Why is Black Lives Matter not Supported by Everyone, and Even Viewed Negatively by Some

Black Lives Matter as an organization faces opposition from other organizations and individuals who do not agree with them. As stated in one of my earlier posts, race affects your perspective, and for Black Lives Matter the biggest factor in the movement is affected by race. For this reason Black Lives Matter is stuck in a sticky situation, as certain groups feel that Black people are promoting their own lives more than the lives of other humans, and this has caused individuals to criticize the group and create theory own slogans and movements such as All Lives Matter. 

One explanation as to why these individuals are against the Black Lives Matter movement can be viewed under the social norms theory. According to the social norms theory behaviour is influenced by perception of what is normal or typical. For the majority of us who do not live in these communities, we are not able to fully understand the relationship that police officers have with Black people, as we ourselves do not experience it and we do not have to deal with the same suspicions. Black communities and Black people are fed up with the way the system is set up and they have realized that the system is set up against them. They are tired of the solutions created by people in power and national leaders, as they are not aware of the realities in the local communities (Ransby, 2017). 

That is why Black Lives Matter exists, because they are trying to create a solution that will last, one that is created by the people, for the people, as these results would be more likely to meet the needs of the people. Documents from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were obtained from a lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Civil Rights group Color of Change. 

These documents contained series of emails in which the FBI and DHS viewed BLM protests as being violent prone and used this justification for law enforcement presence and data collection and monitoring. The emails had also shown how the DHS viewed far right and white supremacist protest as legal and that counter protests were the cause of violence at the white supremacist protests. The ironic part is that the white supremacist protests are largely organized and attended by individuals with documented histories of violence. 

According to Brandi Collins, the campaign director at Color of Change, the difference is shocking, "The subtext here is stunning," Collins said

"It tells us who the government is training to view as threats and the rightful targets of ongoing surveillance and which groups will be offered protection."

"And we have obtained an entire DHS report devoted to the threat posed by groups reacting to demonstrably violent, retrograde white supremacists. Read together, the documents reflect an unsettling blindness to the real challenges our society continues to face." (Vohra, 2017).

It is clear that Black Lives Matter is viewed as a potential threat by the government due to the fact that Black Lives Matter protests are viewed as prone to inciting violence. Black Lives Matter as an organization has many hills to climb, however knowing that they can bring change is what drives them to make change.

References:

Ransby, B. (2017, October 21). Black Lives Matter Is Democracy in Action. Retrieved March 4, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/opinion/sunday/black-lives-matter-leadership.html

Vohra, S. (2017, November 28). Documents show US monitoring of Black Lives Matter. Retrieved March 5, 2018, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/documents-show-monitoring-black-lives-matter-171128110538134.html