Black lives matter” a slogan representing the plea of thousands from a new movement against anti-black racism is simple yet brilliant. But the sayings ability to express so much in so little isn 't as powerful as it its painful, to realize that this message needs to be asserted in a society that claims that racism isn 't prevalent. Many shouting the slogan are young blacks who feel dismissed between the higher power of government and surroundings in their everyday lives. No, Governor O’Malley did not mean any harm while saying “All lives matter.” as a response to the question “Do black lives matter?” and he later admitted to not fully understanding the depth of the movement and the meaning behind the question. But, many others are all proclaiming …show more content…
But it has been growing well before this one incident. During the 1950s and 1960s, overt racism became illegal and less socially acceptable. This allowed most of America to believe that racism was, in fact, over and enabled people to place the ongoing struggles of the black community as a simple “character flaw”, this allowed issues within the community to be often dismissed and seen as just a simple way of life. Sally Kern, an Oklahoma State Legislature stated that, as she taught school for twenty years, she noticed “ … a lot of people of color didn 't want to work as hard, they wanted it given to them” all the while Bill O 'reilly, famous television host on Fox News, promotes the idea that “young black men often reject education and gravitate towards the street culture, drugs, hustling, and gangs.” closing off with the statement that “nobody forces them to do that, it is a personal decision.” But to our society today, that 's not racism. That 's just simple facts, now while majority of America would never be as blunt about their ideas of Black America as Kern or O’reily, similar sentiments are echoed everywhere within our society. And the ongoing message within these remarks is that “to be black is to be inferior”. But that 's not fact. That is just …show more content…
On the website created for the “BLM” movement, it reminds readers that the movement itself “goes beyond extrajudicial killings of black people”. This movement is not an anti-police movement. A fact that many people fail to understand. As Jesse Peterson writes about his ideas of the “BLM” slogan, he represents many other americans with the same mindset and way of understanding. “Black Lives Matter[...] seeks to give black people the impression that white people and cops are conducting a killing spree against them.” Simply uneducated on the meaning behind the slogan, people such as Jesse Peterson are simply a click away to realizing the real reason behind the movement. Yet, many Americans will never feel the need to look up, or become educated on the topic. Knowing this, Obama attempted to explain the reasoning behind the slogan explaining how people were interpreting it incorrectly “It started being lifted up as ‘these folks are opposed to police, and they’re opposed to cops, and all lives matter[...] or suggesting other people’s lives didn’t matter or police officers’ lives didn’t matter” he then pointed out that saying “black lives matter” is not about reducing the importance of other groups. It 's about the human right that the
One of the criticisms of this ordeal is that the BLM never put forth the notion that all lives don’t matter. Obviously, all lives matter. But, I think saying all lives matter in response is ignoring the fact that blacks have been disproportionally mistreated, profiled, and arrested more often than whites. I like how Michelle Alexander described the war on drugs as redesigning the racial caste system.
Earl G. Graves said, “Fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King expressed his dream that African Americans would someday be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character, the line between the suspect is a black male and black males are suspect remains dangerously thin.” Our nation needs to follow the five-step plan outlined by ACLU to allow our members of society safety and equal rights for one another.
Despite all these accepted images of successful black people "selling" the idea that the color of a person's skin is irrelevant, racism still exists and will forever exist in America. It is a never-ending phenomenon that is ingrained in American life. Racism is America, just as America is built around the idea of racism. As the civil rights activist and scholar Derrick Bell would say, "Racism is an integral, permanent, and indestructible component of this society." He proclaims that no matter what blacks do to better their status, they are doomed to fail as long as the majority of whites do not see t...
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
Actions speak louder than words, and contrary to BLM’s redundant stance, the sad truth is, they couldn’t care less for black issues. Black people are responsible for ninety-three percent of black homicides in the U.S. (Dailywire) BLM has always been up in arms about police shootings, but when a black on black crime surfaces they’re completely silent. Back in 2016 Peggy Hubbard’s nine-year-old child was killed by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. (Foxnews). BLM remained silent in regards to this,
Black lives matter is a social media movement that went of the Ferguson, Gardner cases etc. Also very rapidly it was to show as a opposition to the police and cops. Somehow when saying black lives matter it was like saying all life matter don’t matter. It’s a touchy subject due to why people view things and for most case I can understand. I feel that the person that made black life’s matter didn’t mean for it to be just all about black life but to inform others around the nation that there is a special problem that is only happening in the African American community and we have fix that issue . we as a society has to recognize this that the African American are not making this up this its not something being politicalized its real and there’s a history behind it so we have to seriously.
