Obama’s Africa Visit 7-29-2015

29, July 2015              Obama’s Africa Visit

Young Africans were thrilled by President Obama’s visit but many leaders must have been troubled with the President’s preachy style admonishing them with their many policy shortcomings. They must be wondering how the President could be so critical given the epidemic of police brutality against African Americans and their disproportionate high incarceration rate. Race relations are at an all-time low with unarmed African-Americans more than twice as likely to be killed as their white counterparts. The incarceration rate for Hispanic and Blacks is at an all-time high. There is no ‘shining city on the hill’ for most minorities – more like ‘mole hills against a fading sky’.

Obama is also facing fierce criticism after twice describing Ethiopia as having a democratically elected government ignoring human rights groups who have denounced Ethiopia’s democracy as a "complete sham." In a recent election, Ethiopia’s ruling party won 100 percent of the country’s 547 Parliament seats. Human Rights Watch criticized the government in a recent report, stating, "Authorities use arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions to silence journalists, bloggers, protesters, and supporters of opposition political parties."

Sadly, President Obama did not address long standing failed US polices which have militarized much of Eastern Africa, especially Kenya and Ethiopia targeting Somalia which has radicalized many of the locals giving rise to the terrorist group, Al Shabab. The people of South Sudan are also suffering from unspeakable horrors precipitated by the huge proliferation of weapons supplied by western powers.  The US under President George Bush encouraged the new nation of South Sudan to secede from Sudan.