The dreadful murder of James Byrd Jnr in the Texas town of Jasper this week has drawn attention once again to extreme racial hatred groups and the state of race relations in the United States. President Clinton has condemned the murder and pledged to redouble his efforts to raise consciousness and debate the issues involved. And Rev Jesse Jackson, who visited the town - which has a black mayor and roughly equal numbers of white and black people in its population - says the affair could help to develop solidarity between them.
Mr Byrd was murdered after being beaten senseless and then dragged behind a vehicle for more than two miles, leaving portions of his dismembered body along the road. Those accused are reported to have close associations with the Ku Klux Klan and histories of imprisonment for alcohol and drug abuse. But as yet there is little evidence to link the affair with any wider pattern of attacks by such organisations, nor to justify describing it as a lynching incident, given that it was isolated and denounced by all local representatives. Membership of race hate groups is estimated at 50,000, but most racist crimes are committed by freelance individuals, according to expert research.
President Clinton has been outspoken in denouncing this murder, which he described as "shocking and outrageous". He intends to draw out its lessons in his campaign to improve race relations through promoting dialogue with local representatives and a commission he has nominated. So far it has had limited success, but has at least given the opportunity to debate alternative strategies for combatting racism.
Although this shocking murder has focussed attention on relations between blacks and whites, the latest patterns of immigration from Mexico mean that the estimated 29 million Hispanics will become the largest minority in the country over the next seven years, according to Census Bureau projections, overtaking the absolute numbers of black people. Neither group has benefitted from assimilationist policies into the mainstream melting pot of white American culture. They remain stubbornly apart and their leaders look more to multi-culturalism than assimilation to secure equal citizenship.
This is a huge and unresolved debate about the nature of US society but one that President Clinton has done much to promote. It is essential for it to continue if crude racist propaganda is to be effectively countered with political and ethical arguments, as well as with legal instruments. President Clinton has been fortunate that his economic policies have generated sufficient employment opportunities for racial minority groups otherwise disadvantaged by his welfare reforms. For all the problems of continuing racism, the United States remains an extraordinarily inspiring example of how different ethnic and racial groups can live together in a civilised fashion.