US Opinion and Commentary

“VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussion and opinion on these policies.” — VOA Charter

Showing Archived Posts

Why Freddie Gray Is Still a Thing One Year On

Posted April 22nd, 2016 at 1:16 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

The outrage that erupted and spilled into the streets of Baltimore in the days after 25-year-old African-American Freddie Gray died in police custody harkened back to another painful and ugly moment in American history. Heavily armed police on the streets, clouds of tea gas, protesters being dragged away against their will: it could have been Baltimore 48 years ago—1968—after the assassination of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

But it was April 2015. The city burned with anger, outrage and grief for days. Several months later, six Maryland police officers—not all were white—were charged in connection with Gray’s death. The state prosecutor cited the cops for improperly arresting and shackling Freddie Gray in violation of police rules by loading him into a van without the required safety restraints, and also ignoring his pleas for help.

Freddie Gray, the riots and the sudden shattering of business as usual in Baltimore morphed into a symbol of all the other recent violence between police and the black community, some recorded on smart phones and uploaded to social media websites. A year later, things are quiet, at least on the surface. But much remains unresolved, prime to erupt again as law enforcement grapples with a crisis that until recently had been swept under the carpet.

Still Reaching for MLK Jr.’s Dream

Posted January 18th, 2016 at 1:41 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

Despite electing a black president – Barack Obama – not only once, but twice, racism in America persists. With a slew of smartphone videos showing policemen reaching for their guns during confrontations with African-Americans, who end up dead, it is undeniable that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of equality remains unrealized. Has there been progress? Yes. There’s an African-American man in the Oval Office. There are laws in place. There is Jay Z, Cornel West, Toni Morrison and Oprah, just a few of countless prominent and celebrated black Americans who are thriving economically, who are influential and adored. There is also Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland. There is the chilling Dash-Cam video of Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by a Chicago cop, a video that was only released by authorities long after the event. In response, the “Black Lives Matter” movement sprung to life, controversial and criticized just as Dr. King was so many years ago.

Remembering Civil Rights Icon Julian Bond

Posted August 17th, 2015 at 12:39 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

The death at age 75 of Bond, a towering civil rights leader, comes at a moment when America is revisiting its history of racial inequality all over again. A new movement, #Black Lives Matter, has been born amid a series of deadly incidents involving white cops and African Americans. One observer hoped that Bond’s legacy would result in a new generation of young leaders filling the void he leaves behind.