Human Rights ‘Defender’ or ‘Pretender’?

Editor’s note: CGTN has curated a series of cartoons titled “Fading Beacon of Democracy” to illustrate how the United States contradicts its self-described democratic persona. The second installment, titled “Human Rights ‘Defender’ or ‘Pretender’?” , details the staggering human rights violations in the United States.

The United States has always considered itself “a human rights defender” and is keen to score human rights conditions in other countries. But would the U.S. hold up to its own scrutiny?

The United States is a multicultural country, but racism remains deeply rooted. Native Americans, who have suffered genocideat the hands of the U.S. government, are still treated as second-class citizens today. Recent years have seen human rights in the United States deteriorate: In 2019, African-American George Floyd died due to police brutality; since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, bullying of Asian-American is surging, with Asian women becoming the “primary targets” of hate crime perpetrators; 20 years after 9/11, “Islamophobia” remains in mainstream American society, with growing hostility towards Muslims. Can racism in the United States be eradicated?