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. As a policy advisor to this group, it is important that the successes of this movement are attributed to their efforts in recognizing primary conflicts between white and black people and efforts to address them with collaborative solutions. These activists have worked hard to create change themselves. Upon studying their tactics and overarching mission, and in light of the results of the November 2016 election, it is advisable that, in order for them to achieve their policy goals of protecting black and minority lives in America, that they focus their efforts on the following three main policy objectives: Ensuring that the National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation are not keeping activists under surveillance on the state level; Keeping track of fatal shootings on the federal level; Instating the banning of military weaponry shipment to police departments on the federal level. In the short time since it was established, BLM has already seen monumental successes, like pushing this past election’s presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to appeal to the police brutality happening among the black community. However, the group’s success in creating a more equal society in 2017 relies on specific goal-oriented plans, as enumerated in this memo, to ensure that the results of the November 2016 election do not have a detrimental impact on the minorities living in America. Now, more than ever, the success of BLM is imperative because an individual who has disparaged religions and races throughout his campaign will be leading the country in the White House. BLM’s efforts may lead to a tug-of-war between enacting discriminatory laws versus banning them. The policy goals advised in this memo will have substantive weight to the lives of not only members of this group, but also members of the Black community residing in the United States, as well as consequent influence on the treatment of minority, non-white groups at-large in the country. With the implementation of these policies, these changes will also have far-reaching impact on civilian life, especially when it comes to the currently precarious civilian-police relationship. Black community, minority groups, and civilians in society are all facing the effects of racial discrimination, and in the fight for equality, these three key stakeholders aspire the same equal treatment as white people have in society. In order to move ahead with the three key policy objectives advised in this memo, BLM must first recognize the areas of existing opposition that it currently faces. Although laws intend to decrease racial discrimination exist, racial tensions and inequalities continue to persist. As such, BLM’s objective is to highlight the denial of equal treatment for …show more content…
Activists can pressure their state representatives to evaluate the constitutionality of the surveillance, which is a violation of their privacy. Keeping activists under surveillance implies that the individuals are suspects, which requires due cause. BLM activists can hire lobbyists to push state representatives to create laws that may implement a way to prevent the NSA and FBI from invading their privacy. Additionally the lobbyists may inform state representatives why surveillance violates their freedom of privacy, and the state representatives can appeal to the NSA and FBI through their power of the purse, and pressure them to fix their mistake or risk losing
BLM started with the aim of increasing recognition in regards to social inequality and police brutality against black people. As a policy advisor to this group, it is important that the successes of this movement are attributed to their efforts in recognizing primary conflicts between white and black people and efforts to address them with collaborative solutions. These activists have worked hard to create change themselves. Upon studying their tactics and overarching mission, and in light of the results of the November 2016 election, it is advisable that, in order for them to achieve their policy goals of protecting black and minority lives in America, that they focus their efforts on the following three main policy objectives: Ensuring that the National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation are not keeping activists under surveillance on the state level; Keeping track of fatal shootings on the federal level; Instating the banning of military weaponry shipment to police departments on the federal level. In the short time since it was established, BLM has already seen monumental successes, like pushing this past election’s presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to appeal to the police brutality happening among the black community. However, the group’s success in creating a more equal society in 2017 relies on specific goal-oriented plans, as enumerated in this memo, to ensure that the results of the November 2016 election do not have a detrimental impact on the minorities living in America. Now, more than ever, the success of BLM is imperative because an individual who has disparaged religions and races throughout his campaign will be leading the country in the White House. BLM’s efforts may lead to a tug-of-war between enacting discriminatory laws versus banning them. The policy goals advised in this memo will have substantive weight to the lives of not only members of this group, but also members of the Black community residing in the United States, as well as consequent influence on the treatment of minority, non-white groups at-large in the country. With the implementation of these policies, these changes will also have far-reaching impact on civilian life, especially when it comes to the currently precarious civilian-police relationship. Black community, minority groups, and civilians in society are all facing the effects of racial discrimination, and in the fight for equality, these three key stakeholders aspire the same equal treatment as white people have in society. In order to move ahead with the three key policy objectives advised in this memo, BLM must first recognize the areas of existing opposition that it currently faces. Although laws intend to decrease racial discrimination exist, racial tensions and inequalities continue to persist. As such, BLM’s objective is to highlight the denial of equal treatment for …show more content…
Activists can pressure their state representatives to evaluate the constitutionality of the surveillance, which is a violation of their privacy. Keeping activists under surveillance implies that the individuals are suspects, which requires due cause. BLM activists can hire lobbyists to push state representatives to create laws that may implement a way to prevent the NSA and FBI from invading their privacy. Additionally the lobbyists may inform state representatives why surveillance violates their freedom of privacy, and the state representatives can appeal to the NSA and FBI through their power of the purse, and pressure them to fix their mistake or risk losing