Racism : The Black Lives Matter

A necessary and common fight for equality has been one that has survived throughout all of man’s existence. Due to recent racial divide and the product of racial profiling, a movement has risen up to combat these common issues. The most recent and most well-covered is the Black Lives Matter Movement. Even though it has been lauded by some media sources and individuals as the next great movement to champion for civil rights, the Black Lives Matter movement is not the same as the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s nor is it likely to be as successful. If the Black Lives Matter Movement continues with discrepancies in ideology, lack of clear leadership, and trends of hate, the movement is doomed to fail.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement is a movement against police brutality. This movement began after 17-year-old boy, Trayvon Martin was fatally shot, and his killer, former police officer, George Zimmerman was acquitted for the crime. (BLACKLIVESMATTER.COM) As Black Lives Matter has continued to make a difference through peaceful protests on a mass scale , such as kneeling during the national anthem at sporting events or peaceful protests after a shooting. Many have claimed that the movement is extremely offensive, against police officers, or that African Americans are claiming superiority over other races, while others continue to support the movement. The fight between Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, and Black Lives Matter continuously strikes violent riots, but the question still stands- what is the Black Lives Matter movement really trying to accomplish?

Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement that started within the African-American communities. This movement is organized by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Ever since the black people have stepped on American soil, they have continued to be victims of racism and violence. From slavery to lynching to segregation, the black people have suffered alot in this country. In the past few years, there are so many of them that have been targeted by the law enforcement authorities across the country. This movement’s goal is to raise awareness of racism and violence against African-Americans. They wants African-American to live with dignity and respect like other Americans do.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a loosely‐coordinated, nationwide movement dedicated to ending police brutality that rose to prominence in late 2014. It takes its name from a hashtag started by three Black feminist activists Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi but the movement and the hashtag are not identical (Freelon, McIlwain, & Clark, 2016). BLM has achieved national reputation through their online and offline organizing, obtaining extensive news media coverage and glowing references in music and entertainment television. Based on a horrendous incident that sparked a concern for a lot of Black people across the world, the sudden need for a social movement was born called BLM. Black Lives Matter is a national organization working for the validity of Black life and also working to rebuild the Black liberation movement. Black Lives Matter broadens the conversation and highlight the incidents around state violence to include the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. This referring to the ways in which Black lives are deprived of basic human rights and dignity. According to the article The Murder of Walter Scott, which talks about race and class, “African Americans are less than 13% of the U.S. population yet they are nearly 50% of those killed by the police. North Charleston has a population of 104,000, 47% Black and the police force is 80% white (Miah, 2015)”.

Since the start of slavery to the time of segregation, racism has been a part of America. It has held roots since the birth of America, a nation created for freedom yet many aren’t free. It has caused hardships for people of color and has created division in America. Some believe racism died with the end of segregation or with the election of the first African American president, but the reality is racism and racial profiling is still a major problem in modern America. Racial profiling and racism is causing controversy in America and creating division in a nation when unity is needed.

Black Lives Matter is a rather recent movement that has developed in the United States as a result of the African American community claiming that police officers target and shoot African Americans due to their race. Their aim is to raise awareness of claimed police brutality against African Americans and hopefully increase restrictions on the police forces by taking away the right to defend themselves if they, the policemen, feel endangered.

Racism is the discrimination against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. It has been an ongoing problem throughout time and has resulted in many instances of violence. To this day, racism is still prevalent, and has not been resolved. From racism emerges a multitude of ways it is used. Like, for example, racial profiling. Racial profiling is mostly used by officers, and is the use of race or ethnicity as the grounds for suspecting someone of committing an offense. It exists solely because of racism and, lately, white police officers have been racially profiling citizens and abusing their power. While racial profiling is justified by using the ensurement public safety as an excuse, it is wrong because it creates prejudice against many ethnic minorities; therefore we, as a society, must create a change in the government policies and the police department’s views.

