Essay On The Black Lives Matter Movement

The acquisition of a position of authority holds the potential of opening a Pandora’s Box of the most undesirable traits in the human arsenal. Thus, concepts such as “power-tripping” have emerged — testaments to the damage brought by power in the hands of the undeserving. In the Stanford prison experiment of 1971, power without morality was further explored. Men designated prison guards were given sticks to command respect and mirrored sunglasses to release them from accountability, and within days they had abandoned humanity entirely. The experiment serves as a microcosm for a national phenomenon of police officers abusing their authority to unfairly target victims, usually with racial motivation. Over the past year, questionable killings have littered the news, stripping the African American community …show more content…
Therefore, the biggest struggle of today’s generation is a new civil rights movement — a campaign for equality in life as well as law. In order for today’s civil rights movement to be successful, it must gain popular support through a grassroots support system. Though Darren Wilson shot Mike Brown over a year ago, the “Black Lives Matter” movement has only gained fervor. Statistics reveal that a disproportionate number of African American people are annually killed by police officers, and government investigation into such cases has resulted in little national change. Therefore, it is the moral obligation of the people of the United States to monitor a deep-rooted racism overlooked by investigators. Though some may argue that the legislative and judicial branches will institute tighter supervision of their executive counterparts without further impetus from the public, a grassroots movement is the only way to ensure widespread equality. Furthermore, American history reveals a frightening discrepancy between law and