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Research the black lives matter movement
The black lives matter movement from a sociological perspective
Research the black lives matter movement
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Most of us have been taught that we always need to be on our best behavior and try to understand and value different views. I am going to exercise my right to protest by refusing to understand why some of my fellow classmates, sharing a classroom with me because just like me they are on a quest for knowledge, find it difficult to grasp the concept of Black Lives matter. Stop saying all lives matter. We already know that. Black Lives Matter is not an anti-white slogan meant to suggest that other lives do not matter, especially white lives. It is a movement to address the racial disparities practiced by law enforcement agencies throughout our nation. For anyone to say all lives matter is to be willfully ignorant and deny the existence of racism, …show more content…
Alicia Ganza, her close friend Patrisse Cullors and another friend Opal Tometi used a simple slogan to convince people that they should act to change the system. Of course, most of us are on board with the new movement because we get it. We get it because we’ve seen the numbers and we’ve heard the stories. We all sat quietly together and watched the same film 13TH, a 2016 Netflix documentary that highlighted the current state of the mass incarceration of people of color in America. I am sure that after that film some of my fellow students still walked away unconvinced that there is a racial disparity and that statistics lie. I am with Alicia Garza when she says that it makes her angry especially when people try to deny any of this racial disparity is actually …show more content…
On video the whole atrocity unfolds right before our eyes and yet my own classmates, neighbors, juries, and other police do not see what is clear to the rest of us. Maybe they just do not wish to see, because as I mentioned before some people do not want to admit that there is a real problem. And so, my fellow classmates chose to question the Black Lives Matter movement because all these protests and marches just block freeways and damage property. They have decided to turn a blind eye and turn a deaf eye because they refuse to acknowledge what they just witnessed on their smart phones is really happening. To them only their lives
In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander states that we still use our criminal justice system to “label people of color ‘criminals’ and then engage i...
The issues of how technology is influencing our nation today has come into play with social media and surveillance in our personal lives. We use twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. to express our opinions on things and as a voice to inform people on what’s going on in today’s society. We have learned how to use the tools we’ve been given to change our lives forever; our government has access to all of our personal information in exchange for our protection against terrorism. In Bijan Stephen’s article on “Black Lives Matter” and Rebecca McKinnon’s chapter on “the Arab Spring”, they both touch on the power of technology in negative and positive ways.
Many Americans pretend that the days of racism are far behind; however it is clear that institutional racism still exists in this country. One way of viewing this institutional racism is looking at our nation’s prison system and how the incarceration rates are skewed towards African American men. The reasons for the incarceration rate disparity are argued and different between races, but history points out and starts to show the reason of why the disparity began. Families and children of the incarcerated are adversely affected due to the discrimination as well as the discrimination against African American students and their likelihood of going to prison compared to the white student. African American women are also affected by the discrimination in the incarceration rate. Many white Americans don’t see how racism affects incarceration rates, and that African Americans are more likely to face discrimination from the police as well as being falsely arrested.
The question becomes that, after all the progress we’ve made as a society, why do we still allow racism to exist, especially in our criminal justice system? The Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization that promotes changes in sentencing policies and fights against unjust racial practices, conducted a report in July 2009 and found that non-whites made up two-thirds of the people in the US with life sentences (Quigley, “Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System”). Our society is built upon the idea that whites are superior to all other races and, because of this, we may never be able to fully erase racism. However, we can try. Despite what these and other criticisms say, I believe that all humans are equal in all aspects of life, and that race cannot take away a person’s right to live happily and healthily in this world. Although we have come very far, we still have a long way to go. Our efforts will be worth it the day that jail sentences are based on the crime, not the race of the
Racial disparity in the correctional population refers to the difference in the number of minorities versus whites represented inside institutions. “The American Correctional Association acknowledges that racial disparity exists within adult and juvenile detention and correctional systems. This contributes to the perception of unfairness and injustice in the justice system ("ACA Policies and," 2004).” “Blacks comprise 13% of the national population, but 30% of people arrested, 41% of people in jail, and 49% of those in prison. Nationwide, blacks are incarcerated at 8.2 times the rate of whites (Human Rights Watch, 2000).” This difference in proportionality does not necessarily involve direct discrimination; it can be explained by a number of combined factors.
