What is Black Lives Matter? Research Paper

Black Lives Matter is a social movement dedicated to fighting against racism and anti-black violence. The name “Black Lives Matter” comes from the unjust killings of black people by the police; studies show that in America black people are more likely to get killed by police than others. BLM activists have held large and influential protests all across the USA-- internationally as well. 

BLM started back in 2013, as an online movement; confounded by 3 black community organizers-- Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi; but it got popular in 2020. BLM formed after George Zimmerman-- a man of German and Peruvian descent killed Trayvon Martin, who was an unarmed black teenager. George saw Trayvon, and he thought that he looked “Suspicious” and called the police on him. The police told George to not do anything, but he went on and followed Marvin, leading to an argument which resulted in George shooting and killing Marvin. When police questioned George, he claimed that Marvin attacked him and George shot him in a form of self defense.  George remained free for several weeks, but as the shooting gained national attention, he was charged for second-degree murder, and arrested in April 2012. BLM expanded more, over all the unjust killings like this one. Eric Garner, Micheal Brown, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many others who were killed  helped BLM expand into a worldwide movement.

BLM doesn’t have one goal, it has many goals. BLM activists main goal is to draw attention to the many ways in which Black people are treated unfairly in society and in which ways the laws, government, and policies help that unfairness. The movement has fought racism through letter-writing campaigns, non-violent protests, petitions, and many other ways.  BLM seeks to fight against police-brutality, the over-policing of minority neighborhoods, and the abuses committed by for-profit jails. 

Support for BLM was often divided along political lines along with racial and ethnic lines. , African Americans and other minorities tend to show more support, whilst non-blacks showed less support, often less than 50 percent. The division was even more dramatic with political parties, very few Republicans expressed support, while Democrats were the opposite. 

Groups against Black Lives Matter were formed, in a way to shut the movement down, such as “Blue Lives Matter” which is to support law enforcement, and “White Lives Matter” formed by white nationalists. Given the country's political division and BLM's growing prominence, it's not surprising that the movement was a topic of discussion throughout the 2020 presidential election. Former President, Donald Trump, a republican, was critical of BLM and his challenger, Joe Biden, embraced the movement and Black voters, who were instrumental in his victory.