Endemic racism is rotting US system

The government of Denver, Colorado, apologized on Saturday to early Chinese immigrants and their descendants for a riot that destroyed the city's Chinatown on Oct 31, 1880.

A mob of 3,000 white people ransacked the Chinatown that night, and a man named Look Young was lynched, while the murderers were never prosecuted.

On Saturday, Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock signed a resolution apologizing to the descendants of Denver's Chinese immigrants for the city's role in what he called "a shameful chapter in Colorado history".

As Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday, the city of Denver deserves credit for doing so, as only by learning from history can such tragedies be avoided in the future.

However, hate crimes have become increasingly serious in the country. Take New York City as an example. The number of hate crimes in the city has increased 76 percent so far in 2022, hitting more than 190, compared to the same period in 2021, according to data released by the New York Police Department Hate Crimes Task Force.

The number of hate crimes against Asian Americans, though down slightly, remains high. A growing number of Asian residents are seeking to protect themselves, with many taking up martial arts or organizing community patrols.

While the city government and lawmakers have called for action, regretfully no concrete actions have been forthcoming.

The increasing number of hate crimes in New York City is an epitome of the hate crimes in the US. White supremacy has been on the rise in recent years, fueled by racist comments by some politicians, celebrities and academics.

Statistics show that African Americans, due to racial discrimination, are the most vulnerable ethnic group to hate crimes, which has become increasingly serious thanks to the widening income gap, polarizing politics and raging COVID-19 pandemic that are splitting the society of the United States.

And if the US government and lawmakers cannot address the root causes of racial discrimination and hate crimes, they cannot cure these chronic diseases in US society, which represent not only an issue in culture or consciousness, but more importantly a challenge to the economy and law. To tackle the problems entails an overhaul of the US social wealth distribution and legal system.

The power holders in the country, who represent only the vested interest groups, or the rich white to put it another way, do not have the courage and motive to carry out the reform. In other words, the chronic social diseases are becoming more inherent to the system of the country.