US Should Take Responsibility for Racism

Concocting rumors about Xinjiang to blackmail China is a ploy commonly used by many American politicians. As the end of the current American administration draws near, its performance has become even more intense. It has even proposed Xinjiang-related resolutions, spreading rumors of “racial genocide” and claiming that “the Chinese government should take responsibility.”

This is a ridiculous lie aimed at covering for itself! As to whether or not there is racial genocide, the population data speak for itself. Just as local Xinjiang officials recently demonstrated to media in over 30 countries, thanks to the Chinese government’s active and effective Uighur policies, the Uighur population has increased from 10.17 million in 2010, to 12.72 million in 2018, an increase of 25.04%. This is not only more than the overall growth of the Xinjiang population, but even surpasses the local ethnic Han population’s growth in the period by 2%. If it was really as American anti-China politicians claim, how would the Uighur population experience such growth? The way they cling to rumors like these just shows that they are running out of ways to slander China.

In reality, when discussing racial genocide, the U.S., which has a notorious human rights history, is the one who is truly exhibiting this behavior. “Racial genocide is the main enduring feature of the United States,” said American academic Derrick Bell, “which has already been confirmed by history.”

Looking back on the evolution of American history, the American government has not only engaged in the mass expulsion and slaughter of Native Americans, the invasion of Native American lands and seizure of their resources, but has even perpetrated genocide, isolation and unification policies and denied Native Americans their human rights. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Native American population had plummeted from 5 million in 1492 to 250,000. The Atlantic Monthly stated that in America, there is a road of blood and tears for Native Americans as a result of those 400 years of history.

In reality, racism has remained prevalent in the U.S. Last June, the murder of George Floyd, an African man, by white police officers incited widespread protest throughout the U.S. According to data from the Centers or Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 death rates for African Americans are five times higher than that of white Americans, and Latino death rates are four times higher than that of white people. Evidently, the long-term, systematic and severe racial discrimination in the U.S. has reached a point where minorities in the U.S. “cannot breathe.”

That isn’t all. American politicians who often talk about “friendship” with Muslim countries frequently do the opposite in practice. In recent years, the U.S. government has used anti-terrorism as an excuse to provoke wars with Muslim countries such as Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan, causing millions of civilian casualties. In 2017, the American administration even enacted a “Muslim ban” specifically targeted at certain Muslim countries, which became a dark page in the history of international human rights and was unanimously condemned by the international community.

The situation for Muslims in the U.S. is just as miserable. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in early 2017 showed that 75% of Muslim adults in the U.S. indicated there is a great deal of discrimination against Muslims in society. A report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in 2018 showed that since 2016, the number of anti-Muslim groups in the U.S. has tripled. Over a third of the anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S. in 2017 were incited by federal government agencies.

For example, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who claims to “care” about the rights and interests of the Uighur people in Xinjiang, discriminates against Muslims. He discriminates against minorities, including Muslims, and supports limits on Muslim immigration. In 2016, the notorious anti-Muslim organization, Heritage Action for America, awarded him the “National Security Eagle” award. For this reason, Harvard University Professor Steve Kelman pointed out in an interview last September that Pompeo does not like Muslims in any Arab countries, but only talks about Muslims in Xinjiang, China, which is “really puzzling.”*

Indeed, how can a politician who is rife with prejudice and discrimination against his own country’s Muslims really care about the interests of the Uighur people in Xinjiang? Those American politicians who turn a blind eye to the tragic encounters with Native Americans and hypocritically talk about their “concern” are shameless and hypocritical!

American politicians are completely unqualified to discuss the protection of the rights of minority groups. If they continue to play tricks in an effort to divert attention from their actions, let the world decide for itself what responsibility they should bear for the racist evil that violates international justice and moral conscience!

*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this quoted passage could not be independently verified.