A second night of violent protests in California
As protests continue across America on the recent deaths of black men in encounters with white police officers, marked by another night of violent clashes in two California cities, President Barack Obama has called upon his countrymen for patience and resolve on the sensitive subject of race relations.
In an interview to BET (Black Entertainment Television), set to air on Monday night, Obama has sought to calm tensions by citing the progress made over half a century, even while acknowledging that racism is “deeply rooted in our history” and the distrust that continues to exist between minority communities and law enforcement.
“It’s important to recognise that as painful as these incidents are, we can’t equate what is happening now to what happened 50 years ago,” Obama said in an excerpt released by BET, adding: “If you talk to your parents, your grandparents, they’ll tell you things are better. Not good, in some cases, but better.”
Obama goes on stress: “We have to be persistent. Typically, progress is in steps. It’s in increments. When you’re dealing with something as deeply rooted as racism or bias in any society you’ve got to have vigilance but you have to recognise it will take time and you have to be steady so you don’t give up when we don’t get all the way there.”
As the first African-American President, Obama, during his six years at the White House, has been faced with some ticklish situations impinging on race, but this is the first time he has been confronted with nationwide protests demanding pro-active steps to ensure equality and justice in the wake of the grand jury decisions not to indict police officers for the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York.
While the protests over the past week have been largely peaceful in New York and most places across the nation, the demonstrations have been marred by clashes in the California cities of Berkeley and Oakland.
In Berkeley, it was the second night of violence and looting as sections of protesters threw objects, including some explosives, at the police. A number of stores were looted and several arrests were made, police said. One demonstrator who tried to prevent the looting was reportedly struck by a hammer. In the adjoining city of Oakland, protesters blocked traffic along a freeway. With some trying to set a patrol vehicle on fire and throwing rocks and bottles at officers, police responded with firing tear gas.