Research Project

Introduction

Black Lives Matter. I’ve known you heard this three word phrase a lot this past year, and for proper reasoning due to the recent string of tragedy’s that have occurred to unarmed Black people during this past year. I chose to research this topic so I can further inform myself and others of this organizations beginnings, goals and overall message they are trying to spread. This topic is very personal to me although, I have not had a first hand experience with injustice to unarmed black people I’ve have had piers and family in these situations which hurts me just the same.

MLA Entry

The Editorial Board. “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’.” The New York Times, 3 Sept. 2015,Opinion | The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’ – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The Truth Of ‘Black Lives Matter’

In these past 7 years many of us have heard  the three word mantra ‘Black Lives Matter’, A movement which intends put a stop to Injustices with the police against the Black community, and in The New York Times article  The truth of Black lives Matter its starts by informing us on the way The republican party and the news media portrays the ‘BLM’ movement  by condemning their protest. Their message is clear in their campaign as you hear from  politicians like Gov. Nikki Haley, Gov. Scott Walker, and Senator Rand Paul you get an overall consensus they think ‘BLM’ is an inflammatory or even hateful anti-white movement that has no place in civil rights. The slander even continued when Gov. Mike Huckabee who said if Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King were alive he wouldn’t be happy with the movements focus on color and “unarmed people who are  disproportionately killed in encounters with the police”. This article feels that this statement that this argument is ignorant to history in general and of the civil rights movement in particular, Later on in the article it explains what the Civil Rights movement was intended for to bring awareness unfairness to African- Americans like not being able to vote, and having equal protection under the law. This later continued into the 20th century the movement documented cases in which African-Americans have died after being turned away from hospitals that were reserved for whites or killed by lynching or hanging. They later explain event that happened in 1963 when four black girls were killed in the mist of the movement, Dr. king eulogized them and said the “dead have something to say” which in responded to federal who cut shady deals with the southern Dixiecrats. Further in the article it explained the focuses of the ‘BLM’ which that blacks a more prone to death by policeman than any other race. They recognize the fact that black lives have historically not mattered and have been devalued.

Analysis

This is a great article which address the ignorance and neglect of issues where Black people have face injustices at the hands of the police. The article provided information of instances in which politicians have made disparaging claims to try and sway the media to think negatively about the movement, in the article they combatted this by informing people of  the history and explaining why its wrong and why its important rectify these situations and make things right. I also enjoyed them referencing  Dr. king and his speeches and cases that took place. They also tied in the main  point and explained the truth and the focus of Black Lives Matter.

Response

This is just what I was looking for a great article with a call and response Type of feel where they provided instances of Ignorance by politicians who made statements about movement in a bad light. Another reason this article sits well with me because they tied in the main message at the end providing more information on black lives matter and its purpose and what the movement is trying to reach. I personally would have included the main message in the beginning but it worked out well at the end of the day.

MLA Entry

Charles M. Blow. “The Allies betrayal of George Floyd”. The New York Times,7 March.2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/opinion/george-floyd-protests.html

The Allies’ Betrayal of George Floyd

During This summer the killing of George Floyd was very Tragic but it would change history. Many of Americans flooded the streets this summer protesting for change in the wake of a string of police killings to unarmed black people, not only did black people protest many of white people did  also, but some did it for the wrong reasons, like for social media like. The more normal life began to feel the support of some of the white protestors vanished. Charles also deferred to article which from FiveThirtyEight about how about the support of the movement was at its highest when George Floyd died but only 3 months later when the shooting of Jacob Blake occurred the support had significantly dropped from those two incidents he said cause of this may be the white republicans. The backlash also continued on a political level when republican legislators in Florida and 21 other states are making new penalties for people who break the law when their protesting. A big message of the summer protest was the police should be defunded, But the by some measure the police funding is down although many states made lower budgets for the police the law enforcement rose on the stock market recently. Prominent democrats denounced the slogan even saying its the reason they did poorly in elections. Later on when it came time for congress to pass the George Floyd policy act only one republican voted for it and he said he pressed the wrong button, but the bill faces challenges in the senate. Charles said the overall allyship that people had to the movement in the summer has quickly faded and it shows that support does not last.

Analysis

In this article by Charles M. Blow he provides factual advice from polls over a timeline of 3 months that prove his main argument. He also gave reasons as to why people would stop supporting the movement in such a short time after, one of his reasons was The Republican Party, another was people supported for the wrong reasons and once life got semi-normal they stoped caring. The article did a good job at explaining the polls to support the title.

Response

I personally like this article it’s was not too long it gave percentages clearly proving his claim and title right. He also gave reason why maybe this occurred and he showed percents on how protest may have impacted the budgets cut from police. I also like how at the end he gave his real personal opinions of what he thought on the matter and I agree with what he said and really enjoyed learning and summarizing this article.

Conclusion 

I feel these two articles gave me insight to things I didn’t know before about the BLM movement and it made my research paper much enjoyable because I’m glad I learned about something I cared about and something that may effect me in life whether that be indirectly or directly. Two of my most important points from each article is that the media tried to portray the BLM in a negative light to persuade people we were the enemy and another is that people used this movement for other reasons then it’s initial purpose which caused in a drop off in real support.