If Racism Persists in America, What is India’s Malaise?

Decades after the civil rights movement and the constitutional guarantee of equality, why are members of the Black community treated as second-class citizens in America? ANANT PRAKASH MISHRA writes about the ongoing battle against race in America, and the religion-centric CAA-NRC-NPR debate in India.

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WITH the recent conviction of Derek Chauvin, the United States is deep in introspection again. Chauvin is the police officer who kneeled on the neck of George Floyd for more than eight minutes in broad daylight while the public stood helpless, watching. It was not just one more custodial death or ignominious instance of police brutality. It was far more grave. It reflected the deep-rooted animus and persistent hate towards the Black community in the United States.

For a nation that takes pride in its constitutional heritage, the killing of George Floyd is a scar that reminds us that the war against racism is still not over in America. 

The fight and the cry for equality date back to 1857 when the American Supreme Court decided Dred Scott vs Sandford. In an infamous 7-2 verdict, the court ruled that the word "citizen" in the US Constitution did not intend to include the Black people. At the time, the United States was in a conundrum and passing through a phase of internal conflict concerning the question of slavery.