Essay Example on Ethical Justice in Racial Struggles: BLM and Civil Rights Movements in America

Introduction

Ethics defines the moral compass, followed by society regarding the peaceful co-existence of human beings. Contemporary society features a lot of immorality, especially in matters concerning differences in culture and race. The concept of "together as one," which is the foundation of a community, no longer coincides with societal goals. Erosion of humanity is prevalent as people turn on each other, with racial differences being the primary source. There is no sense of justice, considering some races feel superior to others; hence, people cannot treat one another fairly. Races, that feel inferior and suppressed, find ways to fight back for fair treatment; however, the sense of peace is lost amid the pursuit of justice. America represents an eroded society considering its history of prejudice-based policing of Black people dating back to the slavery era through the Jim Crow period to the present (Clayton, 2018). Groups such as the 1960's civil rights movement and modern Black Lives Matter (BLM) exist as an indication of a constant strain for human equality (Clayton, 2018). The fight for fairness and justice has both unethical sources and outcomes because those who maltreat disregard the ethics of humanity, and the abused ignore ethical ways of attaining justice.

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General Comparison

A better comprehension of ethical justice and the reason why racial discrimination cannot be obtained is by comparing and contrasting the movements against racial profiling such as BLM and the civil rights movement. Looking into how such groups operate in the wake of racial discrimination and the killing of innocent people brings to light why ethical justice is difficult to obtain. Activists and movements formed because of societal problems, and BLM came into existence due to police brutality, while the civil rights movement was due to segregation (Clayton, 2018). Both groups have a message where the civil rights movement emphasizes inclusion, while BLM stresses anti-police protests (Clayton, 2018). BLM operates with a decentralized leadership, inclusive of women, transgender, and queer people, whereas the civil rights movement preferred a male-dominated, hierarchy-structured leadership style (Clayton, 2018). The most elaborate contrast is social media usage, which is advantageous to BLM instead of the civil rights movement (Carter, 2017).

The Victims' Protests: Peaceful Versus Non-peaceful

The nature of protests of both the BLM and the civil rights movement includes peaceful and violent rallies. Sugrue (2020) explained that in the era of World War II, protests were both violent and peaceful. Sugrue (2020) demonstrated that protests only turned violent when peace could not obtain the desired outcome. For instance, in Trayvon Martin's case, there was a petition and rallies that forced the hand of the law to charge the assailant, Zimmerman, with second-degree murder, and when the court ruled he was not guilty, BLM rose (Chase, 2018). Eric Garner and Michael Brown's deaths brought nationwide demonstrations, Ferguson rioting, and a surge of racial injustice and police brutality discussions on traditional and social media (Chase, 2018). The protests following the deaths of these three victims saw mostly peaceful rallies compared to the recent uproar caused by George Floyd's death.

Among all the protests against police violence in the US, George Floyd's death sparked a mother of all demonstrations, which saw Americans united and walking down the streets in many cities (Taylor, 2020). George Floyd, a forty-six-year-old Black man, died pinned on the ground by a white officer, Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck while handcuffed (Taylor, 2020). Tens of thousands of Americans from over 140 cities wreaked havoc (Taylor, 2020). There was looting, burning, and vandalism as the police retaliated through tear gas and rubber bullets (Schuppe, 2020). The outcome was injured officers, protestors, and deployment of National Guards across the country (Schuppe, 2020). White Americans were among the protestors sparked by a video of their fellow white man choking, an unarmed man while his colleagues watched with no intervention (McLaughlin, 2020). The protests after Floyd's death indicated built-up anger and constant streaks of injustice and the killing of innocent people. The police forgot their ethical values in all cases and forced violent protests that went against ethics in pursuit of justice, for it was no more ample justice but revenge.

Effectiveness of Current Tactics and Legislation

BLM is not all about protests and rallies, for it not only aims at reacting to situations but also desires to prevent a repetition of such incidents. Alter (2020) recognized a difference in tactics within the BLM, where one group focused on reforms such as advocating for body cameras for police officers. The other group wanted results on the killings; hence, they sought to eliminate the policing structure to adopt aggressive tactics, for instance defunding the police (Alter, 2020). The shift from street rallies to policy reforms paved the way for BLM's future success in attaining justice because the cry for black justice would go a long way if backed up by the law. Both movements led to the implementation of legislation. The US Supreme Court in 1954 ruled that it was illegal to segregate in public schools (History, 2020). The Louisville Metro Council approved Breonna's law that sought the regulation of no-knock warrant usage (Diavolo, 2020). Amnesty International USA called on Congress to approve the Protect Our Protestors Act of 2020 (HR 7315) (Amnesty International, 2020).

Conclusion

In conclusion, ethical justice has a long way to go considering the blows given to Black Americans forego humanity hence prompting an unethical retaliation such as the vandalism, looting, and burning of property witnessed after George Floyd's murder. In comparison, BLM is quite similar to the civil rights movement in terms of fighting for equality; however, BLM's most significant advantage is the use of social media. Protestors move from peaceful demonstrations to violence when desired outcomes are far from reach. America is witness to many protests emanating from police brutalities, such as the killing of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and the recent George Floyd. BLM is trying to revolutionize the fight for justice through policy reforms for only through law can one counter violations of law. Although BLM tries hard to maintain the ethical standards of fairness, in the wake of unfair police shootings of innocent people, the masses are bound to react in rage.

References

Alter, C. (2020, June 5). Black Lives Matter activists want to end police violence. But they disagree on how to do it. TIME 100. https://time.com/5848318/black-lives-matter-activists-tactics/

Amnesty International. (2020, August 4). USA: Law enforcement violated Black Lives Matter protesters' human rights, documents acts of police violence, and excessive force. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/08/usa-law-enforcement-violated-black-lives-matter-protesters-human-rights/

Carter, A.C. (2017). Police brutality, the law & today's social justice movement: how the lack of police accountability has fuelled #hashtag activism. Cuny Law Review, 20, 521-557. http://www.cunylawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CUNY-202-Carter.pdf

Chase, G. (2018). The early history of the black lives matter movement and the implications thereof. Nevada Law Journal, 18, 1091-1112. https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1757&context=nlj

Clayton, M.D. (2018). Black Lives Matter and the civil rights movement: A comparative analysis of two social movements in the United States. Journal of Black studies, 49(5), 448-480. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323921497_Black_Lives_Matter_and_the_Civil_Rights_Movement_A_Comparative_Analysis_of_Two_Social_Movements_in_the_United_States

Diavolo, L. (2020, June 8). Black Lives Matter protests are inspiring new laws and changing the way people think about police. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/black-lives-matter-protests-new-laws-changing-thinking-about-police

History. (2020, June 23). Civil rights movement. History. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement

McLaughlin, C.E. (2020, August 9). How George Floyd's death ignited a racial reckoning that shows no signs of slowing down. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/09/us/george-floyd-protests-different-why/index.html

Schuppe, J. (2020, June 1). From Eric Garner to George Floyd: Protests reveal how little has changed in 6 years. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/eric-garner-george-floyd-protests-reveal-how-little-has-changed-n1220501

Sugrue, J.T. (2020, June 11). 2020 is not 1968: To understand today's protests, you must look further back. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/06/2020-not-1968/

Taylor, B.D. (2020, July 10). George Floyd protests: A timeline. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html