African-Americans are the primary race being treated poorly. Throughout history, African Americans have gone through many hardships with being slaves and although slavery was abolished African Americans were still not granted their full freedom and they continued to be segregated from other races. African Americans hold many negative stereotypes most of which are not true. Due to these negative stereotypes, African Americans are most likely to be targeted by police and many other people for committing crimes. This is called racial profiling, and it is an issue going on around us.

Black lives matter is a movement that stand for black rights, they want to reassure that black people will not be racially profiled by the police. Unfortunately this is something that we see in society but some find the name of the movement to be degrading towards others. People who believe in the all lives matter movement believe that “All” lives matter and that the police should be respected (outside source). This controversy is currently tearing our country apart because no middle ground can be

According to a Guardian study, young African-American men were nine times more likely to be killed by police enforcement than any other American, which recorded a tally of 1,134 deaths in 2015. After many incidents of innocent black people dying by the hands of police enforcement, America is forced to realize important narrative of race and inequality. The Black Lives Matter movement was formed to combat and expose racism and anti-blackness in the United States. Ever since its birth, many have joined the movement; creating and organizing protests, speaking against anti-blackness. But in contrast, many others have criticized BLM, calling it a “terrorist” organization and a hate group. The Black Lives Matter movement being classified as a terrorist or hate group is a misjudge argument and a malevolent narrative.

The above narrative is just a mere glimpse of the hurt, anger, and pain in the black community after George Zimmerman was acquitted of charges of second degree murder against seventeen year old Trayvon Martin. These emotions were the stepping stones of a highly significant movement, the Black Lives Matter movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is a response as well as a stance against police brutality against African Americans, which uses the tragic deaths of teenagers Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown as a head for its cause. Many people on social media know the black lives matter movement or refer to it #blacklivesmatter, especially on twitter. The Black Lives Matter movement was founded by Patrisse Cullers, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza. Which is defined as an “ideological and political intervention in a world where black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”

(Hashtag) #BlackLivesMatter. Black Lives Matter (BLM). This is a phrase, a hashtag, a saying, a declaration, an affirmation of resistance, and most importantly, a calling for change to the American civilization which is unjust in its treatment of black human beings. This is not a moment, this is a movement, and it is truly an unfortunate witness numerous Americans disregard this outcry for justice. Whether it may largely be the purpose of bigoted racism, in which, one is instilled of the opinion that black people are less than or not equal to, seemingly inferior to other cultures. But besides all of these racist principles, a certain ignorance prevails in the misinterpretation of the black lives matter advocated premise. Many tend to interpret

Perhaps you have heard of Colin Kaepernick, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl participant. Colin Kaepernick; was backup quarterback and now a free agent, has turned his platform into a protest by sitting and kneeling during the national anthem. Just one of many nfl players who kneel during the anthem. A silent protest to show support for people being oppressed in the United States. The Black Lives Matter issue began when Trayvon Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman in July of 2013 , was acquitted for his crime and Trayvon Martin was put on trial for his own death. Black Lives Matter is a call to action and response to anti-black racism and a revolt that goes beyond the extrajudicial killings of black people by the police and vigilantes. Black Lives

The Black Lives Matter movement has swept across America. It 's branched out with chapters in over 31 cities and held rallies and boycotts across the United States(Sidner). The Black Lives Matter movement started with the outrage of the death of a young man. It continues to take over headlines and raise awareness on police brutality and inequality. However, the movement has met resistance from the All Lives Matter group. This group thinks that Black Lives Matter is a movement to express hatred towards other races. However, statistics, the views of fellow citizens, and the overall purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement, can prove that the movement wasn 't meant to express hate on other races and that we need to support the movement instead of going against it.

In order to understand the current situation of the African American, it is necessary to define the definition of the concept of racism. Webster’s Dictionary states that racism is the discrimination and prejudices toward people based on their race and or ethnicity. It’s an ideology that is based on the principle, that human beings can be subdivided and ranked into categories as being inferior or superior. It is also defined as the violation of basic rights and liberties, based on the color of one’s skin. Racism in the United States has existed since the founding of this country. It is said that most people see racism as something to do with race relation between whites and blacks, only. In the past, racism occurred frequently and African Americans