The writer heads the China Development Forum
Anger triggered by the death of George Floyd continues to spread in the US. My experience as a Chinese researcher focused on economic and social development issues tells me that his killing by a Minneapolis police officer does not only reflect entrenched racism toward black people in the US. It is rather a symbol and a demonstration of the many difficulties a minority may encounter in America.
I took my first trip to the US in the 1980s, to a conference at the UN headquarters in New York. As part of the visit I attended a show performed by children from around the world. The first group on stage came from the Soviet Union. They all had light-coloured hair and skin and wore uniform clothing. The American children were different: they had black, white, yellow or brown skin, and were of different heights and weights.