieved a position of great power.

America had a thrilling story to tell and has controlled the narrative expertly through its early development of much of the modern media. America fought racism and fascism during WWII while practising racism at home in its treatment of the black community.

America sent black soldiers to Vietnam, as part of its 20-year campaign to kill millions of Vietnamese, while still treating them as second-class citizens.

America used police and military to kill protesters during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Despite the declaration of independence, the concept of equality is not part of American DNA. Apart from the post-WWII period until the 1980s, America never strived for social and economic equality.

It is now one of the most unequal countries in the Western world with some of the worst social outcomes.

In my opinion, America is now a grotesque Disneyland of individualistic hyper-capitalism, that has appointed Goofy as its leader.

In Northern Ireland, we have seen what discrimination and undermining of civil rights can do to a society.

The treatment of the black community in America has been more egregious and longer-lasting than that suffered by Catholics in the North, so the question is not why black people are now engaging in widespread protest, but how it took so long.

Rob Carey

Tralee, Co Kerry