Dreams of equality lie in the dust

Events in Ferguson and Cleveland have highlighted the US’s tortured relationship with race

Police in riot gear move past a burning vehicle in Ferguson Picture: EPA/AP
US president Barack Obama delivering a statement on the decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson

Back when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States in late 2008, it was fashionable for pundits to proclaim that a “post-racial” era had begun.

Those suggestions always looked overly optimistic – especially to those Americans who, ...