Hillary Clinton condemns 'institutional racism' in US

2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has condemned “institutional racism” in the United States.

The former US secretary of state made the remarks in a speech in San Francisco on Saturday, days after a 21-year-old white man slaughtered nine African-American worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Race remains a deep fault line in America,” Clinton said, speaking in front of the US Conference of Mayors in San Francisco. “Millions of people of color still experience racism in their everyday lives.”

She stated that “it’s tempting to dismiss a tragedy like this as an isolated incident, to believe that in today’s America bigotry is largely behind us, that institutionalized racism no longer exists.”

“But despite our best efforts and our highest hopes, America’s long struggle with race is far from finished,” she added.

In addition, Clinton called for a “commonsense” approach to gun reforms and vowed to take swift action to tighten gun control laws if elected.

She said that President Barack Obama is right on gun control legislation, adding that the “politics on this issue have been poisoned but we can’t give up.”

Clinton said Congress should pass legislation keeping guns from racists, criminals and mentally ill people.

“The stakes are too high. The costs are too dear. And I am not and will not be afraid to keep fighting for common sense reforms,” she said.

It was not the first time that Clinton had addressed discrimination against blacks in the US and the issue of racism.

Speaking at Columbia University in April, Clinton said her heart “breaks” for the African-American young men being killed by white police officers in the United States, calling for sweeping changes to the country's criminal justice system.

“We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America," she said.

The massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on Wednesday has renewed perceptions around the world that Americans have too many guns and have yet to overcome racial tensions.

In Britain, Wednesday’s attack reinforced the view that America has an entrenched race and gun problem, according to The Associated Press.

In Australia and East Asia, where there are tight restrictions on firearm ownership and gun violence is almost unheard of, many were mystified by the tenacity of many Americans to own guns despite repeated mass shootings.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said the massacre in South Carolina "mirrors the US government's inaction on rampant gun violence as well as the growing racial hatred in the country."

"Unless US President Barack Obama's government really reflects on his country's deep-rooted issues like racial discrimination and social inequality and takes concrete actions on gun control, such tragedy will hardly be prevented from happening again," Xinhua said in an editorial.

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