The Black Lives Matter Movement and its Role in Shaping Discussions and

Views About Racism in the US

Course Code: ENG 102 (Section – 04)

Course Title: Composition and Communication Skills

Submitted to:
Md. Tahamid Ar Rabbi
Senior Lecturer
Department of English
Date of Submission: 14th December 2022
Submitted by:
Name ID Participation Participation Rate
A. K. M. Ariyan 2022-1-10-035 Abstract, Introduction, 25%
Rashid conclusion
Prottoy Bhowmik 2022-1-10-045 The Case of George 25%
Floyd, implements
MD. Rummon 2022-1-10-255 Racism In the United 25%
Rahman States, Government
Policies to Address Black
Lives Movement
Demands and
Intersectionality
Syed Noor 2022-1-10-256 Black Lives Matter 25%
Muhammad protests are shaping how
the US understands
racial inequality, findings

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 INDEX

1. Abstract………………………………………………………………………. 03
2. Introduction…………………………………………………………..………..03
3. Racism In the United States ………………………………………...………...03
4. The Case of George Floyd………………………………………….................04
5. Black Lives Matter Movement………………………………………………. 05
6. Black Lives Matter protests are shaping
how the US understands racial inequality.……………………………..………...06
7. Government Address Black Policies to Black
Lives Movement Demands and Intersectionality.………………………………..06
8. Findings…………………....…………………………………………………. 08
9. Implications……………………………………………………………………08
10. Conclusion……………………………………………………………...…….08
11. References………………………………………………………………….....09

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 Abstract
Racism has a long history in the USA and is still widely practiced today. Racism has been linked
to numerous negative effects on adolescent health and well-being. This research study aims to
demonstrate how the recent tragedy of George Floyd has impacted the conversation regarding
racism in the US. This term paper also illustrates racial disparity, how black people are treated,
and how the US police force behaves against black people. This essay finishes by discussing how
the Black Lives Matter movement promoted racial equality and changed US law to benefit black
people.

Introduction
 Racism; is “The belief that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by
hereditary factors and that this endows some races with an intrinsic superiority over others”
(Collins, 2012, Collins dictionary, p.296). For understanding the situation that all African
Americans have been facing since February 26, 2012, it is necessary to examine the history of
this problem. Judging by the feet of the problem for blacks, the problems experienced by those
people in the United States date not only today but also from the 15th century according to
certain sources. “Blacks brought from South America and Africa for employment at that time
were seen as no different from animals” (Wheatley, 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious
and Moral, p.85). Racism has evolved over time from an overt and obvious form to a subdued
type of prejudice and discrimination. Today, it is frequently used as a technique to convey anger
or ideas on blatant racial inequalities in a way that is not overt enough to be noticed. As a result,
subtle acts of racism are frequently misunderstood as behavior that is appropriate and normal.

Racism In the United States

Regrettably, black people in America have consistently been mistreated and tortured.
Every sector of American society is plagued with racism. Black people were prohibited from
working in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, social assistance, administration,
business support, lodging, and food services due to discriminatory policies. Recent examples will
illustrate will oppression of two black people David Bell and Dr. Susan was infected with the
coronavirus. Because of being black, they were not admitted to any American hospital. The
numerous horrific and solitary occurrences that Black Americans experience are highly
upsetting.
It's not unusual for Black Americans to be left out of economic advancements. 1.2
million, or 21%, of the 5.9 million unemployed persons in January, when the unemployment rate
was 3.6 percent, were black, with a rate of unemployment of 6 percent. Similar disparities
between the black and general unemployment rates of 2.3 percentage points in June 2019, 2.5
percentage points in June 2018, 3.7 percentage points in June 2008, and 6.8 percent in the first

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half of 1988 were also present. (Collins, June 7, 2020, Longstanding inequalities have led to the
current wave of protests).

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2020)

The Case of George Floyd

The 46-year-old Floyd, a Houston native, had purchased cigarettes at a Minneapolis
convenience store. After a clerk suspected that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 bill in the
transaction, the store manager called the police. When officers arrived, they pulled a gun on
Floyd, who initially cooperated as he was arrested. However, Floyd resisted being placed in the
police car, saying he was innocent. Officers eventually pulled him from the car and Derek
Chauvin pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck for almost 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
Floyd was unresponsive when an ambulance came and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Georges’s last sentence before his death was, “I can’t breathe.” The death, recorded by
bystanders, touched off what may have been the largest protest movement in U.S. history and a
nationwide reckoning on race and policing.

