Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
After coming to power, US President Donald Trump has been raising a number of controversial issues at home and abroad. It remains to be a mater discussion to what extent these issues will help him move forward in the coming president election of USA. The advantage will either come in his favor or will go in favor of his opponents. In today’s world, many people use different strategies and tools against their opponentes. The black and the Asian hispanics are already panicked by President Donald Trump’s white racial attitudes. However, all the decisions taken by Trump have been controversial so far. The “murder” of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, has exploded anti-apartheid movements across the country, just as the failure to control coronavirus in the United States has reached a tipping point. The movement has spread to major cities such as New York, Chicago and Washington DC, leaving the future of the United States in question. This movement has already spread and gained support in many European countries. There is no reason to think that a single event is not the cause of hesitation and explosion around the whole USA. The recent protest and explosion is the result of President Trump’s bigotry and violations of rights to the minorities.
Racism is an old issue in the United States. The latest example is the assassination of George Floyd. Not only the blacks have organized under the banner of ‘Black Lives Matter’ today, but also the whites have joined the protest. The situation escalated to the point that President Trump had to take a safe measure at the White House. The whole world has seen the rude and barbaric action of white police officer through media. Black Floyd has been killed by suffocation very mercilessly in USA, the death rates by Covid-19 has surpassed the world’s leading countries. In such a terrible situation its budget allocation to corona is the minimum which amounts to only one our budget of American Pentagon. This words are getting high sounds along with this agitation. Those have been coming as the voice of the common man in USA through the press briefing. A civilized and world leading state like USA used to exercise capitalism in its worst and the most naked style, where a large number of poor people are suffering from exploitation and inhumanity. Uncivilized dealings and and sorts of perverted actions often take place and demolishing values and integrity.
Blacks have always been neglected in the United States. Their job market is limited. Unemployment rate is higher among them. There is a huge income gap between blacks and whites. The top positions in society are unwrittenly reserved for whites only. Blacks have no access there. It is normal to have anger among blacks. This resentment repeatedly gave rise to such agitations. While this is true, the United States, a country of more than 300 million people, has a predominantly white population of 72.41 percent, and blacks only 12.61 percent. In comparison, blacks have less job security. Many of Trump’s statements are also responsible for provoking black discontent. He threatened the protesters. He described the movement as “internal terrorism.” While expressing his sympathy for the assassination of George Floyd, he called them terrorists and even ordered army to suppress the agitation. Not only that, but the Trump administration’s attorney general William Barr and security advisers Robert and Bryan also called the protesters “foreign militants.” Such statements are tantamount to concealing the real facts. This agitation has spread to countries like Europe and Australia. This means that the world’s democratic forces do not support Trump’s racist policies. Trump hosted the G-7 summit at the White House. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed inability to take part.
President Trump’s negative rhetoric has provoked the agitation. He continued to threaten the protesters with various offensive language. At one point, he threatened to use the army and dogs against the protesters. This agitation cannot be stopped by force. This agitation must be stopped with the heart. One police officer told Trump, “If you can’t speak responsibly, please keep quiet”. In fact, racism and oppression of black people have been going on in America for almost 400 years. There was also extreme inequality in the right to vote and the purchase of land which continued and was visible until the 1980s. The civil rights enshrined in the US Constitution are respected around the world. But while America was vocal about human rights around the world, it was less interested in blacks in its own country. Apart from that, racism was there. About 30% of people in America are black. Many have been victims of racism before. Martin Luther King, Jr., the undisputed black leader of the United States, spoke of the dream of a non-discriminatory America in his famous speech, “I have a dream,” on August 28, 1963. Will that dream not be fulfilled this time or will America have to endure more oppression. This will be a big challenge against racism in the coming days in establishing equality. It remains to be seen how successful America will be in the coming days in tackling this challenge of establishing communism.
Protests have continued in various cities since the assassination of George Floyd. Some looters have also joined the protests who are trying to divert events. On the one hand, the tragedy of Covid-19 and the world’s highest mortality rate are terrifying the American people. After all, no change has been noticed in Trump. Even the United States has no way of understanding how critical Trump’s behavior is. Charges have already been framed against four policemen involved in the incident. Police in various states have vowed heads to the ground and apologized to the nation. Even then the protests are not stopping. Meanwhile, four former US presidents – Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – have protested the assassination of George Floyd. Barack Obama has personally congratulated protesters across the country. Jimmy Carter called on all to stand up against discrimination by upholding power, privilege and moral awareness. Bill Clinton says death is not desirable for anyone like George Floyd. George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush have condemned the brutal suffocation of Floyd. They have also expressed concern about police repression in the United States, and many prominent figures in the United States, including the United Kingdom, have called for a peaceful protest.
In fact, racism in the United States is worse than in Europe. Protests against the death of George Floyd are still going on. Overnight curfews were imposed in major cities during the protests. Somewhere or other the curfew is being further increased. To end protests and unrest across the country, President Donald Trump has threatened to send troops to the United States to quell growing civilian unrest over the death of a black man in police custody. In the 21st century, in a civilized country of knowledge, science and art like America, the occurrence of such racism has shocked us as the epidemic of coronavirus. In this reality, the police system in the United States needs to be reformed. In order to quell the protests, the people need to be reassured about getting a fair trial.
There is a reflection of bad effect in America’s economy after covid-19. Again racism has become a much topped issue in the world. So we can say that both covid-19 and radicalism will put a negative impact on President Trump. These issues will act as a determinant factor in the coming USA election.
(Dr. Forqan is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar VDP).
