Syed Shahvaiz

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

BLM – What is black life
matter?

• Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an anti-racism, anti-discrimination, and anti-

injustice grassroots political and social movement.
• Typically, the movement and its connected organizations advocate for a
number of legislative measures seen to be important to black liberation.
• Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a global social movement that began in the
United States in 2013 to protest racism and anti-Black violence, notably
police brutality.
• Black Lives Matter is both a denunciation of unjust police murders of Black
people (Black people are considerably more likely than white people to be
murdered by officers in the United States) and a demand that society
regard Black people's lives and humanity equally to that of white people.
BLM – Why are people
protesting

Use the links below for background information:

• Black Lives Matter (BrainPop Video) (younger students)

• Black Lives Matter Home
• Kids and Teens Marching for Black Lives Matter
• A Brief History of the Black Lives Matter Movement for Kids
• What the World Needs to Know about Black Lives Matter
BLM – What does BLM
stand for?

• The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in

2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal
Tometi as a worldwide human rights movement.
• Following George Zimmerman's acquittal in the
shooting murder of African-American adolescent
Trayvon Martin in February 2012, the campaign
started with the adoption of the hashtag
#BlackLivesMatter on social media.
• BLM demonstrations against racial profiling, police
brutality, and racial injustice in the US criminal justice
system, as well as violence and systematic racism
directed at black people.
 What has this got to do with me?
It’s just happening in America, right?

• In the United Kingdom in 2018, black people were searched 43% of the time, while white
people were searched 35.5 percent of the time; these statistics are disproportionate to the
population and demonstrate institutional and systematic racism. (MOPAC provided the
image.)
• Police officers in the United Kingdom are four times more likely than white officers to use
force against black persons, according to data. (Image courtesy of BBC)
• The UK Home Office was accused of racism during the Windrush crisis (2018), when
black people who arrived to Britain as children were incorrectly told they were here
illegally and deported or threatened with deportation.
• The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire catastrophe left many concerns unresolved regarding how
authorities assist and listen to low-income BAME communities.
 Surely all lives matter?

• The term 'All Lives Matter' seems well-intentioned on the surface, meaning that all lives
should be valued equally, yet they aren’t.
• Perhaps a better approach to grasp the meaning of Black Lives Matter is to consider the
expression "black lives matter, too.“
• teenage protester in the United States conveyed this idea on a placard. On her sign, it
said:“We said Black Lives Matter. We never said only black lives matter, we know all lives
matter, we just need your help with #blacklivesmatter because black lives are in danger.”
"The slogan 'Black Lives Matter' does not mean other lives don’t […] It is calling
attention to the fact that society clearly thinks black lives don’t matter” – Billie
Eilish.
 BLM– Inequality to healthcare

• Despite the fact that COVID-19 is incapable of discriminating, Black and Brown
people in Chicago and other places are dying at 3.5 times the rate of white
people.
• The epidemic has to to light the reality that Black and Brown people are more
likely to have poor health outcomes. Because structural inequality is so firmly
ingrained in society and the healthcare system, it may go unrecognized by many.
 BLM– Inequality to healthcare

• We must recognize that systemic inequity is a public health emergency. These

systemic concerns are a significant crime against humanity that must be
recognized and handled effectively, requiring time, money, and education, and
everyone of you here today has the opportunity to SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER!
• Generational trauma and poverty are connected to greater rates of sickness and
mortality in Black and Brown populations, resulting in inequality. The anguish of
structural inequality is compounded by past injustices that have
disproportionately impacted people of color.
BLM– Inequality to
healthcare
• Poverty, insufficient housing, a lack of educational
resources, police brutality, mass imprisonment, food
insecurity, unemployment, lack of access to healthcare,
and violence are all social determinants of health. All
of these causes lead to health disparities in our
communities, resulting in pain, suffering, early death,
and understandable civic discontent.
• Even under the weight of this structural load, the
community exhibits tenacity, ingenuity, a spiritual
tradition, and a sense of solidarity that allows it to
flourish. Removing these constraints would provide the
community with the relaxation it needs to become a
vibrant, flourishing community!
 BLM– Inequality to healthcare

