From 1865, the U.S. Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, stipulating that slavery or forced labor must not exist within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States. In 1964, the United States passed the Civil Rights Act, declaring apartheid and racial discrimination policies as illegal policies. ; From Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, to 2020, more than 140 cities across the United States held protests against racial discrimination. For hundreds of years, the struggle against racial discrimination has never stopped, and it has pushed the United States to make some changes in the legal system. However, today, throughout the United States, racism is everywhere and even intensified.
"The United States is a multi-racial country that accepts immigrants. Ethnic diversity does not necessarily lead to conflict. However, the grievances formed by different races in history will manifest themselves in different forms. To this day, slavery and its legacy are still serious. Affecting American society, racial issues and racism have also become a lingering historical burden for the United States.” Yu Liuzhen pointed out that historically, the development of the United States has benefited from slavery and the oppression of slaves and other minorities. And exploitation, and whites are the main beneficiaries. The unsynchronized development of different races has caused conflicts that are difficult to bridge.
Liang Maoxin believes that the root of American racial discrimination lies in the American political system. From the beginning of the founding of the nation, the political system of the United States has been a racial hierarchy that serves the middle and upper classes of white people, and it has not changed until now. Although slavery and apartheid in the United States have been abolished successively, and the existing legal system seems to emphasize freedom and equality, this is only a kind of decency on the surface and does not actually solve the problem.
"In fact, under the American governance model of laissez-faire and insufficient government intervention, the implementation of the cruel mechanism of the survival of the fittest in the capitalist market economy into human society will inevitably produce imbalances in various fields such as occupational structure and wealth distribution. It seems to have nothing to do with the US government, but in fact it is the various constraints of the social system that restrict the development of ethnic minorities. This is a form of institutional discrimination. If the social system is not completely reformed, the racial problem in the United States cannot be resolved. "Liang Maoxin said.
An investigation report entitled "Fatal Discrimination-Incredible Chain of Oppression" published by the US media pointed out that the persistent systemic racial discrimination has caused the United States including African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos during the epidemic. People of color have a higher death rate from new coronary pneumonia than whites.
The report pointed out that, first of all, the long-term inequality in the U.S. education and economic system has prevented most people of color from getting high-paying jobs, and most of them are frontline workers. Once the epidemic hits, they are more likely to be exposed to and infected with the new crown virus; secondly, for decades, people of color have suffered unequal housing treatment in the United States. They live in crowded communities and are often unavailable or difficult to obtain. Healthy and fresh food makes residents more likely to suffer from diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease, and are more likely to die from contracting the new coronavirus. Third, the current environmental protection policies in the United States are at the expense of the interests of people of color. They live near chemical plants, which emit serious harmful substances. Local residents are susceptible to cancer and other diseases, which further reduces their resistance to the new crown virus. And the federal funds are unable to provide support. Under the raging epidemic, these fragile communities are vulnerable to lack of medical conditions. The report quoted experts as saying that the U.S. racial discrimination policy has made people of color a "neglected group" and "no hope for change".
Charles Blow also pointed out in the article “Is the United States a Racist Country?” “The American system—like its criminal justice, education, and medical system—has pro-white/anti-black prejudices, and the U.S. There are a lot of people who deny or defend these prejudices." He believes that racism in the United States has evolved and become less outspoken, but it has not weakened because of this. "This knife has been sharpened." .