Divisions rooted in US history of slavery: Activist

Violent clashes between thousands of American white supremacists and counter-protesters in the southern state of Virginia have left three people dead and several others injured. US President Donald Trump’s reaction to violence in Charlottesville has drawn criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. To discuss the issue, Press TV has interviewed Life Malcolm, a US civil rights activist from Miami, and Frederick Peterson, a congressional defense policy adviser from Portland.

Malcolm said there is a long-time division in the American society, which has its roots in oppression and violence that are combined with US history of land grabbing and slavery.

The sources of division in the United States are the facts that “the history of this country is based on a legacy of oppression, a history of violence” and that the territory which is called America has been stolen from indigenous people, the activist said on Thursday night.

There is a “divide” between those people who America has held superior so long against people’s will and some Americans who want to see the end of oppression, he explained.

America has been divided, because African Americans and indigenous people have been held “captive” and those people have suffered from discrimination, he complained.

Charlottesville violence has given new boost to a heated debate over the symbols of civil war in the United States.

Malcolm called for identifying the oppressors and the oppressed people in order to avoid a civil war in the United States.

During the Charlottesville clashes, white supremacists clashed with counter-protesters who rejected far-right extremism, which has been growing since President Trump took office in January.  

The activist said US media and politicians are trying to belittle crimes committed by white people and highlight wrongdoings by other people; therefore, “every time white people kill somebody in America they have some kind of mental problem.”

Peterson, the other contributor on the show, said there is a division in the American society, which has been conjured up by a hard left that has been operating within the American political system for a long time in order to create divisions within the American culture.

However, he noted that the nationalist fascists, including the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), are propped up to be representative of the right factions.

According to the analyst, the man who killed a young woman and two police officers in Charlottesville white nationalist rally is not representing the American culture.

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