America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, in which most inmates are Black and Hispanic. Blacks are perceived as socially deviant, so society easily deems them as being criminals. Assata Shakur was convicted and prosecuted for numerous charges, including resisting lawful arrest, possession of an illegal weapon, intention to kill, physical assault, robbery at several locations, and other charges (13). Although Shakur was not at the scene of these alleged crimes, law enforcement decisively arrested and charged her. If Shakur was White, rather than a Black woman, the legal system would have perceived her as innocent and treat her leniently. Nevertheless, Law Enforcement carries a bias prejudice towards Blacks, and benefits from their oppression. Similarly to the New Jim Crow, in which incarceration is utilized as a means to exploit Blacks and empower Whites. Shakur believes, “Prisons are a profitable business. They are a way of legally perpetuating slavery… They certainly aren’t planning to put white people in them. Prisons are part of this government’s genocidal war against Black and Third World People” (Shakur, 65). The privatization of prisons has increased and pursues to capitalize on minority inmates through the production of goods, while lawfully abiding by the 13th Amendment. Likewise, One who is convicted of an alleged crime is faced with a trial that is skewed to oppress Blacks from
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
Although our present day society still questions whether the rights of the Individual should outweigh the public order or the social order of our country should outweigh the individual rights has enlightened me to a distorted vision and a compromised system and questionable Leadership. “African- American men comprise less than 6% of the U.S. population and almost one-half of its criminal prisons.” Quoted by the Bureau of justice statistics. When research is conducted by another other than oneself yield such great crippling results, it does hold truths to be true to that which began before our awakening
We have to state "Black Lives Matter," since we 're not living it. Nobody is addressing whether white lives matter or whether police lives matter. Be that as it may, the topic of whether Black lives truly matter is an open question in this nation. Our organizations demonstration like Black lives don 't make a difference. The police demonstration like Black lives don 't make a difference when they shoot unarmed Black individuals with their arms in the air and when Blacks are shot at more than two times the rate of whites, even when whites are outfitted. The
...se them to geographic targeting, police brutality, disproportionate incarceration and sentencing rates. Get tough on crime ideologies as well as mass incarceration practices encouraged by mainstream American citizens and policy makers alike, result in further oppression and complicate individual’s abilities to achieve social and economic success. In order for the United States to attain a “post-racial status,” biases in society should be eliminated therefore encouraging police bias’ to be removed, additional concern should be had for individuals in low-income, urban areas, and sentencing and arrest practices should be equalized across all races. Many sociological issues have a role in how the criminal justice system operates and until further notice, it remains unequal and supportive of racist policies that keep this country from attaining a “post racial status”.
Since then it has become a rallying call to African-Americans all over the nation and has been the cause of several demonstrations turned riot, the most infamous of these taking place in Ferguson, Missouri. (Sidner-Simon, The Rise of Black Lives Matter: Trying to break the cycle of violence and silence) As these potentially violent demonstrations are something to be wary of, the Black Lives Matter group has taken to policing themselves. Why not let the police do it? It is their job after all. The answer to that question lies yet again in Ferguson, Missouri. After severe rioting in Ferguson, law enforcement officers have come to fear the “Ferguson effect.” It is this fear that has kept them from doing their jobs by avoiding violent confrontations which has potentially caused them to no longer effectively do their jobs.(Buchanan, Blue Lives Matter) This response to violence with violence is what has shaped our police force, this is what has kept both officers and the general public safe. If these officers can no longer confidently do their job, then society as a whole could very well be at risk from
Black Lives Matter is not a bandwagon to hop on, nor is it a hashtag or a slogan. Black Lives Matter is a movement. To not support the movement or to think that the movement does not need support is outright depraved, demeaning and degrading. We too often think that retweeting, tweeting or sharing a photo on social media is supporting the movement and it’s not! This is no longer the 1960’s. We have gained our rights: that is no longer the fight. The fight is receiving justice for our black people, so no effective protesting is no longer sitting at countertops, it is no longer peaceful marching and it is no longer bus boycotting The new protest is to educate ourselves, to show respect, to get involved in the justice system, to raise black lawyers, to vote and to do jury duty. All of these things are needed to benefit the movement in stopping the corruptness in our justice system.
In their lifetime, one in three African American men can expect to go to jail because of their skin color. Racial Justice and profiling is a huge issue in America because innocent men and women are being targeted because of their skin color. On February 26, 2012 a young African American teenager was shot and killed because of his skin color (“Crime and Race Follow-up: Shooting of unarmed Black Teenager in Florida creates Civil Uproar.” Issues and Controversy Facts on File News Services, 16 April 2012. Web. 11 Feb 2014). Racial inequality is as real as it was fifty plus years ago during the Civil Rights Movement, and we need to work together and stop the hate.
Objection 1: No, All Lives Matter. Just saying that Black Lives Matter overlooks the importance of other kinds of people. We should be working collaboratively to confront social issues.
When a person thinks about Black Lives Matter, he or she may visualize African Americans fighting for justice and equality. The movement Black Lives Matter was created to bring awareness to systematic racism, police brutality and social injustice that African Americans face on a daily basis. In contrary, All Lives Matter downplays the fact that black people are looked down upon in society. All Lives Matter may seem like an innocent title, but it emphasizes that justice for black people is not necessary. Black Lives Matter is not a movement that believes all lives do not matter; nevertheless, it highlights the fact that black lives are taken for granted by the judicial system.