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(Source: Botz, May 31, 2020, Racist Police Murder of George Floyd Leads to National
Rebellion)

Black Lives Matter Movement

Black Lives Matter started as an open hashtag. The official website was created on July
17, 2013. Black Lives Matter was founded as a network of activist groups with local chapters. It
sparked a conversation about individuals whose voices were silenced as a result of the several
identities they wore. Although they are used separately, the hashtag and the organization share
the same name. The hashtag represents a much larger group of people who want change. Despite
the hashtag's initial lack of popularity, incidents encouraged more people to use it. After George
Floyd, the hashtag has become famous all over the world. The George Floyd case was centered
on the Black Lives Matter movement. “The hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) was also used a lot
about the Ferguson protests, which is why the number of tweets...skyrocketed to 47.8 million”
(Anderson, 2020, Social Media Conversations About Race). There was no indication of a strong
leader that suited the traditional strategy of social movements when protests erupted throughout
the nation. "We are not a leaderless movement, we are a leader-full movement," the Black Lives
Matter movement responded when questioned. “Say their name, remember Their Faces”
movement was built around how the death of Black people by the police received minor public
attention within the BLM agenda.
After George Floyd's murder, the protest movement got started as word of mouth and
bystander footage spread. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota saw the
emergence of protests first near the corner of East 38th and Chicago Avenue streets, the scene of
Floyd's arrest and murder. In favor of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, demonstrations
rapidly spread across “the country and to more than 2,000 cities and towns in over 60 nations”
(Burch, & Gianordoli, June 13, 2020, How Black Lives Matter reached every corner in America,
p.4331). The demonstrations sparked a global discussion on policing and racial injustice that
gave rise to various legislation initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels in the United
States that aim to tackle police violence, qualified immunity, and systematic racism. The
demonstrations sparked a global wave of monument removals and name changes.

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 (Source: Buchanan, & Bui, July 3, 2020, Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest
Movement in U.S. History)

Black Lives Matter protests are shaping how the US understands

racial inequality
Black Lives Matter has widened our perspectives on the complex issues involving race
and thus created space for social change. Black Lives Matter has been successful in diverting
attention from its demonstrations and toward its goal of establishing an anti-racist society. In
addition, our analysis found that Black Lives Matter has altered how American people
understand racial concerns including mass imprisonment, police brutality, and other systemic
evils in Black communities that would be intolerable in other communities.
Following Floyd's death, both journalists and academics declared that "race reckoning"
was taking place in the US. Protests have a part in establishing the "new normal," in which
discussing racial injustices in American culture is becoming more and more prevalent. The road
to transformation is not always straightforward. Black Lives Matter has gone mainstream in the
US. In this period of racial reckoning, Black Lives Matter and its supporters have crossed a
Rubicon. The movement has impacted how Black people are perceived and treated by all societal
institutions. To further bend history toward racial justice and long-lasting systemic change, the
US government has used successful techniques of other 21st-century social movements in
addition to protest and policy change.

Government Address Black Policies to Black Lives Movement Demands

and Intersectionality
Black Lives Matter interacts with the federal government, lawmakers, and legislators in a
variety of ways through its large national and grassroots groups. In addition to social media
activism, public protests, and communication with politicians, such as at political rallies, The

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movement outlines policy goals by raising awareness of police brutality and the need for
criminal justice reform through reports and policy papers. Black Lives Matter also responds to
laws that do not align with its policy aims and sends letters to Congress demanding change. The
movement replied to this statute by writing a coalition petition to Congress seeking a new
measure to protect minority citizens, and their statement demonstrated an understanding of
intersections by underlining the crossover in multiple identities. Black Lives Matter provides
tools for citizens and policymakers to use in documenting and raising awareness of police
brutality and racial injustice.
The federal and state governments have responded to the BLM's activity with executive
orders and laws. Since its beginnings, the Black Lives Movement has influenced over 107 laws
established to address police violence, including new legislation approved in 41 states. The
following chart shows laws passed at the state level from 2014 to 2019 that are by the policy
demands of Campaign Zero, which is one of the organizations that operate under the umbrella of
the BLM movement, and which is particularly active in policy reform addressing racialized
police violence. The chart highlights the concentrations and limitations of laws passed. Laws are
enacted by the government, because community representation, in particular, captures the
essence of intersectionality and is intended to increase the representation of all community
members across identity lines, which is critical for those experiencing inequalities as a result of
minority identities.

