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BLACK LIVES MATTER Just as the fight for civil rights didn’t begin in the 1950’s and 60’s, it also didn’t end there. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement began after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, who was accused of murdering an unarmed black teenager named Trayvon Martin. The movement gained force in 2014 after the shooting of another unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri didn’t result in an indictment against the police officer. The movement addressed systemic racism, police brutality, and other concerns of African Americans, such as racial inequality in the criminal justice system. BLM now has at least 40 international, decentralized chapters. Local groups don’t have to get “official” sanctioning for their tactics, but they do have to undergo training before using “BLM” in their group’s name. In this way, the BLM movement can be said to encompass an expansive agenda, based on principles of racial justice. 166
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OPPOSITION TO AND EVOLUTION OF BLACK LIVES MATTER The tactics and messages of the BLM movement are controversial. Opponents began to use the phrase “All Lives Matter,” arguing that BLM’s exclusive focus on black lives ignored the fact that people of all colors could be victims of violence. Similarly, a “Blue Lives Matter” trend began after 2 police officers in New York City were killed in 2014. Proponents were in part reacting to what they felt was an anti-police sentiment in the BLM movement. Recently, BLM has broadened its tactics, from protests and disruption to working to communicate empathy for black issues in the media. In general, race and party affiliation tend to predict favorable or unfavorable feelings towards the BLM movement. According to a 2017 Harvard-Harris survey, 21% of Republicans and 35% of white voters have a favorable view, compared to 65% of Democrats and 83% of black voters. 167

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BLACK LIVES MATTER

Just as the fight for civil rights didn’t begin in the 1950’s and 60’s, it also didn’t end there. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement began after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, who was accused of murdering an unarmed black teenager named Trayvon Martin. The movement gained force in 2014 after the shooting of another unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri didn’t result in an indictment against the police officer. The movement addressed systemic racism, police brutality, and other concerns of African Americans, such as racial inequality in the criminal justice system. BLM now has at least 40 international, decentralized chapters. Local groups don’t have to get “official” sanctioning for their tactics, but they do have to undergo training before using “BLM” in their group’s name. In this way, the BLM movement can be said to encompass an expansive agenda, based on principles of racial justice.

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