US ambassador: US still struggles with racial issues
American Ambassador, Patrick Gaspard told the Complimentary Breakfast that the US is not the only democratic country struggling with issues of inclusion.
Gaspard said that America has always been transparent when it comes to challenges.
This comes while hundreds of protesters were arrested at the weekend following a protest against the police shootings of black men after the Dallas shooting last Friday.
Five police officers were killed while 7 others were injured when a gunman opened fire on law enforcement officers.
"Some of the tensions that we see playing out in the US today, were inherited from our earlier democracy. We work hard to overcome these challenged." Gaspard said.
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Gaspard cautioned that one should not be quick to overlook racial divisions as well as the violence in South Africa.
"In the US however there have been far too many incidents of lone gunmen opening fire on US citizens."
He also conceded that America had a very difficult history between law enforcement officers and African American people.
"There are profound challenge but it is also being distorted by social media as well as television," Gaspard said.
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Gaspard said that the recent shooting in Dallas had nothing to do with the prevalence of guns in the US but rather underlying racial tension.
"The United States, given its size, is easily one of the safest countries in the world. But we need to be aware of injustices in the US and elsewhere."
"The right to protest is enshrined here in South Africa as well as the US and police officers are protecting those rights. We should not look past these acts of courage" Gaspard said.