Impact of the Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter Movement was established to advocate for African Americans’ rights and fight against racial bias. Subsequently, much has changed since the establishment of the Movement as African Americans obtained a medium to address some of their challenges. According to Siscoe, “The All Lives Matter response was created to criticize the Black Lives Matter Movement and operates under the assumption that the movement isn’t needed in America because it is a post-racial society” (2). Accordingly, the effects of the movement felt like a new movement, and All Lives Matter was established as a counter-movement of Black Lives Matter. The effects of the Black Lives Matter Movement include advocating for African Americans and the destruction of historic properties. It is argued by Borysovych et al.,” the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement whose activists rallied in different parts of the world to remove or deface monuments to historical figures associated with racism, slavery, and colonialism” (325). Therefore, these effects indicate that there are positive and negative impacts of the Black Lives Matter Movement’s actions. Despite the setbacks the Black Lives Matter Movement faces, it serves the public by spreading awareness, and therefore, all U.S. citizens should support the Movement and contribute to making it better.
The positive impacts of the Black Lives Matter Movement are evident in society. Accordingly, the objective of Black Lives Matter, as argued by Siscoe, is “to move the mentality of those in America away from “us versus them” and in doing so truly free black lives from inequality” (5). The Movement spreads awareness of the bias in society against African Americans and advocates for equality in society amongst all Americans, as argued by Rojas, that their actions led to state governments’ involvement in police departments. Subsequently, it also advocates against police brutality, and according to Rojas, “BLM is one significant voice in the movement for police accountability” (4). Accordingly, as police brutality led to the death of multiple African American males, the Black Lives Matter Movement spread awareness of this action, leading to police reform regarding their brutality. Additionally, according to Szetela, the Black Lives Matter Movement influenced society’s views on matters of imprisonment of African Americans relating to police brutality. Szetela argues, “Black Lives Matter reshaped conversations about incarceration and police brutality” (1). The positive impacts of their actions led to a decrease in police brutality cases, which also influenced African Americans’ incarceration process by starting discussions on incarceration in regard to police brutality.
The negative impacts of the actions of the Black Lives Matter Movement are also evident. The destruction of historical monuments that symbolize slavery and the exploitation of African Americans by Black Lives Matter Movement activists contributes to the negative impacts. According to Borysovych et al.,” the protestors led by the BLM movement have started to target the monuments that symbolize the legacy of slavery and colonialism in a way that transforms anti-racism into a battle for memory and a counter-memorial commitment” (325). The destroyed monuments symbolize the country’s history, and destroying the monuments interferes with the history shared. Some people would prefer to view the historical monuments as evidence of past occurrences. However, these actions contributed to solidarity in the fight against racism. The protesters joined the BLM movement activists to address the dislike for racists and all those who condoned and contributed to the development of slavery in the past. The toppling was also a historical activity on its own as the new reality of opinions on racism was made evident. Therefore, the destruction of these statues symbolized a revolution whereby slavery would not be celebrated in any form, such as the statues of famous slave traders of the past, such as Edward Colston. Therefore, despite the impacts caused by BLM actions, an objective of spreading awareness of racism and inequality is made evident.
The negative results of the BLM movements are based on a couple of factors. Szetela argues that these impacts are felt as a result of problems associated with achievability, reflexivity, and black exceptionalism. These effects influence the actions of the Movement. Accordingly, without a clear path to the goal, alternative methods are preferred to spread awareness. Subsequently, methods such as protesting and destruction of statues are used. These methods sabotage the Movement’s accomplishment, as a negative reputation results from the destruction of property. According to Szetela, it is argued that “In the process, it mystifies class disjunctions and reconciles resistance to forms of engagement that align with neoliberal orthodoxies” (2). These three problems influenced the impact of the movement on society. Subsequently, the number of achievements of the Movement is not as high as would be expected. Therefore, these three issues influence the actions of supporters of the Movement, leading to miscalculated actions that indicate a lack of understanding among the supporters and miscommunication among the Movement leaders.
