By Abayomi Azikiwe
The United States is a racist society and it has to change in order to regain some type of credibility on the international level, an African-American journalist and political analyst in Detroit says.
Abayomi Azikiwe, editor at the Pan-African News Wire, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on the Trump administration’s handling of nationwide protests against police violence and systemic racism sparked by the recent police killing of unarmed, handcuffed African-American man George Floyd.
Former US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey has slammed President Donald Trump for his handling of nationwide protests against police violence and systemic racism sparked by the recent police killing of unarmed, handcuffed African-American man George Floyd.
Trump has called on the country’s governors to deploy their national guards, urging them earlier in the week that they needed to “dominate” protesters.
Trump has called on the country’s governors to deploy their national guards, urging them earlier in the week that they needed to “dominate” protesters.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, however, has broken with Trump on using the country’s military forces to crush protests, seeking justice for Floyd.
The Pentagon chief said on Wednesday that he would not invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow Trump to use the National Guard against protesters.
Azikiwe said that “the contradictory statements from the Secretary of Defense and the White House represents some form of trepidation on the part of the ruling elites in the United States on how to address the ongoing demonstrations and rebellions around the country.”
“Trump, of course, evoking the Insurrection Act from 1807 and of course asked for coming out two days ago to say that he was in opposition to the utilization of the Insurrection Act. Nonetheless, the President has at this point the final word on this issue,” he added.
“And it depends on whether or not the dominant forces within the government will prevail, and which are the dominant forces? They’re the ones that support Trump’s position on the crisis, or those who are advocating more caution,” he stated.
“Nonetheless, the troops are on the street. All the 20,000 National Guard have been deployed, and there is also the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and also active duty military forces, some of whom have refused to choose to be deployed in Washington DC and some other cities in which they are on standby,” he said.
“So it depends on the duration of the demonstrations, and whether or not there are other fissures within the ruling experts in regard to what is going to prevail. But I believe the exercise of maximum force, which they have been doing over the last week in many cities that is utilization of tear gas, rubber bullets, all types of brutal activity, the beating of people, the mass arrests of people, this is already taking place, and groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and others have already announced that they’re going to file lawsuits for civil rights violations against the government,” the analyst said.
“So it depends on the strength of the movement in relationship to the government but whoever prevails everyone knows around the world, that the United States is a racist society. The government is racist, and it has to change in order for things to become stabilized, in the United States and also for the United States in its effort to regain some type of credibility on the international level,” he concluded.
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