America Has Tried And Failed To Explain Its Racism To The World
Thousands of people around the world are sending a dual message to Americans as they protest the death of George Floyd, the latest casualty of the systemic violence against Black residents of the U.S. Their message: We see your pain ― and we see your country for what it really is.
To those outside America’s borders, the nation’s state-sanctioned racism stands in stark contrast to its proudly proclaimed ideals of liberty and equality in the more than 100 years that the U.S. has been a global power.
Black Americans and members of other marginalized communities in the U.S. often share their stories abroad in search of solidarity, recognizing that international embarrassment could help drive reform at home. Representatives of the U.S. government have offered foreigners a different narrative of progress towards fulfilling America’s promise.
Since Floyd died after a white police officer pinned him down by the neck — sparking international protest and outcry — it’s clear that deep skepticism persists worldwide about America’s commitment to racial justice and that people connected to the U.S., officials or others, will be asked to answer for it for years to come.
“It’s such a burden to have to carry that additional weight into the world, and I think that may be true for everyone, but particularly for the people who are being oppressed or mistreated at home,” said Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a former ambassador who served in the State Department for more than 30 years before resigning in 2017. “Not only do we have to deal with our own sorrow, but we have to answer for our European Americans. I’ve got to try to explain white racism, white supremacy. I’ve got that extra burden of trying to explain that, not just dealing with my own pain and sense of heartbreak.”
Abercrombie-Winstanley added: “Blacks have been in the foreign service being representatives of the United States since the late 1890s, when we were sent out as envoys,...
