Racial inequality has been a reality in the United States for its entire history and presently continues to be a force that creates division among Americans. Many Americans believed that racism ended with the Civil Rights era in the 1960s, during which figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X led the movement for equality. However, it was not until 2014, with the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man at the hands of a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri, that racism beyond the Civil Rights era has once again come to prominence. With racism resurfacing, the current circumstances following the shooting of Michael Brown has initiated a movement for social justice for black people in the form of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) social movement, founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.
BLM started with the aim of increasing recognition in regards to social inequality and police brutality against black people.…