Is the BLM movement effective?

By Isaac Colon

Rhetorical Situation My intended audience My purpose for writing My stance toward my topic High school/College activists who want to explore the BLM movement. My purpose for writing is to be able to help anyone who is trying to explore the BLM movement. Through this piece of writing I want to be able to give the reader a perfect understanding of the current racial state of this country. I’m very open minded to hearing what others think about this topic, however I do not agree with any racist opinions or views.

Introduction: Black Americans have been the main targets of racial prejudice in America for centuries. Ever since the 17 th century, African Americans have been treated unfairly in a country that promises equality. Growing up in a city like Miami where the population is very diverse, I’ve come to meet several different people from several different races and ethnicities. This has allowed me to witness the different way that the world functions for those individuals of color. Because of this, African Americans have been taking a stand against the racism in this country. Recently, this stand has come in the form of the Black Lives Matter movement, which came as a result of recent killings and injustices that have been committed to African Americans like the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The BLM movement’s main goal is to try and establish a simple fact, that Black Lives Matter. The only issue on the matter is that it is difficult for people to agree whether the BLM movement is effective in accomplishing their goals.

1 st Paragraph: To understand the debate over the Black Lives Matter movement, you need to understand the movement itself. You would need to understand the racial injustices that Black Americans have undergone in this country for decades. Black Americans were originally bought to thiscountry to be used as slaves. Most people are aware of the racism that African Americans face in this country, so it is not hard to recognize the struggle that they face. Many people are also aware of the Black Lives Matter movement that has recently sparked in the United States due to the death of George Floyd. George Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin, who had George Floyd in his custody. According to an article from The New York Times, Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for at least “eight minutes and 15 seconds” while ignoring Floyd’s pleads for help. This event caused an outrage all over the world, a YouTube video titled “Black Lives Matter Protests Around the World”, explores the affect this movement had on the world. The video displays images and videos of protests ranging from the United States to Amsterdam and France. Exploring the global effect of the BLM movement is a crucial step to realize the spark that George Floyd’s death ignited in the Black population of the world. In order to fully understand this movement, you would have to understand the reason that this movement started and their goals that they are trying to reach with the movement.

2 nd Paragraph: A second aspect that people tend to disagree about is whether the police system in the U.S. needs to be abolished and recreated. One of the main goals of the BLM movement is to abolish the police force in the United States. However, the meaning behind this statement has been skewed, from just meaning a complete reformation of the police force, to literally abolishing it entirely. In an article from The New York Times, Mariame Kaba states that “We can’t reform the police. The only way to diminish police violence is to reduce contact between the public and the police.” The reason for this being the internalized racism that is built into the police force. Even though not all police officers are inherently bad, it is believed that a high number of police officers are racist, and this has corrupted America’s police force. Individuals who support the BLM movement usually support the idea of abolishing the police force as well, but a high number of individuals strongly disagree with this idea. A police force is one of the most vital things for a functional country/society, so the thought of abolishing the police force could turn individuals away from the idea. People like Genee Tinsley, are educating people about a Florida Bill that would “make it harder for cities to cut police funding and prevent protestors from suing for damages if they’re injured by a counter-protestor.” This bill is an example of one of many ways that some individuals are choosing to try and counter-act the propositions that the BLM movement are trying to uphold. 3rd Paragraph: One aspect that people have different views on are whether or not the Black lives that are taken matter. The people that believe that Black lives do not matter are the reason that the movement itself exists. Even though Black people are humans just like everyone else and deserve to live the same life everybody else lives, there are people that do not think that way. Many people in our country believe that African Americans are not equals to us and deserve to be treated as such. Many Americans despise the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and get angry at the sight of those words because they truly believe that Black Lives do not matter. Even if someone openly supports the BLM movement, it is hard to tell if they are genuine. Geoff Beattie expressed in his article, “…racism is about action in everyday life, not just words or hashtags at a time of uprising. We can be careful about what we say — language is conscious and controllable. But it is perfectly possible to hold deep-seated racist views, sometimes subconsciously, and simultaneously announce you are definitely not racist.” Using a test called the implicit association test, Beattie found that white people are quicker at associating white faces or names with the concept “good” then they are for black faces or names. This research study serves as a strong pillar of evidence as proof of internalized racism. This racism has been around in our country for decades and continues to this day, even after Black people fought for their rights many years ago. 4 th Paragraph: Most people can agree that police brutality against Black Americans is a real thing in the United States. Whether or not you support the Black Lives Matter movement or even if you dislike Black Americans, there is no ignoring the fact that Police Brutality is a very real thing. It is very easy to see the racial injustices that go on inside of the United States against our African American population. According to a research study on PLOS one, “Across all MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas), Black people were 3.23 times more likely to be killed compared to White people.” This statistic shows that just off of race alone, a person is more likely to be killed in an encounter just because they are black. On top of this, there are several examples that have been brought to light again recently, like the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, Rodney King, Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, and more. The list of African American deaths due to racial prejudices is ever-growing and hard to ignore, even if you are someone who believes that Black Lives do not matter, you can see the racial injustices happening to African Americans all over the United States. Annual incidence rates of fatalities involving police per 100,000 and 95% CIs for MSAs with the highest incidence rates, 2013 — 2017. PLOS One 5th Paragraph: The top challenge with researching this issue would be trying to find articles and opinions that do not support the movement. A lot of individuals or big brands as a whole are afraid to criticize the Black Lives Matter movement because they do not want to be labeled as racist. According to an editorial post from the CNN news website, this is causing a lot of people to either stay silent or just blindly support the movement to appease people. This factor makes you wonder as a reader or researcher if everything written in the article or statement truthfully reflects the point of view of the author. The only way to deal with these challenges would be to scour for sources that openly criticize the movement. These sources will typically agree with the message behind the BLM movement, but have heavy criticisms about the methods used to obtain the end goals of the movement. An example of such would be an article from the New York Post that openly criticizes the Black Lives Matter Movement, which states “With another two police officers shot at the Black Lives Matter riot in Louisville on Wednesday, it’s time to lift the veil on the whole movement: It’s a haven for unrepentant cop-killers.” Many writers that voice criticisms very similar to Rudy Giuliani, like Lucy Kross Wallace, also make sure to make it known they are not against the thought of the movement. Wallace states that, she would be happy to support the movement if she saw a shift in the overall focus to address issues like “education, poverty, crime and family structure.” The people who write articles like this are not afraid to voice their opinion on the subject, so it is easy to obtain information.

WORK CITED LIST Washington, Irving. “Taking ‘Black Lives Matter’ from Slogan to Reality.” CNN, 16 July. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/07/16/opinions/black-lives-matter-usa-race-irving/index.html. Hill, Evan, et al. “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody.” The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html. Giuliani, Rudy. “Face Facts: ‘Black Lives Matter’ Is All about Hate.” New York Post, 25 Sept. 2020, nypost.com/2020/09/24/face-facts-black-lives-matter-is-all-about-hate.