Bush irked by US racism

Washington – Former president George W Bush called on the US to take a hard look at its “tragic failures”, citing racial injustice in America in a statement addressing protests which have roiled the country over the past week.

“It remains a shocking failure that many African-Americans, especially young African-American men, are harassed and threatened in their own country,” Bush said on Tuesday in the statement expressing anguish over the death of George Floyd, suffocated beneath the knee of a white policeman in Minneapolis on 25 May.

The killing has unleashed a nationwide wave of civil unrest unlike any seen in the US since the 1968 assassination of rights leader Martin Luther King Jnr.

“This tragedy – in a long series of similar tragedies – raises a long overdue question: How do we end systemic racism in our society?” Bush wrote. “It is time for America to examine our tragic failures.”

Most of the protests which have swelled in cities across the country since Floyd’s death have been peaceful, but some have degenerated into violent riots.

White House incumbent Donald Trump, who has rejected the president’s traditional role as a force for unity during moments of national crisis, on Monday threatened a military crackdown to end the demonstrations.

Bush did not mention his fellow Republican by name in his statement. But he made a point of insisting on the need “to listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and grieving”. –