Black Lives Matter: A Push for Liberation & an End to Racism Essay Example

Introduction

The Black Lives Matter movement is a push for Black liberation and a call for an end to racism, especially in the US. The movement is more concerned about human rights, and its influence in the political and legal landscape cannot be denied. While the activities of the movement have been in existence since 2013, the recent killing of an African American, George Floyd, by the police is what sparked the protest across America. Black Lives Matter movement is a peaceful movement whose primary role is to fight racism.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Is #blacklivesmatter slogan racist?

The #blacklivesmatter movement cannot be considered racist despite omitting non-blacks from its campaign. If anything, the movement is anti-racist that condemns police brutality. The movement is meant to discourage the ills meted against the blacks. These ills are not meted against the whites, and that is why the movement does not include the whites in its quest. It is a communication to remind the authorities that they ought to respect the blacks in the same manner that they respect the whites. Thus, the movement is a call for equality against racism. It is a call for respect for human rights across all races.

The #blacklivesmatter on racial tension

The movement Black Lives Matter does not incite racial tensions between African American people and white police officers. The movement is a reminder to the white police officers and all officers in general of their role to treat people equally and with dignity (Roberts). Law should be applied equally to all without discrimination at all. Therefore, the #blacklivesmatter movement is a wakeup call to the police to perform their duty without discriminating against anyone irrespective of their race, ethnic background, or religion.

The #blacklivesmatter on Trump’s election

One can rightly argue that the #blacklivesmatter movement was not responsible for President Trump’s election. As usual, during campaigns, politicians refrain from statements or actions that can cause division among the voters. As such, President Trump was keen on his campaign speeches to ensure that he does not sound offensive to the African American community. Therefore, the movement Black Lives Matter did not have a great influence on the election of President Trump. However, with the current happenings and President Trump remaining non-committal on his role to protect the African American community, the movement is expected to play a great role in the upcoming general elections.

The #blacklivesmatter movement and violence

The Black Lives Matter movement is a non-violent movement whose major intention is to castigate the police for being discriminatory when dealing with African Americans. While there have been cases of violence, especially when a large number of the members of the movement hold protests, most of these have been where the protestors encounter the police. As such, it is not right to equate the Black Lives Matters movement with violence. In many of the scenes of the protests that have been seen, the protestors are usually unarmed. Additionally, the intention behind the formation of the movement was to advocate for non-violent civil disobedience to push the police to stop discriminatory acts against the African Americans by the police.

The #blacklivesmatter movement and 21st century race relations

The success of the Black Lives Matters movement has gained popularity since its inception. Issues such as racism should not exist in the 21st century, and the movement has been very vocal on this questioning why people should be discriminated against based on their race. The clarion call by the movement has been adopted by various countries and organizations across the globe. Black Lives Matters is bound to be the biggest movement and beyond as more people have come out to strongly condemn racism in such an era. For example, all the English Premier League clubs had to wear jerseys printed “Black Lives Matter” as a way of condemning the racism that has been witnessed in America. Such acts reveal that the movement has brought close interaction between races.

Besides, if the number of protestors allied to Black Lives Matter is anything to go by, then the movement can be considered strong and greatly influential. In an article published by the New York Times, the protests held in June witnessed a great turnout. In Chicago’s Union Park, the numbers were estimated to 20,000, 50,000 in Philadelphia, and about 10,000 on the Golden Gate Bridge (Buchanan, Bui & Patel). These are huge numbers that confirm that the Black Lives Matter movement has taken America by storm. It is also an expression that racism should not be tolerated at all. This message is clearly communicated by the fact that the protestors come from almost all races in America. The whites and blacks are equally perturbed by the racism propagated by the police.

Conclusion

Black Lives Matter movement is a live issue today. More people than before have come out strongly to condemn racism in the US. The spike in police brutality has made people change the way they fight for freedom. While some people have argued that the movement is a racist one, the objective of the movement proves beyond any reasonable doubt that this is a peaceful movement aimed at ending racism in the US and beyond. Currently, the Black Lives Matter movement is among the strongest movements that fight for freedom in America.

Works Cited

Buchanan, L., Bui Q. and Patel, J. Black Lives Matter may be the largest movement in U.S. history. The New York Time, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html

Roberts, F. L. How Black Lives Matter changed the way Americans fight for freedom, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/how-black-lives-matter-changed-way-americans-fight