Past, Present, and Future: The Black Lives Matter Movement

Photo Credit: Matteo Roma / Shutterstock: Black Lives Matter Protesters

By Thalia Collins

Protests for the Black Lives Matter movement are popping up throughout the country in 2020 as people push back against police brutality and racism in the police force. 

According to Vox, “In the weeks following the police killing George Floyd, millions of Americans marched in the streets. Many had never attended protests before, and some lived in historically conservative towns. At the peak of the protests — around June 6, according to publicly collected data from the Crowd Counting Consortium — people across all 50 states and dozens of cities around the world had participated in demonstrations that called for racial justice and an end to police violence.” 

The movement was sparked in 2020 by a spike in murders of black victims at the hands of police. The killing of a man named George Floyd is what many are protesting about. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was arrested in Minneapolis after allegedly using a counterfeit bill. The security camera of a nearby shop shows the police officer kneeling on his throat until he died. Other victims of police brutality include Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude, Breonna Taylor, Atatianna Jefferson, Aura Rosser, Stephen Clarke, Bothan Jean, Phillando Castile, Fanisha Fonville. And although there are many protests across  America, there are also protests internationally. These places include Buenos Aires, Vienna, Antwerp, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, and more, representing every continent other than Antarctica. 

Protesters are fighting for changes  such as defunding the police, taking away their weapons, or fighting against white supremacy. Although the movement is going strong, it has lost some support over the summer.  

According to Fact Tank “A majority of U.S. adults (55 percent) now express at least some support for the movement, down from 67 percent in June amid nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd. The share who say they strongly support the movement stands at 29 percent, down from 38 percent three months ago.”  This decline in support can be traced further.

“The recent decline in support for the Black Lives Matter movement is particularly notable among White and Hispanic adults,” the Fact Tank article stated. “In June, a majority of White adults (60%) said they supported the movement at least somewhat; now, fewer than half (45%) express at least some support. The share of Hispanic adults who support the movement has decreased 11 percentage points, from 77% in June to 66% today. By comparison, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has remained virtually unchanged among Black and Asian adults.”

Because we are in a pandemic, public safety is very important at this time, however there has been no evidence these protests have spiked COVID-19 cases. Although these protests have had an impact on people's interest in the movement both nationally and internationally, there is little evidence that it has impacted the country much politically.

An article by Politico quoted our current president’s opinion on the matter: 

“Left-wing mobs have torn down statues of our founders, desecrated our memorials and carried out a campaign of violence and anarchy,” President Trump said. “Whether it is the mob on the street, or the cancel culture in the boardroom, the goal is the same: to silence dissent, to scare you out of speaking the truth and to bully Americans into abandoning their values.” 

The upcoming election will have a great impact on the country and the current issues we are facing. In an interview by Heinz College newsletter, with Professor Dainel Nagin, winner of the Stockholm Prize on Criminology, Michael Cunningham asks him if he thinks the protests are outlying incidents or systematic. 

“The Black Lives Matter Movement has to be understood in the context of the historical legacy of the ill treatment of blacks by the police and the criminal justice system and American political and social institutions more generally,” Professor Nagin said. “That legacy is a fact. The Movement, I think, is a reflection of and reaction to that legacy. I don’t think people should be surprised by it, and it’s part of why people should listen to the Black Lives Matter position. At the same time getting people to listen has been greatly complicated by the lethal ambushes of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.” 

Although people think that the Black Lives Matter movement is tied to the civil rights movement of the 60’s and believe it is a thing of the past, the stark truth is that this political issue lives on.