Images and video of Eric Garner’s murder by police generated outrage and protests across the nation. Many wept for the loss of this innocent, but for Black America, it was just another offense in a long series of transgressions against the black body. To them, the pain was familiar—they had known it by many names: slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration. Police brutality was nothing new. This situation was different, however.
It has often been said that “that this is a greatest period for people of all races to live in.” Yet with change in society over time , there has a been a divide over the truth about that statement. In dialogue about race issues within the United States, one controversial issue has been about systemic racism towards people of colour, in particular, black americans. On one hand, Ralph Ellison, a recent predecessor to our present time argues that no matter what the future holds, people will judge others based on their association, their image, which will. In relation, a modern black activist group, Black Lives Matter, argues that even though change has come to America race relations, black people are still endangered by the system.
“’Can You Be BLACK and Look at This’: Reading the Rodney King Video(s)” by Elizabeth Alexander is a powerful analysis into the deep rooted sense of community felt by people who identify as Black, with specific regards to the videotaped police beating of Rodney King; and also examines the deep rooted White stereotypes surrounding people of color in America, more notably in the judicial system. This essay details the unity and solidarity seen in the times, not only surrounding the Rodney King videos, but also surrounding other notable stories about Black violence, such as the murder of Emmett Till, and the stories of Fredrick Douglass, to name a few. It describes in detail the horrible acts committed on Black bodies, and references numerous movements
The killings of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and a plethora of other Black Americans have shown that the manifestation of hate and fear towards individuals of color is still deeply rooted in the American culture. Furthermore, the systematic maltreatment of groups of people in America has extended far beyond just the black community; it has become painfully clear that members of the LGBTQ, Latinx, and Islamic communities are facing a similar level of
He blames the criminal justice system in the murders and claims that “Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.” He is eliciting guilt from his readers, “When we say Black Lives Matter we are talking about the ways in which Black People are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity” which justifies the claim of marginalized Black Lives. In his “Facebook Activism” argument, Wellington employs a logical appeal to prove that online media can be useful in the Black Lives Matter movement. He makes a claim that “social media is a primary 21st century tool, then calls the media as “the next step in the next step in the war against silence.”
The Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 by three African American women. It’s another social justice that has made national news for their cause. Black Lives Matter is just more than a social movement. It is an out cry for help, as a nation, as a whole. Black Lives Matter is a community.
Changing the World… Through Violence? Black Lives Matter: In “Don’t criticize Black Lives Matter for provoking violence. The civil rights movement did, too.”
The death of Michael Brown, a young African-American, happened just over a year ago. The community of Ferguson, Missouri came together to peacefully protest in honor of Michael, and fulfill the Black Lives Matter movement; although once things began to escalate, the police presence became stronger. Police forces are often expressed as being separate from military or other organizations involved in the defense of the state against attackers. However, with the Ferguson protests and riots the police chose to use many tactics in order to diminish the protests and riots. After the African-American teen Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a police officer, the hashtag and movement, #BlackLivesMatter, was created.
On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by former officer George Zimmerman. Instantly media had blown up with headlines involving the tragic fatality. Protests occurred titled as “Black Lives Matter” during the trial of Florida v. Zimmerman. These protests led to distrustful actions toward American government and American Law Enforcement. This protest wasn’t just a segmented time period event, it’s lasted from 2012 to present day and occurs daily and is expanding rapidly.
The biggest group against police injustice is Black Lives Matter. In 2012, a fatal gun shot gave rise to one of the biggest movement that the U.S. has seen in years: George Zimmerman shot 17-year old Trayvon Martin. After a year, Zimmerman was declared not guilty by the jury and caused chaos in the streets and schools of Florida. Ash Lee, organizer of Regional South, responded to Zimmerman’s case as “[w]e’re building the bicycle while riding it and being shot at.” In the article “Black Lives Matter” by Dani McClain, he notes that “hundreds of high-school students in Miami-Dade and Broward counties staged walkouts to protest the fact that Zimmerman hadn’t been arrested on any charges”
The sources answer the question of what role does the history of violence against black people (slavery, lynching, segregation, etc.) play in the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. The sources show that the violence against African American people in the 1800’s is stemmed from the same place as the unsolicited violence against black people today. It comes from the idea that as black people continue to try and make a new place for themselves, white people, specifically cops in this case, continue try to keep African Americans in their place of being seen as a lesser race. It is the history of lynching and of segregation that are coming back into play today, as people who have done nothing wrong are getting killed simply because of their
According to the article Social Policy, the Media, and Misrepresentation, “Social policy makes neither news nor history unless there is some crisis.” They continue to add, in regards to social policy, “Media reporting is central to the construction as well as the reporting of crises,” (source 1). Media outlets use various distortions, such as headlines and use of words, to construct the public’s view of the issue (source 1). This is very common tactic when it comes to the categories of racism and gun control within the social policy. Mass media teaches Caucasian Americans how to perceive African Americans and has significantly attributed to the oppression and discrimination of blacks.
Para 1.) “After police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. The fatal gunshots, fired by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, on 9 August 2014, were followed by bursts of anger, in the form of protests and riots. Hundreds and then thousands, of local residents, had flooded the streets. The killing of Michael Brown created a new generation of black activists, with thousands taking to the streets, and a hashtag used more than 27m times.
Unrest, Ferguson, segregation, riot and #BlackLivesMatter are just some of the words that kept its firm place on front-pages of media outlets despite other issues concerning the United States. Recently, with the start of shooting of Trayvon Martin, there have been constant racial profiling cases that have led to many fatal shootings affecting blacks, many of them merely being in their youth. So, what really is “Racial Profiling”? It is an enduring, and extremely concerning problem that have been facing the United States for decades, despite conservative’s claims that it has already entered a “Post-racial era”. This practice involves law enforcement officers, who target individuals or groups on suspicion of crime based on their race and ethnicity.
On that note; does ‘Black Lives Matter’ mean that only black lives matter; or is it the concept that Black lives mattering is a precondition for all lives mattering? This paper will discuss in the rationality of the movement. The movement was created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for Trayvon Martin’s death. It underlines the “racism and policing that shatters the illusion of a colour-blind , post racial United States” (Keeanga-Yamahtta, T., 2016).
