A social justice movement is defined as “a group of diffusely organized people or organizations striving toward a common goal relating to human society or social change” (Dictionary.com). Social justice is ingrained in the history of the University of Maryland because of its proximity to Washington DC and its liberal affiliation. The most infamous protest at the University occurred in 1970. Thousands of demonstrators occupied and vandalized the University 's Main Administration building and ROTC offices, set fires all over the campus, and blocked Route 1, the main artery into College Park. Armed with bricks, rocks, and bottles, the protesters skirmished with police armed with riot batons, tear gas, and dogs (Kiger). In the past and present, …show more content…
The social justice movement began in 2016 and has since been controversial across the United States. The movement has a chapter at the University of Maryland and is frequently written about by students in The Diamondback . A student named Kyle Campbell expressed his opinion about the movement in an article titled “The Problem with Today’s Race War” In his article, Campbell states that he believes the Black Lives Matter movement has no purpose in modern society because laws that directly promote racism are nonexistent. He continues to write that the movement may actually cause more conflict between African Americans and the law enforcement because,“What it teaches young black children is that they should fear and fight the police and that every issue they ever face in their lives will be because of racism” (Campbell). This article was met with conflict when a student named Olaedo Onuh responded with the publication of a separate article. In this article, Onuh states, “The column ‘The problem with today 's race war’ is steeped in ignorance” (Onuh). The opinions these two students hold reflects the ongoing racial tension present in The Diamondback, and at the University of …show more content…
If the students on campus are content with the current state of race and diversity, would these protests be happening? If every student understood the Black Lives Matter movement and the necessity of racial equality, would The Diamondback produce columns that disregard the importance of the movement? Students protested against the war in Vietnam and segregation because they saw that something needed to be changed in society. In order to continue the social progression of our nation, we need to learn from these past events and acknowledge racial discrepancies in both institutions and in
The change in policies orient the Richmond Police force into a manner in which they are able to interact with individuals without being overtly and overly aggressive. Richmond officers are oriented to defuse high-tension situations and be reminded that the person they are dealing with are indeed human, a person like anyone else. One of the reasons why Richmond Police officers deal with situations with the least amount of force, is because of the new training regime that was that instated in 2008, according to Mercury News (2014), by Chief Magnus. Chief Magnus instated a very rigorous and diverse training segment based on solely dealing with the use of force at the training facilities and the streets of Richmond. Every utility a Richmond Officer
The Civil Rights Movement represents a pivotal event in world history. It resulted in positive changes for African-Americans, among other minorities across the United States and much of the world. While the overall goal of all activists during the civil rights movement was to obtain social justice, and terminate racist and discriminatory customs and laws for African Americans, leaders differed in their tactics. Many Leaders hoped to explore issues of race, human rights and dismantle the institutional racism through nonviolent means. However, others felt forced to use violent tactics in order to ensure change. While historians often put an emphasis on the importance of the non-violent tactics of the Civil Rights movement, radical organization’s
Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was created to show the injustices that were being taken against the African American community. What no one was able to predict was the fact BLM started to actually discriminate and overlook members of their own race due to subtle differences like gender or sexual orientation. This type of overlook had to be correct by the BLM community in order to show solidarity inside the movement in order not to overlook anyone inside the African American race.
Black Lives Matter is a movement founded by Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors in response to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, at the hands of a police officer. Black Lives Matter focuses on the importance of the lives of black people, particularly black men who are the constant target of police brutality in the United States. Other movements began as a response to Black Lives Matter such as the All Lives Matter movement. The focus of this movement was to combat the exclusive focus on the importance of black lives, claiming it marginalized the importance of other people’s lives. Movements such as All Lives Matter are not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the mission of movements like Black Lives Matter, highlighting the necessity for a
It would be comfortable for me to continue believing that the Civil Rights Movement forced an end of de jure segregation and routine discrimination, ignoring the continuing de facto segregation and injustices faced by African Americans, viewing incidents such as Michael Brown’s shooting as isolated incidents. I could continue to shake my head and say that these events are tragedies, but surely they do not justify nation-wide protests. If there is no systematic pattern of disadvantage and abuse, then I am not morally obliged to take action. In this class it is impossible for me to simply brush off the complaints of groups like Black Lives Matters as overreactions. Like the rest of the nation, I now have to engage in the serious work of examining reality, acknowledging that racism is alive and well in America, and begin actively working to correct
During the period of 20 years between 1950 and 1970, black Americans were able to improve their level of civil rights. Therefore, it is logical to say that they were at least partly successful in achieving their civil rights. This was accomplished through a variety of ways, two commonly used techniques being legal strategies and non-violent direct action. However, because they were unable to attain complete equality, there must have been factors that worked against the civil rights movement. One of these factors was the use of violence as a means of protest.
