The History Of The Black Lives Matter Movement

One of the most prominent grassroots movements currently at work in the United States is, undoubtedly, the Black Lives Matter movement. A multifaceted reform movement, it tackles the issue of institutionalized racism against black people in the United States. The movement began as a hashtag on Twitter in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Treyvon Martin case. Zimmerman shot Martin to death, claiming it was in self defense as he felt the young man looked threatening because it was dark and he was wearing a hoodie. He was acquitted of both manslaughter and second degree murder. Activists felt that this case was an extreme example of how little value black lives seem to have to the greater community. How could a young, unarmed black person get shot and killed while the white person who shot him simply gets to walk away? This all started as an anti-racist

This is incorrect because Black Lives Matter is simply promoting equality and is pointing out that America often treats black people as if they matter less than white people. The statistic he is referring to comes from Nate Silver’s analysis of data published by the American government on his website fivethirtyeight which says: Black Americans are almost eight times as likely as white ones to be homicide victims.” This statistic is frightening to hear on top of the movement so important is the presence of such opposition; racism is prevalent throughout the United States, it is institutionalized and harms black people disproportionally, even in a post-Civil Rights Act United States. Many conservatives call the U.S. post-racial, declaring that racism is not a problem in the United States any longer. Black Lives Matter calls attention to the problems with such a discourse and the lies that it