Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India is more racist than America' that was published in Newsband

India is more racist than America

Racism till recently was a thing of past in America. But after White security man George Zimmerman shot dead an unarmed 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin and the Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman, racism is become a issue once again in the US.

The decision to set George Zimmerman free raises troubling questions about whether this multiracial nation can ever transcend its painful history of slavery and ugly, persisting racial hatred? Another question is why America favours ultra-liberal gun ownership rights?

Zimmerman had the right to apply deadly force if he “reasonably believed” that it was necessary to prevent his death or bodily harm. The Florida police refused to arrest him for an astonishing 44 days after the killing, until a major national campaign forced them to do so.     

The question is if the roles were reversed, would an armed African-American man have faced the same odds of acquittal? There is precedence. O.J. Simpson was also acquitted despite strong evidence against him, and he was a black man. So to suggest that America can never emerge from the shadow of its past history of slavery is a gross misstatement. Errors committed by a local Jury, however unjust, is not a reflection on the state of a nation which recently elected a black president twice.

If the Blacks in America thought that his was a case of jinxed verdict there would be a public outrage like in Jessica Lal’s case in India where the case came up for retrial.

The Indian press is always quick to point out racism in America. But Indians are definitely more racist. There are so many people in India who have been humiliated for their dark skins in their own family and in Indian circles.

Despite the error by the Jury, the American justice system is not as a rule tainted by racism.