The Black Lives Matter Movement
In the summer of 2013, Alicia Garza posted a message on Facebook in response to the George Zimmerman case, it ended with the hashtag Black Lives Matter. George Zimmerman is known as the man who gunned down Trayvon Martin, an African- American teen. This moment highlights the treatment of African-Americans in recent years. Ever since, this statement has become a rally cry, putting a spotlight on America’s view of equality. The movement has given people hope for change; however, it has also brought another side to the conversation. Is the Black Lives Matter movement against other races? The statement Black Lives Matter may come off as inverse racism, but with the recent circumstances affecting people of color …show more content…
The true goals of the movement are to spread awareness and create equality in areas where it is lacked. In addition, the movement demands that America confirms the value of black lives in numerous ways, including fixing the racial wealth gap, public school issues, and housing inequality (Black Lives Matter). There should be no discrimination against any race, and the movement wants America to value black lives among all other lives. Moreover, President Barack Obama voices the reality of living as a black person in the US by saying, “There are very few African American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars... There are very few African Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off...That includes me” (Capehart). It is clear that there is a sense of unfairness and injustice in our country, and the movement is working to eradicate these incidents in the future. Even with all of this, the reasoning of the civil rights act is still questioned, some people believe that they are only focused on improving their race so that they may override all …show more content…
In fact, this concept emerged when violence was used against police officers by the movement’s activists, suggesting that the movement itself was solely putting down policemen or other races (Townes). The activists have admitted that these moments were handled inappropriately; however, they can take those experiences and work to form a more organized, nonviolent approach. Those poorly planned situations are not the image the activists wanted to portray, and they are definitely not the reasoning behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Similarly, Obama voiced his opinion, “‘I think the reason that the organizers used the phrase “Black Lives Matter” was not because they were suggesting nobody else’s lives matter,’ he said ‘What they were suggesting was, there is a specific problem that is happening in the African-American community that’s not happening in other communities. And that is a legitimate issue that we’ve got to address’” (Townes). These incidents do not take away from their main goal: equality and social freedom for all races. Instead it gives the activists a chance to step back and figure out the best way to bring change. While some people may see the movement as a way to put down other races, the Black Lives Matter movement is not against other racial groups; the activists believe in equality, something of which they have been
In the summer of 2013, Alicia Garza posted a message on Facebook in response to the George Zimmerman case, it ended with the hashtag Black Lives Matter. George Zimmerman is known as the man who gunned down Trayvon Martin, an African- American teen. This moment highlights the treatment of African-Americans in recent years. Ever since, this statement has become a rally cry, putting a spotlight on America’s view of equality. The movement has given people hope for change; however, it has also brought another side to the conversation. Is the Black Lives Matter movement against other races? The statement Black Lives Matter may come off as inverse racism, but with the recent circumstances affecting people of color …show more content…
The true goals of the movement are to spread awareness and create equality in areas where it is lacked. In addition, the movement demands that America confirms the value of black lives in numerous ways, including fixing the racial wealth gap, public school issues, and housing inequality (Black Lives Matter). There should be no discrimination against any race, and the movement wants America to value black lives among all other lives. Moreover, President Barack Obama voices the reality of living as a black person in the US by saying, “There are very few African American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars... There are very few African Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off...That includes me” (Capehart). It is clear that there is a sense of unfairness and injustice in our country, and the movement is working to eradicate these incidents in the future. Even with all of this, the reasoning of the civil rights act is still questioned, some people believe that they are only focused on improving their race so that they may override all …show more content…
In fact, this concept emerged when violence was used against police officers by the movement’s activists, suggesting that the movement itself was solely putting down policemen or other races (Townes). The activists have admitted that these moments were handled inappropriately; however, they can take those experiences and work to form a more organized, nonviolent approach. Those poorly planned situations are not the image the activists wanted to portray, and they are definitely not the reasoning behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Similarly, Obama voiced his opinion, “‘I think the reason that the organizers used the phrase “Black Lives Matter” was not because they were suggesting nobody else’s lives matter,’ he said ‘What they were suggesting was, there is a specific problem that is happening in the African-American community that’s not happening in other communities. And that is a legitimate issue that we’ve got to address’” (Townes). These incidents do not take away from their main goal: equality and social freedom for all races. Instead it gives the activists a chance to step back and figure out the best way to bring change. While some people may see the movement as a way to put down other races, the Black Lives Matter movement is not against other racial groups; the activists believe in equality, something of which they have been