America – a nation divided

mood has changed.

A CBS and New York Times poll last month, in the aftermath of the Baltimore riots, found that 61 percent of Americans believe race relations are generally bad – a view shared by blacks and whites alike. That is up from 44 percent after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, and is the most pessimistic since Barack Obama took office in 2009.

Not the least depressing aspect is that this deterioration comes after the US appeared to have exorcised some of its ancient racial demons by electing its first black president. How different the future seemed six years ago.

During his 2008 campaign, Obama spoke with unprecedented frankness about race. But no new dawn broke. As he showed by his reluctance to visit Ferguson and Baltimore, the president gives the impression that his direct intervention might only make matters worse.

Other factors, of course, are at work. The obscene proliferation of guns only magnifies tragedies like that at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, established by free blacks and slaves at the start of the 19th century. There is even talk of arming pastors, a step that would be almost comical, were it not so desperate.

Then there are the elements in the ever-more-conservative Republican party that regard poor blacks as spongers. The truth is very different. Much progress has been made since the 1960s.

But the deck of life chances is still stacked against black Americans. They earn less than whites, their opportunities for advancement are far fewer. Unemployment among blacks is double that of whites. African-Americans are a disproportionate share of the jail population. Segregation is outlawed but unofficially persists in the residential patterns of many US cities.

Most depressing is how history repeats itself. The remedies are as obvious as ever, among them greater economic opportunity and changes (which are starting to happen) in criminal laws that over-penalise blacks.

But for all the advances, the problem will not go away. In 1968, after race riots swept many cities, a presidential commission concluded the US was moving towards two societies, separate and unequal. That judgment of almost half a century ago contains more than a grain of truth today. – The Independent