The blatant acts of systematic violence against Black people occurring across our country have become increasingly more alarming in recent days. Ezel Ford, a South LA resident was shot several times after an alleged “investigative stop”. Tamir Rice was recently killed by police officers within seconds of the initial encounter. These are just two of a myriad of instances of #policebrutality towards Black people, while there are few examples of such violence against White people. Black Lives Matter, as a movement, is therefore a retaliation against white privilege and the extreme social inequality that has prevailed in our country for ages.
White privilege is an unseen veil that has seeped into our social settings and rooted itself in our criminal justice system over the years, resulting in blatant institutional and systemic racism. With this at its heart, #BlackLivesMatter started as a slogan protesting against the police after the killing of a young Black man, and has since evolved into a strong and vibrant movement that can make a difference.
As stated in its guidelines, the Black Lives Matter movement is committed to vigorous action for freedom and justice for all African-American people, and by extension, everyone. It celebrates diversity and ensures equal rights to the diverse American community in terms of gender, race and age. It also works to perpetuate feelings of camaraderie and acceptance, desire for justice, and security for Black Americans. Moreover, it ensures that people of color are given equal respectful tolerance within all stages of the criminal justice process. From every possible perspective, it is a positive and potent force aimed towards ending racism, thus deserving the vocal and financial support of all those who care about social equality and justice in America.
A frequent argument from the opposition is how Black individuals are often involved in crime, or form lower socio-economic groups that are naturally prone to violence. Many who are blinded by privilege fail to realise the way Black children are raised and conditioned, never afforded the chance to rise up the economic hierarchy by a system that is unjust at its core. As soon as a Black child starts school, the overly punitive system often conditions the child’s brain in a negative way. Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, which results in these at-risk children getting pushed from the classroom to the juvenile criminal system, a trend referred to as the “School to prison pipeline system”. Suspending and expelling students based on irrelevant issues such as bringing nail clippers to school is bizarre. Yet this is a consistent occurrence in the racist academic institution that modern America is somehow tolerating, and reflects the latent discrimination found within the so-called zero tolerance of school disciplinary policies towards the Black community. Instead of hiring trained mental health professionals, police officers are assigned to handle innocent childhood offenses in the school system that could and should be handled without involving the law.
As “Black Lives Matter'' went global, so too did “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” in response. “Black lives matter” was never intended to degrade any other group or culture, including the lives of police officers or those who are not Black. This interpretation is just an example of White people exercising their privilege, as they can afford to turn a blind eye when it comes to understanding Black activism in light of institutional racism in America.
We cannot rest until the hyper criminalization of minorities ends, bringing about an end to institutionalized racism in our justice system and true equality for all.
