Uncomfortable realities for US

Months of anger and frustration in Ferguson over the shooting of African-American teenager Michael Brown have, in the end, led only to more anger and frustration with the decision not to indict his killer.

In an interview to be broadcast this week, police officer Darren Wilson says he is sorry, but that he would not do anything different because he was only doing his job. Mr Wilson claims to have a clean conscience and did what he was trained to do.

The anger over the shooting of Mr Brown (18) is igniting protest from coast to coast in the United States, with even US President Barack Obama - the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful army, and an African-American - unable to stem the growing outrage.

Ferguson itself erupted into riots after the grand jury's decision not to indict Mr Wilson.

Police cruisers blocked the main road leading through the small St Louis suburb, sealing off a stretch of strip malls and apartment buildings littered with debris after looting and clashes with police. Yesterday morning, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon ordered additional members of the National Guard to Ferguson in anticipation of more unrest.

But the jury's decision threatens to reignite strife on a national scale, as deep racial tensions between African-Americans and police throughout the country are peeled away.

The grand jury process is being partly blamed for the latest outbreaks of violence, particularly by the family of Mr Brown.

Grand jury proceedings are conducted behind closed doors to encourage witnesses to speak freely and to protect the defendant's reputation in case the jury does not indict.

In the case of the Ferguson shooting, the jury was made up of 12 citizens, nine white and three black.

At least nine votes would have been needed in order to issue an indictment.

The violence in Ferguson comes after the controversy involving another African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Florida schoolboy shot dead in February 2012 by a neighbourhood watch volunteer.

The volunteer, George Zimmerman, was later acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges.

And many will remember the riots that rocked Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of white police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King.

Following the election of Mr Obama, America's first African-American president, the US was gripped by the mantra of ''Yes we can'', the slogan used by the President in his campaign.

There was a sense of self-belief among the African-American community that if Mr Obama could go all the way to the highest office in the land, there was nothing stopping others from reaching their dreams.

However, sadly, that is not the case.

African-Americans clog US jails and head joblessness statistics.

Many are failing in education and have a lower life expectancy than others - often due to lack of access to health facilities but also through death by violent means.

America has become a tinder box of racial unease.

The country - boasting the world's largest economy - is in danger of splitting into racially divided lines, something over which Americans once fought.

Mr Obama seems determined to drive through, by executive order, measures to allow illegal immigrants, usually hispanics, to stay in the US.

His Republican opponents are threatening to sue the president.

The Democrats lost control of both Congress and the Senate, failing to motivate African-American voters or to prove they are the party of equality.

Mr Obama has become more vocal about issues facing the African-American community.

His ''Brother's Keeper'' initiative seeks to improve outcomes for ''young black men in America''.

The president has acknowledged the situation in Ferguson speaks to the broader challenges the US faces.

Some of this is the legacy of racial discrimination.

Violence can never be justified, but Mr Obama recognises many feel the legal system in particular is applied in a discriminatory fashion.

And that is the uncomfortable reality Americans have to face - as is the fact that many communities across the land have the same cocktail of problems as Ferguson.

The fear for many is it will take just one spark to ignite similarly violent protests in their own towns and cities.

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