The United States: Blacks vs. Whites vs. Hispanics?
Published in El Espectador
(Colombia) on 21 July 2013
by Luis Carlos Vélez (link to original)
(Colombia) on 21 July 2013
by Luis Carlos Vélez (link to original)
Translated from
by Maria Tartaglia.
Edited by Rachel Smith.
The United States is a nation of minorities.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, half of the children born in the country in 2012 were of a different race than white. It is a nation that, due to its demographic changes, is watching its numbers transform not only in terms of population but also in its political and social representation.
Although the road is slow, uncertain and irreversible, there are incidents like the murder of Trayvon Martin that show that there are still serious potholes to bridge. One of the issues of great concern is the disproportionate number of killings that affect African descendants. According to data from the news agency Reuters, between the years 1980 and 2008, 47 percent of the victims of violent murders in America were black, while their share in the population distribution is barely 12 percent. In certain places in the country this phenomenon is even worse, such as in Philadelphia, where according to data from its own mayor, this same indicator rises to a shocking 75 percent.
When referring to the not guilty verdict of George Zimmerman, prosecuted for having killed the young Martin and declared the author of the act but not in a premeditated manner, Barack Obama himself enumerated various incidents of racial prejudice of which he himself was a victim and that still are part of the daily life of Americans. The president said that in his country the presence of a young black man causes white woman to lock their car doors and hide their wallets. The death of Martin has been a reminder that the preconceptions generated by skin color continue to exist in the United States. The community watchman, George Zimmerman, with a white last name but Hispanic ancestry, shot Martin at close range after assuming that Martin was doing something illegal.
The jury did not ignore that, but they could neither establish why nor how the altercation began, therefore they found him not guilty. That morally controversial, but legally correct, verdict sparked protests and debates in the country. The verdict poured salt on a historic wound.
This incident also led to political action. Obama himself said that Trayvon Martin could have been him 35 years ago. A statement as true as it is populist, its sole objective was connecting the African-American population to the Democratic Party at a time when the Republicans are debating how to stop being a white and rural group.
The interesting thing is that the racial rainbow in the United States is more and more inclusive of Hispanics and blacks. Day by day, the country is less and less like a game of whites versus blacks versus Hispanics. Thanks to the demographic push and the change of color in the nation, cases like that of Martin will be fewer. And the war between races, fortunately, will be a volcano that demographics calmed.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, half of the children born in the country in 2012 were of a different race than white. It is a nation that, due to its demographic changes, is watching its numbers transform not only in terms of population but also in its political and social representation.
Although the road is slow, uncertain and irreversible, there are incidents like the murder of Trayvon Martin that show that there are still serious potholes to bridge. One of the issues of great concern is the disproportionate number of killings that affect African descendants. According to data from the news agency Reuters, between the years 1980 and 2008, 47 percent of the victims of violent murders in America were black, while their share in the population distribution is barely 12 percent. In certain places in the country this phenomenon is even worse, such as in Philadelphia, where according to data from its own mayor, this same indicator rises to a shocking 75 percent.
When referring to the not guilty verdict of George Zimmerman, prosecuted for having killed the young Martin and declared the author of the act but not in a premeditated manner, Barack Obama himself enumerated various incidents of racial prejudice of which he himself was a victim and that still are part of the daily life of Americans. The president said that in his country the presence of a young black man causes white woman to lock their car doors and hide their wallets. The death of Martin has been a reminder that the preconceptions generated by skin color continue to exist in the United States. The community watchman, George Zimmerman, with a white last name but Hispanic ancestry, shot Martin at close range after assuming that Martin was doing something illegal.
The jury did not ignore that, but they could neither establish why nor how the altercation began, therefore they found him not guilty. That morally controversial, but legally correct, verdict sparked protests and debates in the country. The verdict poured salt on a historic wound.
This incident also led to political action. Obama himself said that Trayvon Martin could have been him 35 years ago. A statement as true as it is populist, its sole objective was connecting the African-American population to the Democratic Party at a time when the Republicans are debating how to stop being a white and rural group.
The interesting thing is that the racial rainbow in the United States is more and more inclusive of Hispanics and blacks. Day by day, the country is less and less like a game of whites versus blacks versus Hispanics. Thanks to the demographic push and the change of color in the nation, cases like that of Martin will be fewer. And the war between races, fortunately, will be a volcano that demographics calmed.