This paper was written to discuss the hot button topic, “Black Lives Matter.” Specifically, in regard to law enforcement. This has been an ongoing and controversial issue ever since the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. This is when the movement “Black Lives Matter,” was born, with the belief that blacks are treated unfairly by law enforcement. I, however, do not believe that blacks are treated any more unfairly by law enforcement than any other race.
“Unarmed black men are 7 times more likely to die by police gunfire”. This would make a person who’s advocating for Black Lives Matter have a point to get upset about phrases like white lives matter or all lives matter. Race appears to forever become an element once it involves police brutality. When an African American is killed by a white police officer it almost always seems as if it gets additional attention than when a Caucasian is killed. “In 2012, 123 African Americans were shot dead by police gunfire” (Brander).
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
In the year leading up to elections, we are committed to holding all candidates for office accountable to the needs and dreams of black people” (Marino 6). The movement has done far from that, they have wreaked havoc on the country by lying about police and the other branches of the justice system. Americans need to learn to appreciate the differences of individuals. The country will not move forward in race-relations if organizations like BLM continue to inflame
Some people who express an unfavorable opinion of the movement accuse the Black Lives Matter community of being anti-police. Other critics of the movement have questioned the group’s lack of focus regarding “black-on-black crime”. The group has been accused of being “inherently racist” (Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani), and others have called the movement anti-American. Some have even gone as far as to create groups to oppose the Black Lives Matter movement. Groups such as White Lives Matter, have begun showing up in small communities across the nation. The White Lives Matter group has even been seen in different countries such as
Race relations are always a scary or uncomfortable topic for people to discuss amongst groups of different ethnicities and racial identities. It is a long standing tradition in the United States to walk a fine line and use politically correct terms in the above mentioned setting but to feel perfectly comfortable to speak freely when in a setting surrounded by likeminded people who share similar political affiliations and race. This is the main reason discussions surrounding the idea of race are too often avoided in today’s school systems and in society in general. If we are to encourage our students and children to be free thinking future citizens of our global society, we must first become one ourselves. The only way to accomplish this
In multiple different occurrences the protests have angered others more than just gain awareness. Sadly a large number of people are more upset with the stop of traffic and other inconveniences caused by the protests, rather than the deaths of unarmed black men and women. The protest are doing their job to gain attention, but in the eyes of some they are doing it in the wrong way. One big rally cry the movement has had is “hands up, don’t shoot” which came after the shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson Missouri. It was said that before he was killed he stated “my hands are up, don’t shoot me” which we find out afterward is not true. Anyways hands up don’t shoot, spread like wildfire and grabbed everyone’s attention. It was placed on the big stage, including sporting events, and areas of high traffic. Many common people support Black Lives Matter, but there may be some flaws in it as well. Clearly the main idea of the movement is good, and black lives really do matter. However would it not be safe to say that all lives matter rather than just black ones? It is true there have been many cases against African Americans and they may be targeted more often than other races. From another point of view, there would be riots in the
When a person thinks about Black Lives Matter, he or she may visualize African Americans fighting for justice and equality. The movement Black Lives Matter was created to bring awareness to systematic racism, police brutality and social injustice that African Americans face on a daily basis. In contrary, All Lives Matter downplays the fact that black people are looked down upon in society. All Lives Matter may seem like an innocent title, but it emphasizes that justice for black people is not necessary. Black Lives Matter is not a movement that believes all lives do not matter; nevertheless, it highlights the fact that black lives are taken for granted by the judicial system.
Black Lives Matter is not a bandwagon to hop on, nor is it a hashtag or a slogan. Black Lives Matter is a movement. To not support the movement or to think that the movement does not need support is outright depraved, demeaning and degrading. We too often think that retweeting, tweeting or sharing a photo on social media is supporting the movement and it’s not! This is no longer the 1960’s. We have gained our rights: that is no longer the fight. The fight is receiving justice for our black people, so no effective protesting is no longer sitting at countertops, it is no longer peaceful marching and it is no longer bus boycotting The new protest is to educate ourselves, to show respect, to get involved in the justice system, to raise black lawyers, to vote and to do jury duty. All of these things are needed to benefit the movement in stopping the corruptness in our justice system.