• Publications
    • Books
    • Opinions
    • Analyses
    • Reports
  • Events
  • About
    • SETA DC
    • People
  • US-Türkiye Relations
  • Washington Gündemi
  • Contact
  • info@setadc.org
    202-223-9885
    1025 Connecticut Ave NW
    Suite 410
    Washington, DC 20036
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Opinions
    • Analyses
    • Reports
  • Events
  • About
    • SETA DC
    • People
  • US-Türkiye Relations
  • Washington Gündemi
  • Contact

What’s next after Minneapolis?

Burhanettin Duran Posted On June 4, 2020
0
63 Views


A wave of protests has been shaking the United States for the past week. The riots, which started in Minneapolis when a white police officer caused an African American’s death by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, spread to 25 major cities. As the initially peaceful anti-racist protests took a violent turn, the United States government deployed the National Guard and military units. The media reports, depicting streets on fire, luxury stores being looted and soldiers on the ground, make the U.S. seem like a Middle Eastern or African nation grappling with civil war.

Obviously, racism and police brutality is not new in the U.S. George Floyd shared the same fate as a number of African Americans, including Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Laquan McDonald and Tamir Rice, who died at the hands of police officers.

The main cause behind America’s problem is its inability to root out racism. Against the backdrop of the fabled American dream, most blacks are unable to find a way out of unemployment, drug abuse, poverty and systemic racism. The bloody history of race relations indeed casts a long shadow. Although opponents of slavery won the American Civil War, which claimed 750,000 victims, in the 1800s, racism has never been eradicated, nor did the civil rights movement of the 1960s, despite the criminalization of institutional discrimination. On top of the ever-deepening income gap, police brutality often made daily life insufferable for African Americans. Racism reared its ugly head yet again in the Democratic stronghold of Minneapolis. That the police officer, who killed George Floyd over a suspected counterfeit $20 bill, wasn’t arrested until the public outrage, too, was a disaster.

Throughout history, there has been no shortage of anti-racist protest movements in the U.S. either. But why did the country’s oldest and deepest fault line rupture this time? Why did the Minneapolis riots spin out of control – unlike Detroit (1967) or Los Angeles (1992) or Missouri (2014) – to turn into “the American Spring” or a second civil war?

Although U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement did little to calm down the protestors, the amount of violence and looting is indeed frightening. Some observers even looked for Russian involvement in the riots.

Many people expected domestic turmoil and social upheaval in countries that managed the coronavirus outbreak poorly. That the first such phenomenon manifested in the United States, whose population has been severely distressed under lockdowns and skyrocketing unemployment, was hardly surprising. The United States, where tens of millions have claimed unemployment benefits in recent weeks, is home to the world’s most brutal brand of capitalism and the weakest welfare state among democracies. It would seem that the elites of the U.S. won’t just debate their country’s global role in the post-pandemic period. They will also be preoccupied with socioeconomic and ideological fault lines, including racism and income inequality.

With the U.S. presidential election just months away, racist violence and anti-racist protests are likely to make their mark on the campaign period. Notwithstanding criticism of his handling of the crisis, Trump will certainly exploit the torching of police headquarters and the looting of certain stores for political gain. He will also blame the poor living conditions of African Americans on the Democrats. We cannot rule out that “black anger” won’t provoke “white anger” – which was influential in Trump’s 2016 victory. American politics will be extraordinarily tense until November. Neither Trump nor those trying to remove him from office will give up easily.

Governments around the world must draw the right lessons from the U.S. protests. The post-coronavirus period has kicked off with new normals and masked protestors. All societies must remain vigilant to ensure that their handling of the crisis won’t trigger any fault lines.

This article was first published by Daily Sabah on June 4, 2020.

Post Views: 63



You may also like
Is Middle East entering new spiral of conflicts?
January 23, 2024
What will Erdoğan-Biden meeting bring?
June 14, 2021
US-Turkey ties: Repairing the relationship must start in Syria
March 17, 2021
  • Recent

    • Trump-Netanyahu Relationship Takes a Turn for the Worse
      May 30, 2025
    • Why Is Trump Bypassing Israel?
      May 30, 2025
    • Israel’s plan to involve the United States in the occupation...
      May 30, 2025
    • Private Roundtable With Turkish Deputy FM Nuh Yılmaz
      May 20, 2025
    • “Beyond Alliance: Rethinking US-Türkiye Relations...
      May 20, 2025
    • Trump's first 100 days...
      May 5, 2025
    • Will the rare earth elements deal bring peace?
      May 5, 2025
    • Is the U.S. withdrawing from Syria?
      April 25, 2025
    • The two-state solution debate and Türkiye’s strategic...
      April 16, 2025
    • Turkish-American Relations in the Middle East under...
      April 4, 2025

  • Washington Gündemi

    • Trump’tan İsrail’in İran’a Saldırı Tehdidine...
      May 30, 2025
    • Elon Musk Washington’a Veda Etti
      May 29, 2025
    • Harvard Direniyor
      May 29, 2025
    • Suriye’ye Yaptırımlar Kalkıyor
      May 29, 2025
    • Demokrat Parti’de Liderlik Arayışı
      May 23, 2025
    • Washington İsrail’e Mesafe Koyuyor   
      May 23, 2025
    • ‘Büyük, Güzel Yasa Tasarısı’ Meclisten Geçti
      May 22, 2025
    • Trump-Putin Hattı: Barışa Giden Yol mu, Oyalama...
      May 22, 2025
    • İlaç Fiyatlarında Yeni Düzenleme
      May 16, 2025
    • Güvenlik ve Rekabet Arasında Yapay Zeka 
      May 16, 2025



Stay Updated


© Copyright 2018-2022 SETA Foundation at Washington DC
Press enter/return to begin your search