Why Black Lives Matter
| Subject: | 🗽 American History |
| Type: | Analytical Essay |
| Pages: | 3 |
| Word count: | 821 |
| Topics: | 🖤 Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights Movement, 🧏🏾♀️ African American Culture |
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The Black Lives Matter movement is a global campaign that opposes violence perpetrated by police officers as well as the racism that is institutionalized in society. The movement frequently holds demonstrations and marches, during which members express their resentment and rejection of police brutality against African Americans and other forms of racism, such as the ingrained inequalities in the legal and economic institutions of the United States. During these events, the movement members rejected other forms of racism, such as African Americans disproportionately targeted by police brutality. In addition, the movement also has a sizeable following on various social media platforms, particularly on the internet. It was established in 2013 as a direct reaction to the acquittal of a white police officer in the killing of an African American teen named Trayvon Martin.
The Movement Fights for Equality
People of African descent have a long history of discrimination due to the widespread belief that they are incapable of performing as well as others. Following the abolition of slavery, subsequent movements for freedom and equality catalyzed those movements. This problem has been around for some time in the culture of modern America and has not been solved. Although the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 was liberating for African Americans as it allowed them equal opportunity, the blacks continued to suffer from segregation, discrimination, and exclusion. (Lawrence, 2020). Other than that, a significant element that played a role in the development of the Black Lives Matter Movement was the need to provide African Americans with the resources required to fight for and achieve complete political, economic, and social equality. This requirement was a significant factor that contributed to the movement’s inception. Despite the substantial headway that the movement has made, racism is still deeply ingrained in today’s society. The chronic use of excessive force by law enforcement officers against people of African descent is a significant issue in today’s society. It should give rise to significant concern (Fagan & Campbell 2020). Members of the movement have been able to exert pressure on law enforcement to treat them more equitably as a result of the demonstrations that have been held. As a result, people of African descent who have been the targets of police brutality and racial bigotry are finally seeing justice served in their cases. This organization was established to address a wide variety of issues, one of which is the brutality of police officers (Nummi et al., 2019). As a result of addressing the issues significant to people of African descent, it has evolved into a form of liberation. Because racial prejudice is still all too common in today’s society, the organization has prioritized broadening the demographics of its membership. As a result, the movement successfully changed legislation and the prevalent attitude toward African Americans.
Create a Safe Space for the Vulnerable
The Black Lives Matter movement, in response to the idea of anti-black racism and its actual existence, developed its ideology and outlined its goal to accomplish its mission. The collective maintains that it has adhered to the tried-and-true procedures of earlier black freedom groups operating in the United States of America. According to the information presented on their website, Black Lives Matter is a movement that has never been seen before and aims to demonstrate that the lives of all African Americans, including women, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, people without legal statuses, current and former prisoners, and a variety of other groups, are valuable (Thomas, 2019). Since its inception, the movement has been based on a narrative that encourages the acceptance and unification of members of underrepresented groups in the resistance to acts of racial violence. This narrative was established as the movement’s foundation. The leaders and prominent activists of Black Lives Matter have publicly rejected several critical aspects of earlier Black freedom movements to provide an intense and persistent response to inequality and injustice. Some examples of these aspects are participation in political support for the Democratic Party, religious activities, and highly regarded discourse.
In conclusion, African Americans have been subjected to deprivation and persecution for many decades, and racism is still a significant problem today, more than sixty years after the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Any demonstration of black autonomy is met with a violent reaction from the wider community, with the majority white population providing the most robust response. The movement known as “All Lives Matter.” is an example of one manifestation of this kind of response. The slogan “All Lives Matter” has been criticized for omitting, disregarding, and denying the existence of racial issues, which has led to a backlash against the slogan. The Black Lives Matter movement was propelled into action by some racially motivated killings against African Americans. These occurrences help to explain the movement’s narratives and its rejection of the slogan “All Lives Matter,” which ignores the historical oppression of African Americans in the United States and the ongoing oppression still occurring today.
- Fagan, J., & Campbell, A. D. (2020). Race and reasonableness in police killings. BUL Rev., 100, 951.
- Lawrence, M. A. (2020). The Thirteenth Amendment as Basis for Racial Truth & Reconciliation. Ariz. L. Rev., 62, 637.
- Nummi, J., Jennings, C., & Feagin, J. (2019, December). # BlackLivesMatter: Innovative black resistance. In Sociological Forum (34), 1042-1064.
- Thomas, D. (2019). Black lives matter as resistance to systemic anti-Black violence. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 8(1).
Offered for reference purposes only.