Racial bias exists, admits U.S.

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 23. With a candour rare in governments, the Clinton administration has admitted that ``persistent racial discrimination and de facto segregation'' still exist in the U.S.

In a report to the U.N., prepared by the U.S. State Department and the White House, it said that despite great strides to eliminate racism and inequality over the past half century, there still were half a dozen ``notorious incidents'' of race-related brutality and bias in California, New York, and Texas.

The 100-page report said ``while the scourge of officially- sanctioned segregation has been eliminated, de facto segregation and persistent racial discrimination continue to exist'' in the U.S. The incidents cited were the merciless 1991 beating of Rodney King, for a motor vehicle infraction, by two Los Angeles policemen who kicked and pummelled him - a brutality captured on video; the death of Amadou Diallo in New York at the hands of law enforcement officers and the cruel truck- dragging death of James Byrd in Texas.

The report said ``the forms of discriminatory practices have changed and adapted over time, but racial and ethnic discrimination continues to restrict and limit equal opportunity in the United States''.

The report said recent surveys indicated that while most whites did not believe there was much discrimintion today in American society, most minorities saw the opposite in their life experience.

It said that the ``concern is heightened in light of the fact that nearly 90 per cent of offenders convicted in federal court for crack-cocaine distribution are African-American while the majority of crack cocaine users is white.

- PTI

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Section  : International
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