Washington, October 29. The Philadelphia city government of Pennsylvania announced on the 28th that because the police shot a black man and caused two consecutive nights of protests and riots, Philadelphia imposed a curfew from 21 am to 6 am the next day.
After a series of tragedies, the issue of race has become one of the most concerned issues in the US election. Now that the general election is just around the corner, the United States has once again caused a controversy involving African-American ethnic groups and suspected of excessive law enforcement, which has triggered protests and riots, highlighting the deep-rooted and deep-rooted systemic ailments of the United States and the deep “torn” of American society.
Sparked mass protests
On the afternoon of the 26th, two Philadelphia police officers confronted Wallace, a 27-year-old black man accused of holding a knife, and shot him.
Wallace’s family said that Wallace had a mental illness and was receiving medication. At the time of the incident, the family members dialed 911 to seek medical emergency, not to seek police intervention.
Police investigation found that the two police officers fired at least 7 shots each and have now been transferred from their posts.
After Wallace was shot and killed, witnesses uploaded the video to the Internet. On the evening of the 26th, riot police confronted and clashed with demonstrators.
Some people took advantage of the chaos to destroy and rob stores. On the evening of the 27th, protests and riots broke out again. In the two nights, 53 policemen were injured and 172 were arrested.
The death of Wallace also triggered protests in Washington, New York City, and Portland, Oregon.
Philadelphia Mayor Kenny said on the 28th that the Pennsylvania National Guard will be deployed to Philadelphia to assist the police in maintaining law and order. The Philadelphia police said they would release the video of the shooting taken by the police body camera in the “near future.”
In response to the Philadelphia incident, US President Trump seeking re-election called for the maintenance of “law and order” at a campaign rally in Nevada on the 28th. Democratic presidential candidate Biden mourned the loss of “another black American life” on the 27th.
Structural racism makes people “unbreathable”
Racial discrimination is one of the main issues in the US election this year. In the past few months, the abuse of violence by the American police against blacks is not uncommon. Scenes of tragedies that make black groups feel “unbreathable” continue to be staged in the United States, and even intensify.
In addition to police violence, the investigation report released by the UN Human Rights Council Expert Working Group on African Descent Issues in 2016 pointed out that the U.S. government has failed to fulfill its responsibility to protect the rights of African Americans. The civil, political, and economic, social, and cultural rights of Americans have had a negative impact.
Relevant statistics show that more than a quarter of black families have zero or negative net assets; black people suffer widespread discrimination and bullying in education and worku2026u2026
In the new crown epidemic, because many blacks are engaged in “necessary” jobs that are prone to infection, it is difficult to work from home, and it is more difficult to obtain high-quality medical services. The death rate of blacks infected with the new crown is higher than that of whites.
Scars will deepen
Since the beginning of this year, police-related racial violence has occurred frequently in the United States. Law enforcement agencies have never reflected on the hazards of racism from the source, and the people’s long-suppressed anger has repeatedly ignited.
What is worrying is that as political polarization intensifies, the scars of American society torn by ethnic conflicts may deepen.
Background link
On May 25 this year, Floyd, a black man in Minnesota, was “kneeled” by a white police officer for nearly nine minutes and died, triggering long and large-scale demonstrations across the United States against racism and police abuse.
The wave of protests escalated again after Blake, a black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was shot and paralyzed by a white policeman on August 23.
Subsequently, a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, ruled on September 23 that a black woman Brenna Taylor was shot and killed during police enforcement in March. Of the three police officers involved, two were due to “just cause”. “Shoot, no prosecution. The verdict triggered protests.
