Recently, three former US Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama have expressed their views on the violent law enforcement death of African American citizen George Freud. They are all worried about the current situation of the American race reflected in this incident.
Clinton issued a statement on its foundation website on May 30 stating that no one should die in the same way as Freud. His death gave people a painful reminder that a person's ethnic identity still determines the way he is treated. The statement said that people should also ask themselves, "If George Freud was white, handcuffed and lying on the ground, would he survive?"
Bush issued a statement on June 2 stating that it is time for the United States to examine the tragic failure. This tragedy and a series of previous tragedies have raised the question: How do we end systemic racism in American society. The statement stated that many people doubted the national justice of the United States for a reason. African Americans saw their rights repeatedly violated, but the government did not respond in a timely and adequate manner. The statement stated that we know that lasting justice can be achieved only through peaceful means.
As the first African-American president in American history, Obama said in a statement that Freud’s death “is not normal in the United States in 2020.”
Obama said that the continuous outbreak of protests and demonstrations throughout the United States showed that the public was frustrated by the failed reforms of law enforcement and the judicial system over the past decades. Only through protests and demonstrations can we express our dissatisfaction with the persistent and ongoing racial discrimination. He believes that the more specific the reform requirements put forward by the people, the more difficult it will be for the elected officials to “slip their tongues”.
(Editor Li Jiali)
Editor in charge: [Chen Haifeng]