• No one can look at the photographs of George Floyd's assault and murder
without feeling fury, terror, humiliation, and loss. Mr. Floyd's, Rayshard Brooks',
Ahmaud Arbery's, Breonna Taylor's, and many other people's deaths were unfair
and terrible.
• We must intensify our efforts. The health of our patients, families, and
communities is jeopardized by systemic inequality. We join all those who have
raised their voices to draw Chicago's and the nation's attention to a clear call to
action.
BLM – Health Inequality
statistics

• From 2018 to 2019, the Black death rate was 65 percent higher than the
White rate. Chicago had a 24 percent higher rate than the rest of the country.
• Medical racism grew more institutionalized in the twentieth century. For
example, in scientific medical research investigations, there is a lack of
openness and permission from Black people (e.g. Tuskegee Study, Henrietta
Lacks)In healthcare, racial and ethnic differences are linked to poor results.
• Racial and ethnic differences in healthcare are part of a larger historical and
current social and economic divide. This demonstrates that racial and ethnic
prejudice persists in many aspects of American society.
BLM – Health Inequality
statistics

• Black female patients received catheterizations far less than white females.
• Female doctors, on the other hand, gave Black patients more analgesic dosages than White ones.
• Mortality rates
• Heart Disease: 52% higher*
• Stroke: 82% higher*
• Lung Cancer: 20% higher*
• Female breast cancer mortality: 40% higher**
• Suicide: 52% lower*
• Homicide: 416% higher*

• Birth-related outcomes
• Infant mortality rate 132% higher
• % Low-birthweight babies 138% higher***
 BLM– Racism

• Individual and societal ideas, attitudes, and behaviors implying that white
people are superior to others. White supremacy in the United States refers to
a social structure in which white people have control and influence over
culture, society, the economy, and government.
• Internalized
• Interpersonal
• Institutional
• Structural
BLM– Racism

Example :
Michael Brown, 18 years old,
shot by Ferguson, MO police
Aug 9, 2014
BLM– Racism

• Individuals suffer from internalized racism.

Racism exists in our thoughts in secret ways.
• Prejudice, internalized oppression and
privilege, and racial ideas shaped by
dominant culture are only a few examples.

• Picture : One racist tweet about Ferguson

 BLM– Racism

Individuals engage in interpersonal racism. Racism enters the interpersonal arena when we bring our
private beliefs into our interactions with others.
Individuals' public displays of racial prejudice, hatred, bias, and bigotry are examples.
BLM– Racism

• Within institutions, institutional racism

occurs. Discriminatory treatment, unjust
rules and practices, and unequal chances
and consequences are all examples of
institutional racism.
• For instance, each year, police enforcement
kills about 300 African-Americans. Every 28
hours, one is released.
 BLM– Racism

Racial prejudice in institutions and society is referred to as structural racism. The

systemic privilege of white people and disadvantage of people of color is the result
of the cumulative and compounding consequences of a variety of variables.
For example, the "race wealth difference" (in which whites have several times more
money than people of color) is the product of decades of racial discrimination and
injustice.In the United States, black unemployment is 12 percent, whereas the
national average is 6.7 percent.
In St. Louis County, 47% of African American males between the ages of 16 and 24
are jobless.
According to the US Census, one out of every four black households is poor. The
percentage rises to over 50% in families led by a woman.
BLM– Racism --Doll
Tests

• Kenneth and Mamie Clark – husband and wife team,

first two blacks to earn Ph.D.’s in psychology from
Columbia Univ.
• Doll tests grew out of Mamie Clark’s master’s thesis in
the late 1930s
• Children’s self-perception based on race
• Test results suggested that segregation harms children,
and thus society at large. The desire for white dolls
among African-American youngsters reflected
psychological trauma exacerbated by segregation.
• Clarks testified as expert witnesses in cases that were
part of Brown vs. Board of Education
 BLM– Sociological perspective

Sociology explains the division through the use of the sociological concepts,

• functionalism,
• conflict theory,
• symbolic interactionism,

how differently they view Black Lives Matter.