The group mentality that binds African Americans also influences the performance of the Movement. As the supporters lean on ethnicity as the main reason for support, miscommunication throughout the Movement results in negative impacts on society. Banks argues,” BLM tagline, ‘This is not a moment, but a movement, underpins the philosophy that their group is not just concerned with high profile black deaths at the hands of white police officers, but the fixed, underlying, historical circumstances and structures that have led to this moment, and the different ways that the state enacts violence on Black Americans” (710). The effects of group mentality are the most significant contributor to the negative impacts of the Movement. Instead of contributing to good, it is the opposite with a common repulsive component. The turn to violent types of protests works against the movement’s accomplishments. Additionally, the presence and use of media to promote such activities also influence the impacts of the BLM, especially with the presence of news outlets that may manipulate the information obtained from protests in a manner that discredits the Black Lives Movement. Some news outlets support the violent actions of BLM activists. This support promotes the spread of support of violence, which goes against the proper form of spreading awareness.
To improve on these negative impacts relating to the BLM Movement, policies can be set to monitor the actions of the Movement. Just as All Lives Matter was created as a countermeasure of the BLM Movement, policies can also be created. According to Siscoe, “The All Lives Matter response was created to criticize the Black Lives Matter Movement and operates under the assumption that the movement isn’t needed in America because it is a post racial society” (2). These policies will overlook the Movement’s actions and serve as guidelines. Subsequently, policies can govern actions such as the destruction of properties and violence during protests, stating the consequences of such actions.
To conclude, the impacts of the actions of the Black Lives Matter Movement are evident. The effects, whether positive or negative, spread a form of awareness in society. Consequently, most of the impacts of BLM’s actions are positive in that they awaken awareness for inequality in society. However, the spread of awareness results in the spread of the wrong form of awareness, especially when violence is involved. New policies need to be set to ensure that proper protocols are in place when actions need to be implemented. Therefore, the public should support this movement and advocate for the creation of policies to improve it.
Work Cited
Banks, Chloe. “Disciplining Black Activism: Post-Racial Rhetoric, Public Memory And Decorum In News Media Framing Of The Black Lives Matter Movement”. Taylor & Francis, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2018.1525920.
Borysovych, Oksana Victorivna et al. Black Lives Matter: Race Discourse And The Semiotics Of History Reconstruction. 2015.
Rojas, F. “Moving Beyond The Rhetoric: A Comment On Szetela’S Critique Of The Black Lives Matter Movement”. Semanticscholar.Org, 2020, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Moving-beyond-the-rhetoric%3A-a-comment-on-Szetela%E2%80%99s-Rojas/48f7407d22c448023cac09d873321fcfb42f377b.
Siscoe, Tanika. “#Blacklivesmatter: This Generation?S Civil Rights Movement”. 2016, p. 4. Portland State University Library, doi:10.15760/honors.279. Accessed 11 Apr 2021.
Szetela, Adam. “Black Lives Matter At Five: Limits And Possibilities”. Semanticscholar.Org, 2019, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Black-Lives-Matter-at-five%3A-limits-and-Szetela/c15e28c956f068294f1bbf1bcd6dfb33b822ea89.
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Impact of the Black Lives Matter Movement
Proposal Argument Essay
Assignment: For this essay, take the topic that you researched for the first essay and write an argumentative proposal essay. This type of essay makes the case that someone should do something. Proposals can also argue that something should not be done or that people should stop doing something. For instance, a writer may propose an argument in favor of Congress passing stricter federal gun laws, or a writer may propose an argument urging people to stop texting while driving. Good proposal arguments include plenty of solid factual evidence (logos) but also include ethos and pathos appeals. The purpose of this assignment is to compose a 6-8 paragraph proposal argument essay in which you convince your readers to take action or not take action on an issue of your choice.
You should include evidence (e.g., facts, statistics, and expert opinion) from at least four reputable sources; at least half of these sources must be obtained through BC Academic databases. If sources are not from the college database, they must be CRAAP tested and passed!
AUDIENCE & TONE: You are writing for people who may or may not be familiar with your topic, so you will want to provide some background information. You may also want to assume that your readers have an opposite opinion to yours, so you will want to write to convince them to agree with you. The tone of your essay should be professional/formal, and you should write in the third-person (people, Americans, they, etc.) point of view.