Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter is an organization founded by three feminist feminists, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, with the aim of combating police violence against people of color (Johnson, 2020).
Background and Impact
Following the increasing police abuse cases in the United States, the campaign has endured a string of events that have made it known internationally. BLM was established after the release of an inmate who murdered a seventeen-year-old named Trayvon Martin. The incident elicited a wide range of reactions from residents, who banded together and formed protest groups to combat racism and police brutality. Recent events sparked the fight against racism and police brutality in the George Floyd incidence. The forty-six-year-old was arrested by the Minneapolis police after an employee at a convenience store reported him using a counterfeit cheque (Hill et al.,2020). The events following the arrest led to Floyd getting pinned on the ground leading to suffocation then death. The lack of air led to Floyd dying in the hands of the police officers and onlookers who recorded the incident. The events sparked a lot of reactions leading to Black Lives Matter global protests during the pandemic. The following essay will discuss how the demonstrations were of benefit to the worldwide community and generations to come.
International Impact
Over the years, the incidences of police brutality and racism in the United States have been astronomical. (Johnson, 2020). Following Floyd's police brutality by one of the Minneapolis officers, most people worldwide joined the United States in the protests against racism despite government authorities all over the world enforcing stringent measures to prevent overcrowding during the pandemic. The Black Lives Matter has become a growing force in the history of the internationalism of people of colour across the globe. The movement has enabled people worldwide to be more vigilant in the fight against police brutality among Black people. The protests in the United States and globally showed a whole new approach against racism and police brutality. Unification of White and Black people in the United States and across the globe established a nation and world that was beyond colour and race. The protests also enabled the Black people, especially in America, to share the challenges they face due to their race.
Awareness and Policy Change
The protests also brought out the significant effects of white privileges in the USA and how racism has shaped the social, economic, and political institutions affecting the lives of people of colour negatively (O'Malley,2020). These challenges enabled people from all over the world to challenge their political and enforcement authorities who have been slow in solving cases of police brutality in their country. The protest serves as a wake-up call for generations to come to fight against racism and police brutality in their country. Also, the demonstrations fostered unity against national issues such as racism that has led to some races being subordinates. Discrimination in the United States has been one of the limiting factors against people of colour in getting health services, good education, and equal treatment.
Impact on Policies and Institutions
The protests served as an eye-opener about various policies embedded in our political, social, and economic systems that have fostered racism (Blain, 2020). For example, in the United States, different public policies have laid a platform for exclusion and disinvestment of people of colour. The current residential segregation in the USA is a direct result of mortgage and lending policies that limited Black people to access mortgages and restrictive housing policies, leading the States to be residentially segregated laying a platform for more racism in the country. Although citizens have been adamant against discrimination in the country, the existence of such policies limits significant changes. Such issues will enable future generations to change and implement policies that will help a state to be united and not get segregated or create income, or access to health care disparities (O'Malley,2020). For example, following the incident, the U.S Congress proposed a legislation reform on the American police department that would facilitate police prosecution for misconduct, brutality on the bases of racism. The reform also banned the use of chokeholds to restrain offenders.
Building a Better Future
It will enable future generations to analyse various policies before implementing them to ensure that social, political, or economic policies are not a platform for racism or discrimination (O'Malley,2020). The protests will also enable future generations to dismantle institutions built along racial lines and white supremacies. The demonstrations helped people to understand how politicisation and racialisation of social and political institutions have been one of the driving factors of continued racism in most countries across the globe. These protests helped citizens to have a comprehensive view of how social and political institutions have allowed discrimination to be significant in their countries. Such information will enable future generations to build social and political institutions that help unite citizens from all races. These protests also allowed people to reflect on how social and political societal institutions have played a significant role in facilitating racism. For example, in Minnesota and New York, citizens protested and demanded government authorities to make police departments' changes to prevent the continuation of police brutality and institutional racism. In the future, it will enable citizens to be more vigilant in making changes in the policies and political institutions to ensure that they are free from politicisation and institutional racism.
Promoting Diversity and Equality
The Black Lives Matter protests also enabled citizens across the globe to reflect their role in the continuation of racism and discrimination against different races (Johnson,2020). Following the demonstration, most organisational leaders have made various changes to their corporate culture by implementing hiring and promotion policies that uphold diversity, equality, and inclusion to allow more people of colour in their workplaces. Also, people have been adamant in pointing out organisations that have promoted racist behaviour for the lack of embracing diversity and inclusion in their workplaces (O'Malley,2020). Pointing out such issues has enabled organisations to be open to diversity, equality, and inclusion in their workplaces, such changes will allow future generations to build workplaces that are receptive of other people's culture and race. They will also create a more receptive society towards people's ethnicities and history in the future, leading to a rise of a racist-free society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, for future generations to make significant changes in the fight against police brutality and racism, there is a need to reform social, political, and economic institutions. Moreover, they should implement policies that embrace diversity, inclusion, and equity in societal paradigms. As a society, all individuals should be vigilant and active in the fight against institutional racism, discrimination, and police brutality. It will enable future generations to have role models and also join in the battle against such societal issues in the future. Solving such social problems will allow the society to foster equality among all races; it will also allow workplaces to be accommodative of employees from all backgrounds and a nation that is united beyond racial lines in the future.
References
Blain, K. N. (2020, September 9). Civil rights international. Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-08-11/racism-civil-rights-international
Hill, E., Tiefenthaler, A., Triebert, C., Jordan, D., Willis, H., & Stein, R. (2020, May 31). How George Floyd was killed in police custody. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html
Johnson, D. (2020, June 30). The George Floyd uprising has brought us hope. Now we must turn protest to policy. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/30/black-lives-matter-protests-voting-policy-change
O'Malley, K. (2020, June 25). How anti-racism protests have changed the world in less than a month. ELLE. https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a32822672/black-lives-matter-protests-achievements-statues-police-reform/
