Blatant racism on street in Los Angeles (VIDEO)

Although some try to deny it, people of African descent and other racial and ethnic minorities face blatant discrimination and double standards in day-to-day life in the United States and around the (western) world. So-called people of color face suspicion, arrests, detention, prosecution, imprisonment and in some cases the death sentence because of the color of their skin. A compelling video experiment supports this assertion.

There is a video circulating online of two men (one white and one black) trying to break into a parked car in broad day light in Los Angeles. According to the Huffington Post, Jason Roberts, host of a YouTube channel called Simple Misfits conducted a video experiment as a result of "unacceptable double standard" he once witnessed.

In the experiment, Roberts set up a camera and attempted (for 30 minutes) to break into a parked car. He set off the car's alarms, but onlookers were not alarmed by the purported robbery in progress. No one tried to stop him or call the police. A police patrol car even drove by. But when a black actor took his turn to break into the same car parked in the same space, LAPD officers showed up on the scene in no time and arrested the black actor.



I submit the video titled "Black Guy Breaks Into A Car" as "exhibit A" in a long-standing indictment against society for blatant racism that hunts and destroys countless people of color around the world. In my view, the response of the experiment, although not surprising, is testament to the plight of people of African descent in the United States and in many countries around the world. Racism is a widespread cankerworm that has fed on - and continues to feed on even the most "civilized" societies.

In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King said amongst other things:

"When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this secret obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.' But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt."

It is a shame that American society, including its judicial system, law enforcement and a chunk of ordinary citizens continue to default on the "promissory note" invoked by Dr. Martin Luther King.

I share the view that Dr. King's "promissory note" remains in default insofar as people of color are concerned -- 50 years after the March on Washington. America has made some progress but social injustice and widespread racism, including racism in the US legal system continue to destroy the fabric of society by denying people of color the right to equal treatment.

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