Post 1: How Has the BLM Movement Affected Discussions And Views About Racism in the U.S.?

By: Hannah Villegas | September 15, 2020

Unless you live under a rock, chances are that you recognize the name George Floyd and know about the Black Lives Matter movement. If you do happen to live under a rock, I hope that my research can give you a better understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement and how its activism thus far has changed the conversation of racism in our country.

Black Lives Matter is a human rights movement that was founded in 2013 by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal who are three accomplished and very intelligent African American that have experience in leadership roles and advocacy in racial justice. Their main goal, according to their website “blacklivesmatter.com,” is to raise awareness on the racial injustice and brutality against black communities in and outside the United States. Together, these women have created a safe and creative space for Black communities meanwhile actively tearing down systemic racism and fighting for equality.

8 Minutes and 46 Seconds

From taking a knee during the national anthem to forcefully taking a knee on top of an innocent man’s neck and killing him, the double standard between the white and black community is very apparent and hypocritical. George Floyd was an innocent black man who was killed this year on May 35 in broad daylight. After being suspected of using a counterfeit bill, four police officers arrived at the scene where they handcuffed and pinned Floyd to the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds before killing him. George Floryd spent those 8 minutes and 46 seconds telling the police officers “I can’t breathe” and crying out for help to bystanders as they were forced by those same police officers to not intervene.

In today’s society racism is still very much alive and used in our everyday lives, whether you chose to acknowledge it or not. The reason as to why I am so interested and passionate about my research topic is because I, to a certain extent, can relate and understand what the Black community faces on a daily basis. I have experienced racism first-hand, but not as brutal and persistently as the Black community.

The World’s Response

In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, the world reacted both negatively and positively. Some examples would be those who have had the luxury of living a life without discrimination based on the color of their skin have acknowledged their white privilege and educated themselves about the racial injustices in America. An ACLU article titled “How Black Lives Matter Changed the Way Americans Fight for Freedom,” explains just how the recent murders of innocent Black people changed the way Americans think about systematic racism and authority figures in our government. However, it has also caused a lot of tension and negative perspective on the movement. I know where I stand on my beliefs about racism in America, but I also want to understand and see the viewpoints of those who are not so sympathetic and understanding of the movement. Police brutality has been a very important and controversial topic in systematic racism. Those opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement goals have created counter movements in response like the All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movement, which emphasizes the lives of everyone in America and police lives as well.

Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter

Common phrases and comments that I have heard from those opposed to the Black Lives Matter movements are “Cops kill more white people than Black people” and “Black people commit more crime.” However, facts from the Mapping Police Violence database show that “Black people are killed at a rate three times higher than white people and that includes them being unarmed.” Now looking at the data in Minneapolis, Minnesota — where the murder occured — Black people were killed at a rate ten times higher than white people (13 times). These are just a small amount of the large amount of data from the many resources out there, but the truth is this. The Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter movements are very misleading and disrespectful. All lives matter, of course they do, but Black lives are the ones that are more at risk and in need of our attention right now. Blue Lives Matter implies that being a cop is socially the same as to being a Black person, which is not. For one, you are not born a police officer. It is a career in which you chose to study and go to school for, usually only needing a high school diploma, meanwhile being Black is not a choice. You choose to become a cop, it is a career not an identity. And two, there is no history of police officers and other authoritative jobs being oppressed the same way that people of color, gender, minorities and sexual orientation go through on a daily basis. On the contrary, law enforcement has a 400-year history of racism being its main purpose of existing. History professor, Sally Hadden, stated in a USA Today article titled ““Not just George Floyd: Police departments have 400-year history of Racism,” that the idea of policing came from back in the 1600s when the U.S patrol their communities by using watchmen and because of an increase in slave population, the title slave patrol was formed in order to attack and hunt down any and all runaway slaves in the South. As time went by, the evolution of law enforcement grew, however the main idea from where it originated did not. Therefore, Blue Lives Matter is an attempt to silence the Black community about speaking up about their life long struggles of this systematic oppression in our country.

My Perspective

My dad is a Senior Chief in the United States Navy. My family and I have supported my dad and his career our entire lives. I believe that we have a pretty good understanding of patriotism and loyalty to our country, but now that I am growing up and becoming my own person I have realized that it is okay for me to change my belief system. I like to believe that as you get older, you will start to have your own life experiences in which you will learn and grow from as a person. Your personal experiences and beliefs do not have to be the same as your parents and family members. But at the same time, you cannot manipulate and force your beliefs onto other people just like how you should not disregard other people’s personal experiences.

Even though my dad has and still is serving in the Navy, I do feel that police brutality is a very big and crucial part of the government that needs to be reformed. The amount of training, flexibility and carelessness that the institution is founded on needs to be changed to fit this generation and societal factors. We need to figure out why police brutality is still happening and what exactly we as a citizens can do. NY Times author Spencer Bokat-Lindell breaks down the statistics and why this is still happening in his article titled, “Why is Police Brutality Still Happening?” An article published by USA Today titled “Not just George Floyd: Police departments have 400-year history of Racism” explains the development and societal effects of law enforcement in the United States. The author, Wenei Philimon, not only provides supporting evidence to the racial injustices in law enforcement throughout policing history but also testimonies from law and history professors in criminal injustice.

Ways You Can Help Stop Racism and Educate Others

In order to help stop racism and prevent another innocent life from being lost, we need to educate ourselves. Some ways we can help stop racism are by listening to people of color who talk about their experiences and everyday racism and honor their feelings. It is okay to ask questions when needed but educate yourself as much as possible before asking people of color for help. When you make a mistake, learn how to fix it appropriately and openly challenge those around you to critically think about racism. These are just some of the many helpful resources available to you in order to help see a much better and peaceful society.

My Conclusion

I have different views compared to my parents and family members, especially when it comes to racism, but I do not let their opinions of me and my beliefs get in the way of what is best for society overall. I want to help educate others and have them realize that we are stronger and better when we work together. It has not been an easy mission to accomplish by myself, which is why I believe that writing this research paper will open my and hopefully my classmate’s minds as well. With that being said, I agree with New York Times author Larry Buchanan when he says that the Black Lives Matter is an important and basic human rights movement that is and will most likely continue being “the largest movement in U.S. History.”

Works Cited

-, The Bottom Line, et al. “The Double Standards Held Against the Black Community in

America.” The Bottom Line, 26 Feb. 2020,

thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2020/02/perfection-standards-in-the-black-commun

ity-copy-wip.

Bokat-lindell, Spencer. “Why Is Police Brutality Still Happening?” The New York Times,

The New York Times, 28 May 2020,

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/opinion/minneapolis-police-brutality.html.

Hill, Evan, et al. “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 1 June 2020,

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html.

Mapping Police Violence, mappingpoliceviolence.org/.

Philimon, Wenei. “Not Just George Floyd: Police Departments Have 400-Year History

of Racism.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 June 2020,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/07/black-lives-matters-police-

departments-have-long-history-racism/3128167001/.

Roberts, Frank Leon. “How Black Lives Matter Changed the Way Americans Fight for

Freedom.” American Civil Liberties Union, 24 Sept. 2019,

www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/how-black-lives-mat

ter-changed-way-americans-fight.