
Coming from a small town in Florida, where everything is peaceful and collected, to moving to the University of South Carolina, which is located in the heart of Columbia, were it was known to be one of the cities that was large part in the confederacy, it is different to me to hear more about the effects of racism on people and the community. Throughout the history of the United States, racism and discrimination has been an issue in not only the south, but everywhere throughout the nation. One would think that this issue would have disappeared after the civil rights movement however, this is not the case. There have been many incidents and cases where racism and discrimination has popped up. Some of these events that have come up in regards to this topic are the killings of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, and Michael Brown. The deaths of these three black men, along with many more, have made a great impact on the black community, as well as the rest of the nation who are not in favor of this hatred. The movement today known as Black Lives Matter, holds the position of being the voice of the people who want to be heard about this issue. This movement was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, after the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012 (Miller).  There have been peaceful protests regarding these issues as well as breakouts of fist fights and law enforcements getting involved. These instances give people a stronger opinion about the racism that still exists today, whether it be good or bad. The Black Lives Matter movement is used so that the black community that is being targeted can be heard and so that something can be done about the situation today.

“Race is a socially constructed artifact the categorizes people based on visual differences which are imputed to indicate invisible differences” (Wolf and Guin). It is what makes people unique and different in their own way. Everyone has their own race whether it be black, white, Asian, or any other race in the world. Now when it comes to racism, it is “defined simply as any policy, belief, attitude, action or inaction, which subordinates individuals or groups based on their race” (Wolf and Guin). Someone who as a racist attitude singles out that race or races and persistently attacks them. Racism began when a group of people with the same race believed that they should have higher authority than other races (Omi and Winant). This so called “group of people” were in fact white men who wanted to hold power over everyone and thought that people who were different in skin tone should be the ones being told what to do. Presumably, everyone automatically thinks of whites as the racist group however, that is not always the case because all race groups think highly of themselves and think they are better than anyone else. This may seem like it is a bad thing but it is something of a sense of pride in a way of their culture and beliefs however, sometimes it can be taken too far and tensions are formed. (Sears, Sidanius and Bobo)The relationships between races are then continuing to grow apart and discrimination and racism remain.

The Black Lives Matter is the movement that defends the black community and creates a voice for them when they are being persecuted and attacked because of their color. One point to make is that the leaders of the Black Lives Matter believe that this movement should be in comparison to the civil rights movement that took place in 1954 and ended about a decade later. One may think that they both had similar goals in mind and wanted there to be equality among everyone, which is true however, the ways about they handle the situations are different. Something to address is the fact that if the civil rights movement was a so called “success”, then why are there issues today revolving around the same matter? Granted, yes, the civil rights movement did accomplish many issues such as, the court cases of Plessy vs. Ferguson, Brown vs. Board of Education, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Patterson). These resolutions did make a long lasting impact on the nation in regards to equal rights and nationalism, and they are still enforced and continued today. The purpose of the civil rights movement was resolved yet, there are still people who do not believe that the black community has been given the respect that they deserve because of all of the incidents that have been occurring. The activists of the Black Lives Matter movement refer to the civil rights movement because they are trying to be conscious about what had been done already and what can be done to enhance and better the ideas of the activists of this past movement (Harris). This would include the fact that today, there are still issues involving the perceived racism and discrimination towards black people. They are also emphasizing the fact that black humanity needs to be articulated rather than the demands for specific rights (Harris). Black humanity is the idea that the black community should be given the respect that the white community is given. For example, if there is a white man lying dead in the middle of a street from a shooting, people automatically get help and treat him. However, if there was a black man lying in the middle of the street after a shooting, there are some people who do not have the same urgency. Humanity is something that everyone should attribute to towards every race and culture. I believe that this topic needs to be greatly pointed out because if this is known more throughout the nation then some of the issues that are occurring today would not be happening. The reason behind many of the outbreaks is because people believe that the Black Lives Matter community are demanding new rights when what is really happening is that they want to be given respect and shown that their voices can be heard.  

How does the news of outbreaks and protests circulate so quickly around from person to person? One of the biggest things that could contribute to this new movement to have a successful outcome is the technology that we have today (Harris). I believe that technology is such an amazing thing because it can be our quickest way to send and receive information. In regards to helping the Black Lives Matter movement, the information would be the message that the activists are trying to get across to the people. This would include the reasoning behind what they are doing and how they are trying to make a positive impact on the nation with this information. One negative thing about social media playing a role in this is that it can cause outbreaks to grow rapidly and for there to be violent protests. Pictures and videos are also taken during these times and posted which allows people to see the violence that goes on and form an opinion based on just what they see.  In my opinion, technology is in favor for the Black Lives Matter movement because no matter what, it is being talked about and it will get people educated about it. This is one of the reasons why I became so informed about this movement. When researching more and more about what people are saying and what the facts are, I understood why people want there to be a change. 
