Racial Justice in America: What is the Black Lives Matter Movement?
Racial Justice aMEriCA in What Is the BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT HEDREICH NICHOLS WITH KELISA WING
chapter 1 An Intro to Black Lives Matter Almost everyone is treated unfairly at some time in their life People can be treated poorly because they belong to a certain cultural group or because of what they stand for They can be discriminated against because of mental or physical disabilities People can be treated unfairly because they are too rich or too poor too tall or too short too loud or too quiet too religious or not religious enough But unfairness and anti-Black racism are different America’s legal and educational systems make it harder for people in the Black community to get a good education be successful and build wealth When these systems put one cultural group at a disadvantage it’s called systemic racism 4
Black people are also subject to racial profiling In 2012 Trayvon Martin was killed by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer The Black teenager was unarmed and looked suspicious The shooter was charged with murder but found not guilty This made people angry and sad Alicia Garza Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi called for justice for Trayvon using the hashtag BlackLivesMatter The Black Lives Matter BLM movement was born the next year Protesters rally toward the Sanford Police department in support of Trayvon Martin 5
