Polarization among US society leads to frequent mass shootings, racist killings: writer

CAIRO - As mass shootings and racist killings have apparently become routine events in the United States, a renowned Egyptian writer has raised a question about whether Americans can manage to live in peace with each other again.

In an article published Tuesday on Egypt's official Ahram Online's website, Azza Radwan Sedky noted Americans are more split than ever before, and US society at large is at odds with itself. She questioned how "the world's most important global power" saw its citizens "reach this level of animosity."

The polarization among the American people has led to a wide divergence in perspectives on such issues as racism, gun control and abortion, "resulting in intertwined and substantial fury," she said, adding, "This fury then morphs into mass shootings, protests, and various forms of defiance."

Being considered one of the most racially diverse societies in the world, the United States is facing turbulent times due to that diversity, she observed, blaming white supremacy for the emerging systemic racism in the country.

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution "makes access to guns lawful and easily attainable," but nowadays, "because of safety fears, gun ownership is even surging," she said, stressing that the surge has led to increased shootings, which rose by 96.8 percent between 2017 and 2021, according to the FBI.

Meanwhile, political rifts in the United States are also widening, and each presidential election has worsened the divisions, she said, noting that the current catastrophe is that Democrats and Republicans do not think or act alike, and they are so far apart in terms of ideologies and principles that a dysfunctional democracy characterizes the US landscape.

The international community is concerned at "the dysfunctions of American society and its bitter conflicts," Sedky said, adding, "the unbalance within the country" threatens its role on the global stage.

"As fear and anger continue to manipulate the American public, peaceable coexistence looks unreachable," the writer said.