Will racial mistrust disappear from US?

The grand jury consisting of nine white and three black members decided on November 24 not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for shooting a black unarmed teen Michael Brown on August 9. The incident was followed by protests and demonstrations by both blacks and whites all over the United States. They are outraged by the decision of the grand jury and are back to the streets again. The immediate reaction against the jury's verdict was violent in Ferguson in Missouri where the shooting had taken place. The demonstrators taunted the police, shattered windows and set fire to several cars and buildings. The protests were relatively peaceful in other cities though rioting was reported in some places.

Lawyers for Brown's family denounced the grand jury's decision as "unfair". His parents, though angered by the decision, did not support the violence. President Barack Obama denounced destructive behaviour and criminal acts of rioting and said that those responsible should be prosecuted. He however admitted that the frustration seen by the grand jury's decision had "deep roots in many communities of colour who have a sense that our laws are not being enforced uniformly or fairly". In a separate incident two years ago, Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American high school student, was shot and killed by a  mixed-race Hispanic in Sanford, Florida. Last year, a jury, consisting of five white women and one Hispanic, acquitted him. In an unusual move, President Obama said, “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago… If a white male teen would have been involved in this scenario, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.”  The racial discriminations in the States were abolished by the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the US constitution between 1865 and 1870 but racial mistrust still haunts the multi-racial society. No African American, irrespective of his/her social status, is immune to this mistrust. The current protests may soon subside but will the mistrust disappear soon?

It is obvious that laws alone cannot eliminate racial mistrust. It requires a change of the mindset of the people. This change will not come unless the growing children of all races, including the whites, get the same lessons on race relations at home and at school. Now, children grow up with one notion at home whereas they are taught another, an idealistic one, at school. All parents and teachers must talk in one voice. Moreover, there should be more social interactions and integration among the different racial groups. This may help to reduce the mistrust gradually but when it will be eliminated is anybody's guess.

The writer is a former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.