 BLM– Sociological perspective

• "Protests are the voice of the unheard," as Martin Luther King Jr famously
remarked, and many people believe this to be true in our contemporary political
atmosphere.
• Others, on the other hand, would say that the 'rioting' has gone too far and is
really inflicting more damage than good.Many people in the United States have
recently resorted to the streets to protest police violence and prejudice.
• The movement known as Black Lives Matter, or BLM for short, emerged in 2014
when individuals began to notice unfair treatment of black Americans,
particularly by police enforcement.
 BLM– Sociological perspective
Functionalism

• "A theoretical approach that views society as a framework with interconnected pieces meant
to suit the biological and social requirements of people who make up that society," according
to functionalism.
• As a result, functionalism would not attempt to describe racial disparities as good or evil,
preferring to explain them and their purpose: "In the perspective of functionalism, racial and
ethnic differences must have performed an important role in order to survive for as long as
they have.
• Functionalism would also feel that the demonstrations are causing societal disruption and that
change is being driven too quickly.
• People who observe BLM through the prism of functionalism usually regard it as a disturbance
of peace and the 'rioting' as dangerous.
 BLM– Sociological perspective
Functionalism

• When it comes to Black Lives Matter, it's important to remember that "A functionalist may
look at racial inequality's "functions" and "dysfunctions.“
• Nash (1964) centered his argument on how racism benefits the dominant group, proposing
that racism morally justified a racially unequal society.
• Consider how slave owners in the antebellum South defended slavery by claiming that black
people were intrinsically inferior to white people and preferred slavery to freedom "..This
implies that someone would generally explain the notion of functionalism by citing its
contribution to a social hierarchy.
 BLM– Sociological perspective
Conflict theory

• Conflict Theory, on the other hand, would embrace the demonstrations and consider them as
vital for the advancement of civilisation.
• It might be argued that the demonstrations were sparked by a power disparity between races.
• According to conflict theory, which states that "a theory that looks at society as a struggle for
finite resources" and argues that conflict leads to change, a major component to black
Americans' oppression is white Americans' desire to profit from their oppressor's power.
 BLM– Sociological perspective
Conflict theory

• This is desirable, according to conflict theory, and the demonstrations

were unavoidable.
• People who see BLM from the viewpoint of a conflict theorist might argue
that black Americans' suffering is due to caucasian Americans' innate drive
for power, and that the demonstrations are in response to this and would
result in good change.
• A conflict theory approach to US history would look at the numerous past
and current conflicts between the white ruling class and racial and ethnic
minorities, highlighting specific conflicts that arose when the dominant
group perceived a threat from the minority group, and use this to explain
why many people are still resistant to change.
 BLM– Sociological perspective
interactionism

• Symbolic interactionism, on the other hand, would look at the personal

reasons for each person's perspective on BLM based on their interactions
with the issue and symbols.
• The relationship between language and symbols is an important aspect of
this notion.
• Black Lives Matter is symbolized by a black fist, and the movement is linked
to George Floyd's final words, "I can't breathe.“
• The surroundings, the media one consumes, and our own experiences or
relationships may all influence one's opinions.
 BLM– Sociological perspective
interactionism

• People who have personally experienced racism are more likely to see it as
a problem than those who have never encountered it and seldom hear
others speak about it.
• You are less likely to have been exposed to the concerns addressed by
Black Lives Matter if you grew up in an all-white neighborhood.
• If someone who has never experienced or seen acts of racism is unaware
of the problem, they may believe it is exaggerated as a result of their
contacts with the issues discussed by BLM.
• Symbolic interactionism sees BLM as a movement born out of many
people's shared experiences, and it explains each person's perspective on
the movement via their interactions with society and BLM's symbols.
References