The Daily Show’s presenter, Jon Stewart, reacts to the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jon Stewart’s job is, as he says, quite easy. He comes into work, writes a few jokes, makes a few funny noises and is out of there. But not today.

In the 21^st century alone, the United States has invaded two countries, spent trillions of dollars and lost thousands of American lives to protect itself from the threat of Islamist terrorism. Yet when nine people are shot dead inside a South Carolina church, the question that really needs to be addressed is how to protect America from itself.

How long is America going to refuse to recognize just how deeply it is steeped in the culture of racism? Already, the “nuanced language for the lack of effort” can be heard across the media, with people working hard to discount the very existence of racism.

Yet as long as African Americans are expected to live in a state that still flies the Confederate flag—along roads named after the generals who fought for the preservation of slavery—racial equality in the US will remain an unreality.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

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