(Buchanan, Blue Lives Matter) Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the board among political self-education and a social identity crisis, the Black Lives Matter group is pushing for a civil rights movement and is hell bent on shaking the political pillars and releasing this country from its current cycle of violence and silence. (Sidner-Simon, The Rise of Black Lives Matter: Trying to break the cycle of violence and silence) Amid other routes, this plan has the possibility to take flight and soar, but the more likely solution will be that like its predecessors, it will most likely founder due to a government well versed in uprisings, and will leave is as a nation beaten black and
The Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) that has spread over recent years is destroying police-black citizen relations. They are constantly spreading hateful propaganda and creating danger for the number-one protector of black lives, police officers. BLM is damaging race relations in addition to putting police in danger. The organization is reversing years of wounds that throw us back into race-relations from decades ago. Another way the relationship of black men and police officers is being harmed is by the lack of respect that is being given to officers. Subsequently, police have backed down on their proactive methods and therefore weakened our justice system, and the effects of a weak justice system could be deadly. Americans have to change
"This is not a moment, but a movement," (blacklivesmatter.com). Black Lives Matter is a multinational activist movement that began in the African-American communities of the United States of America. The Black Lives Matter Movement protests against the planned violence and racism that oppresses black communities across the United States of America and in other countries. Black Lives Matter started in 2012 after the state of chaos caused by the Trayvon Martin case.
Police brutality is a prevalent issue in today’s society due to racial bias authorities use in determining the extent in which force should used, and the reality that cops are not held accountable for shooting unarmed black individuals. The Black Lives Matter Movement has worldwide attention, and one of the most significant acts of public controversy that resulted from the kneeling protests of the U.S. National Anthem initiated by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s decision to protest the National Anthem inspired a diverse multitude of professional athletes to follow his example.
In our general society today, many people are very focused on themselves, how to make themselves better, what cute clothes are on sale, who won the game last night. Youth and adults today all have social media in our society, no matter what social media, everybody most likely has one form of social media that they use. Very recently, people have started using these social media platforms as ways to create awareness for certain topics that need to be discussed as a whole. Things such as Black Lives Matter, Homophobia and Mental Health are all topics that are needed to spoken about and have recently surfaced. Many celebrities and people in general know about this, but choose to ignore it and focus on unimportant things. They choose ignorance,
Many social justice movements have sprouted up in recent times as social issues affecting minority groups have come to light. Unfortunately, these movements face intense questioning and doubt from today’s society about their actions and intentions. The Black Lives Matter Movement is a big target of intense scrutiny in media because of its actions and platform as a budding movement. The Black Lives Matter Movement (shortened to BLM Movement) was created in an effort to fight against injustices African Americans feel face them, such as police brutality, low socioeconomic status, and unfair prejudices and stigmas that surround their lives. The BLM Movement doesn’t seek to oppress or terrorize people, as some seem to believe. The Black Lives Matter
being shot down by police which has led to the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement. The question is, Do these protests put police lives in danger?
While many today may think of the Civil Rights movement is in the past, it is obvious that many of the situations that stimulated that conflict are still in the atmosphere. Today civil rights are still being fought for the rights of African Americans and newly added Homosexual rights. Compared to the 1960’s people carried signs for “Voting Rights”, “Jobs for All”, and “Decent Housing”, now people march and hold signs of “Marriage Equality” and continually “Black Live Matter”. The same issues that caused the March on Washington fifty years ago are still surfacing and have gone unresolved.
The fight for equality has been fought for many years throughout American History and fought by multiple ethnicities. For African Americans this fight was not only fought to gain equal civil rights but also to allow a change at achieving the American dream. While the United States was faced with the Civil Rights Movements a silent storm brewed and from this storm emerged a social movement that shook the ground of the Civil Right Movement, giving way to a new movement that brought with it new powers and new fears. The phrase “Black power” coined during the Civil Right Movement for some was a slogan of empowerment, while other looked at it as a threat and attempted to quell this Black Power Movement.