Ferguson and New York

Over the past few days, I have been asked why the President has done nothing about the Eric Garner case, where a black man was strangled to death by a white policeman, and about the racial disturbances in Ferguson, Missouri, following a police shooting of an unarmed black man. My response has been to ask what the President should do. “Lead,” is usually the initial reply. When I ask what manner the leadership should take, the most common response is “have the perpetrators, i.e. the police, prosecuted.”

Now, if the UK prime minister called for the prosecution of a named individual, not many would be concerned. The American President cannot do this. It is not within his executive remit. Prosecutions are matters for a Grand Jury, convened by the relevant justice department. I know of no reason why a president cannot ask his attorney general to investigate an alleged crime, but that’s as far as he can go, if he is not to stand accused of interfering with the justice process. Mr Obama can do other things, like appeal for calm and ask people to protest peacefully. This he has already done.

Since the inception of the United States, race has proved a huge hurdle. The African American has been treated unfairly, to put it mildly, and despite efforts to change the law through several constitutional amendments and Civil Rights Acts, not to mention the Voting Rights Act, an undercurrent of racism remains in America.

But before we in Europe indulge our finger-pointing, let us remember the Paris riots a few years ago, when French-Algerians protested about their treatment as second-class citizens. And here in England, not two years ago, Michael Duggan was shot by a policeman. There followed riots, first in Tottenham and then throughout London and other major cities in England. My point is that America does not hold a monopoly on poor race relations. And as resources become scarcer and middle classes and the poor feel the pressure, the risk of civil unrest will increase.

I am reminded of the words of Dwight Eisenhower, when he was told of the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This was the case that de-segregated schools in America. “You can change the law but you can’t change people’s minds,” Ike complained.

It is high time that people’s minds were changed but this will be achieved only through education, whether in America or elsewhere in the western world.