Century of humiliation still cuts deep into the collective psyche

In recent years, African-Americans have taken to the streets across US cities following the fatal shootings or other brutality against black people by police officers. Marches organized by the Black Lives Matter movement were quite noticeable during the recent 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 25-28.

It may be hard for people to understand the reaction or overreaction of African-Americans if they haven't studied the history of slavery and racial discrimination in the United States. Likewise, it is impossible to correctly interpret the action, reaction and overreaction of Chinese if people haven't studied that part of its history it calls the "century of humiliation".

Although the situation today is entirely different from the 17th and early 18th century or even the 1960s, it cannot mask the fact that African-Americans still face discrimination, as evidenced by the low income and poor education in their communities and the much higher incarceration rate than the nation's average.