In recent months some major American cities have experienced racial tension which has erupted into violence. In August Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Sections of the community reacted with violence, looting and protest and when, at the end of November, a Grand Jury decided not to indict the policeman there was further violence. Then in New York another Grand Jury decided against indicting a policeman who was caught on video in Staten Island putting a choke hold on a black man. Eric Garner was heard screaming "I can't breathe" and he subsequently died. The cases have raised questions about how much progress has been made in America towards creating a truly equal society. Joining Ernie Rea to discuss church and race relations in the United States of America is the Rev Cheryl Sanders, Professor of Christian Ethics at the Howard University School of Divinity and Pastor at the Third Street Church of God in Washington DC; Bishop Larry Jones, Founder and Pastor of Greater Grace Church in St Louis Missouri; and Alexander Smith, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Warwick University and at Kansas University.
Producer: Beatrice Pickup