What Has the BLM Protests Achieved So Far?
The short answer: a whole lot. And we need to keep the momentum going.
Whenever Black people protest police brutality and racial injustice, opposition to equality or people who simply just don’t know any better will say, “Protesting won’t do anything. Stop complaining.” and will eventually ask, “What will protesting accomplish?” Protesting the most recent bout of police brutality and racist procedures in our criminal justice system has brought about monumental changes across the country and the world.
Reopening Investigations and Bringing Charges to Police who Murdered Citizens
One thing that has been apparent is that the police in the United States do not treat Black Americans like U.S. citizens. This has not changed in the 400+ years since our ancestors were brought to this country. The only difference now is that we have smart phones with cameras to film injustices when they happen. Because, and unfortunately, Black people begging and pleading for years to stop murdering us simply wasn’t enough. And even with video footage of brutality and murder, there are still people who see Black skin and say, “Well, they shouldn’t have broken the law.” This says that they do not believe that Black U.S. citizens are deserving of our constitutionally mandated right to due process of the law. In the United States, the police have been and continue to be judge, jury, and executioner. And that is unconstitutional.
“...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
So we protest, much to the dismay of police and those who support police implicitly and believe they are above reproach. And our protests have yielded results including:
Attorney General William Bar conducting independent, federal investigation into the murder of George Floyd.
The State of Minnesota files civil rights suit against the Minneapolis police department.
Police officer who killed George Floyd having charges bumped up from 3rd degree murder (manslaughter in other states) to 2nd degree murder.
Feds reopen case on the murder of Breonna Taylor, an emergency room technician who was killed by police in her home when police used a no-knock warrant to search her home.
Louisville, KY passed Breonna’s Law, a law prohibiting no-knock warrants.
Minneapolis voted to demolish and rebuild police force from the ground up.
San Francisco elected officials to reroute some police funding to African American communities.
Congress to propose police reform legislation. The proposal, crafted by Sen. Kamala Harris and Corey Booker include: “prohibiting the use of choke-holds, lower legal standards to pursue criminal and civil penalties for police misconduct, and ban certain no-knock warrants.”
Police officers are talking about why many of them are afraid to report on their fellow police officers.
Recognizing Racism in Symbolism
During the Jim Crow, 1890s to 1950s, there were mass statues and monuments erected and renaming of buildings to honor Confederate heroes in order to intimidate Black U.S. citizens. Though, for some reason, White people in the U.S. believe that these were there since the Confederacy. They believe that these Confederate symbols are a testament to Southern rebellion and not inherently racist. They are wrong. These symbols commemorating traitors who lost a civil war aren’t about rebellion. They exist to intimidate Black Americans. They glorified the “cause” of the Civil War—fighting to preserve their way of life that relied heavily on the enslavement and dehumanization of Black people in America.
The 2020 protests against police brutality and racial injustice brought about:
The continued removal of Confederate monuments across the U.S.
The United States Marine Corp banning the use of the Confederate flag, including as bumper stickers and t-shirts, and ordered the immediate removal of them.
In Bristol, United Kingdom, protesters removed a statue of a famous slave trader.
The International Community Condemns U.S. Police Brutality
The international community is not without their problems. And yet, they stood with U.S. protesters against police brutality. From Canada to New Zealand and South Korea, citizens of the world stood in solidarity with Black people begging for equality and justice. It’s bittersweet. We are glad to have the support of the international community, but we shouldn’t need it. This should not be our norm.
Though the current presidential administration is determined to live out delusions of being a great, fascist leader, the American people won’t let that happen. Our local governments won’t let that happen. Our state governments won’t let that happen—if we keep up the pressure, keep up the momentum. And let’s not forget to vote, not just in our general elections, not just for president and vice president, but for our community leaders.
Keep speaking up against injustices. Keep being loud. Keep making noise.
