The US criticizes over 190 countries for their human rights situation by publishing a report on human rights practices every year.
Is the US entitled to police other nations’ human rights situation?
The US politicians raise the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York as being symbolic of their country. Then, let us see the human rights situation in the US.
African Americans–Inferior Citizens
According to a report published on the website of the Reuters, a “completely contradictory policy” was pursued in the midterm election held in the end of last year in Georgia, with the result that many eligible had their right to vote reserved; what was more surprising was that 70% of them were African Americans who constitute one-third of the total population of the state.
The website of Economist commented that some states in southern parts of the US adopted acts that strictly restrict the right to vote of African Americans, adding that the US seemed to have returned to the early 20th century when the Black people had been prohibited from voting.
The website of New York Times stated that as of 2017 there were 15 killings of African Americans by police, incidents which had aroused widespread protest among the public, and only one policeman was put behind bars.
The website of Los Angels Times reported: According to the FBI, the rate of crimes precipitated by hatred increased by 17% in the US in 2017, the biggest increasing rate after 2001, and over 60% of these 7 175 crimes were associated with racial discrimination, nearly half of the victims being African Americans.
The assets of African Americans’ families are one-tenth of the white men’s; the former’s unemployment rate has been twice that of the latter for a long time; and the poverty rate among the former is 2.5 times greater than the latter’s.
Gun-Needed Society
According to the 2017 report on the crimes in the US published by the FBI, there occurred 1 247 321 violent crimes, 17 284 murders, 135 755 rapes, 810 825 cases of serious damage by violence and 319 356 robberies that year. Among them 72.6% of murders, 40.6% of robberies and 26.3% of the cases of serious damage were related with gun violence.
A report by the US gun violence documentary website lamented that there were 57 103 cases of gun violence in total in 2018, with the result that 14 717 persons were killed and 28 172 wounded. Among the victims there were 3 502 minors.
An article of Time, titled, 15 Seconds, 31 Bullets, 19 Killed and Wounded, struck the readers with horror.
The article reads that a man in Arizona showered 31 bullets at passers-by, killing six of them on the spot, and it took only 15 seconds.
As the rate of gun-related crimes is increasing in the US, the number of people buying guns is increasing as a reflection of their psychology to protect themselves.
Rich Getting Richer and Poor Getting Poorer
In the US, the poor numbered over 42 000 000 in total, or 13.4% of its total population, in 2017. The Brookings institute reported that the poor with disabilities constituted 25.7%. The UN special rapporteur said in the report in May 2018 that the US had become a Western country with the largest gap between rich and poor.
In 2016, the richest, accounting 1% of the total population, possessed 38.6% of the national wealth, whereas the total assets and incomes of ordinary citizens had declined over the past 25 years.
A Senator said on the website of USA Today: Expenditure is greater than income in 43% of families, so they become indebted to pay for renting, foodstuffs, upbringing of children, medical service, traffic and telecommunications.
According to the Gallup poll in November last year, 46% said that they cannot pay medical expenses.
The statistical data collected in California in April 2018 found that 134 278 persons were homeless in the state in 2017, 16 136 more persons than in the previous year, taking the first place in the number of the homeless in the country.
Such being the case, the US publishes a “country report on human rights practices” every year, picking a quarrel with human rights practices of other countries. The international community casts a cold glance at the US.
