As Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This is one of the many sentiments from the Civil Rights Movement that still rings true in the ongoing Black Lives Matter campaign.
In some ways, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement can be seen as a continuation of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The basic principles that advocates are fighting for are the same: justice and equality for African-Americans.
Both the BLM and the Civil Rights Movement have occurred during times of unrest in the United States. In the 1960s, the country was divided over civil rights and the Vietnam war. Currently, not only is the U.S. in a deeply fragile condition due to COVID-19, but recent economic conditions are comparable to the economic turmoil in the 1960s (News@Northeastern).
According to Professor Burnham from the Northeastern University Law School, both movements arose from a “frustration of… the pandemic of racism in this country.” However, while the main goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to eliminate legalized racial discrimination and disenfranchisement, the BLM movement aims to eradicate the still present systemic racism and police brutality against African-American people (Washington Post). The recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have also led to the realization that, as Burnham put it, “our justice system will move on without remedying these wrongs” (News@Northeastern).
Formed in 2014, the Black Lives Matter movement received considerable attention after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter quickly started to trend on various social media platforms, and protestors soon went to the streets to advocate for the cause (Black Lives Matter). Likewise, the media played a large role in the Civil Rights Movement, albeit in considerably distinctive ways. Major northern television networks and newspapers began to demonstrate firsthand the treatment of African-Americans around the country. Martin Luther King Jr. found an audience through television, appearing for interviews on networks such as NBC; his renowned I Have a Dream speech was televised to millions from the Lincoln Memorial (CBS News).
The Civil Rights Movement and BLM movement have prided themselves on relying on non-violent methods to influence for change, whether organizing mass boycotts or street demonstrations. On the other hand, as Civil Rights Movement activist Barara Reynolds claimed, “… at protests today, it is difficult to distinguish legitimate activists from the mob actors who burn and loot” (Washington Post).
Unfortunately, another similarity between the Civil Rights Movement and the BLM movement is that they were both met with police violence. Police violence against BLM protestors these past few months has included beatings, the use of tear gas, and firing of projectiles (Amnesty International). Civil Rights advocates were routinely met with police brutality as well as violence from white protestors.
One of the greatest achievements of the Civil Rights Movement is the Civil Rights Act, which led to the outlaw of discrimination based on race, sex, or religion (History.com). However, as we are seeing all too clearly today, the Civil Rights Act led to the false assumption that since discrimination is illegal, large scale racism in America has already been fully addressed. Thus led to the BLM movement and the need to abolish underlying prejudice that has resulted in violence towards African-Americans. As of now, BLM has not made any progress as substantial as the Civil Rights Act or any type of federal legalization. The movement has been primarily focused on setting in motion widespread social change. Nonetheless, BLM has made an impact on various local communities, such as police budget cuts and the removal of monuments and statues honoring supporters of slavery.
Recent figures suggest that around 20 million people have participated in the BLM protests, making the movement the largest in U.S. history. The Civil Rights Movement was much smaller in number, with only around a few hundred thousand demonstrators. Furthermore, the BLM movement has sought out to recognize minorities in a way the Civil Rights Movement did not, such as protesting injustices against the African-American LGBTQ community in correlation to Pride Month in June.
Overall, it is clear that the Black Lives Matter movement is not merely a repeat of the Civil Rights Movement but a cry for larger action. But, BLM has yet to live up to the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. Hopefully, in the next couple of months or years, the BLM campaign will demonstrate equal or greater impact as the Civil Rights Movement did 70 years ago.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-civil-rights-leaders-spread-their-message/
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act
https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/06/2020-not-1968/
