American Hypocrisy
Sihanoukville, Cambodia, October 13th, 2014
Salaroche


America may rightfully take pride in calling itself the longest standing democracy in the history of the world. It may also boast of being one of the most ethnically-diverse societies on the planet, just as it can correctly claim to be the first western nation ever to elect a President of African ancestry.

But when it comes to claiming, as America often does, to be a forefront defender of human rights across the world, the situation is no longer as clear-cut as many Americans would like.

By now it is widely known that the US doesn’t hold the #1 position regarding human rights within its borders. The International Human Rights Rank Indicator (IHRRI), for example, ranks America in the 18th position, right under Ireland (#17) and below the United Arab Emirates (#14). The top three positions are held by Sweden, Norway, and Australia respectively.

Yes, America is a land of contrasts and all Americans know their country is quite far from being perfect, but such awareness of imperfection cannot be used as an excuse for allowing the kind of abuses that minorities, particularly those of African extraction, are constantly subjected to in the hands of the police.

Recently there have been some unwarranted uses of force against American minorities that if such abuses had been committed in Hong Kong over the past three weeks the whole world would have condemned them as one more evidence of Beijing’s Tiananmen-like savagery. Yet, in America such blatant display of police brutality is almost taken as normal.

To have a clear idea of what I’m talking about, please click on the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1PwliVnMPg&feature=youtu.be

As you may see in the video, nobody in the small group of protesters presents any threat to the police, yet the police treat them almost like dangerous criminals, to the point of even carrying one of them away as if she were an animal.

I guess America also has the right to call itself “America the Hypocrite”, going around pointing at the human rights shortcomings of the rest of the world while harboring in its midst all that blatant police brutality we have been recently witnessing.

America, why go around looking at the spec in the eye of your neighbors while you have a beam stuck in your own?

Salaroche