As seen by data on state laws, there is still a chasm between intersectionality understanding and
policy reform, particularly in the case of police violence. According to some scholarship in the
American Political Development approach, colorblindness dominates government approaches to
policy and social norms about racial identity in the post-civil rights era in the United States,
allowing intersectionality awareness to fall through the cracks, because if race no longer matters

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(with colorblind post-racialism), the inherent multiple burdens of intersectional
identity/inequality are ignored.

Findings
By 2020, the BLM had achieved widespread acceptability among the American people. The
police shootings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, as
well as the fatal shooting of Ahmad Arbery while jogging in his Brunswick, Georgia,
neighborhood, provoked a fresh wave of BLM protests in the spring of 2020. According to the
New York Times, fifteen million to twenty-six million Americans marched in support of racial
justice in the early summer of 2020 (Buchanan, Bui, Patel, July 3, 2020, Black Lives Matter May
Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History), prompting some historians to label BLM the greatest
movement in US history. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a social movement that raises awareness
about how African-Americans are treated by law enforcement in the United States. Much of the
movement's advocacy has centered on police officers' disproportionate use of force and a
perceived lack of accountability for their conduct. The BLM movement has been accused by
critics of inciting violence against law officers. To counter BLM accusations, some police
officers and their sympathizers have formed Blue Lives, Matter groups.

Implications
To address police violence and alter how laws are administered, actions have been taken
in the US. Defunding the police became a hot topic after Mr. Floyd's passing. Budgets in cities
like Minneapolis, Portland, Philadelphia, and Seattle have begun to be redirected away from the
police and toward things like housing and education. The movement raised black people's values
not only in police confrontations, but also in healthcare settings, schools, and even in the
property values of Black communities. Black Lives Matter forced police forces and the federal
government to reconsider which law enforcement policies work and which do not in terms of
reducing racial inequities in the US. Black Lives Matter has normalized the filming of Black
misery at the hands of people who have vowed to treat everyone equally. Without personal
footage, we may not know much about George Floyd. Black Lives Matter has aided in the
implementation of several policies and organizational changes in policing, including implicit bias
training, body-worn cameras, and restrictions on no-knock warrants.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the “Black Lives Matter movement” is a strong cause that will continue to
get stronger and gain momentum. Racism prevails not only on institutional levels like education
and law but also in politics and industries worldwide. African Americans, many whites, and
people of different cultural backgrounds are beginning to continue the work of great activists like
Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and so on. These acts of indirect oppression

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should be recognized and eliminated as a result of the global Black Lives Matter movement to
strive for equality for all regardless of race.

References
1. Collins, H. (2012), Collins dictionary, p.296
2. Wheatley, P. (1773), Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, p.85
3. Collins, S. (June 7, 2020), Longstanding inequalities have led to the current wave of
protests, https://www.vox.com/2020/6/17/21284527/systemic-racism-black-americans-9-
charts-explained
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics, (May 2020), https://www.bls.gov/
5. Botz, D. (May 31, 2020), Racist Police Murder of George Floyd Leads to National
Rebellion, https://newpol.org/racist-police-murder-of-george-floyd-leads-to-national-
rebellion/
6. Anderson, M. (2020), Social Media Conversations About Race,
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/08/15/social-media-conversations-about-race/
7. Burch, A., & Gianordoli, M., (June 13, 2020), How Black Lives Matter reached every
corner in America, p.4331
8. Buchanan, B., & Bui Q., (July 3, 2020), Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest
Movement in U.S. History, https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/news/black-lives-matter-
may-be-largest-movement-us-history
9. Oluo, I. (2018), So You Want to Talk About Race.

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