The nonviolent civil rights struggle in the 1950s and 1960s achieved great advances, particularly in the South. It was disciplined, it set specific goals, and its leaders met with national political leaders. It was countered with great violence by local segregationists and even local officials. That violence was self-defeating. People across the country joined in supporting the civil rights movement. President Lyndon Johnson, in his speech to Congress proposing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, said, “We shall overcome.” Indeed, Jim Crow segregation laws were generally ended and whites and Blacks in the South benefitted economically.
The current nonviolent civil rights movement is different and faces a different presidency in Washington than was the case 65 years ago. Now. there are numerous nongovernmental organizations striving to reduce the punishing inequality suffered by many Blacks in every sphere of their lives. Treatment in the criminal justice system is presently drawing much attention, which has focused on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) social movement. It emerged nationally in 2014, after a large-scale uprising in Ferguson, Missouri, following blatant violent suppression of the nonviolent protests after the killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year old Black man. The BLM movement grew, becoming a wide network of local chapters, led by local members, sharing a new vision. In deference to their use of Black in their self-identification, I adopt it here, rather than another common term, African American.) Local leaders were often young Black women activists, expressing their outrage at police misconduct. As more instances of police killings of Blacks occurred and received attention, demands for reforming police conduct and the whole justice system greatly increased.
Several factors converged to produce the sudden massive and diverse, protest marches around the country, which persisted for weeks and had significant consequences. First, videos of the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, were rapidly spread by social and mass media. They showed a white police officer pressing his knee on the neck of a prone Black man. saying, “I can’t breathe.” The police officer looks casually at the cameras, with one hand in his pocket, as three other policemen stand by and onlookers cry out, “you’re killing him.” This persisted for over 8 minutes, as the struggling man on the street became inert.
Media attention across the country, and abroad, focused on the death and responses to it. Many relatives and friends expressed their grief and outrage, the police chief apologized, and numerous officials decried what had happened, as did former presidents and white and Black civic leaders. Some official actions were speedily taken. On May 26, the Minneapolis mayor and police chief announced the firing of the four police officers who were responsible for Floyd’s death. Protest demonstrations quickly spread to over 2,000 cities and towns across the country, and also in many other countries.
Surprisingly, the protesters were diverse in ethnicity, age, and experience. The demonstrations were generally nonviolent and peaceful; in some localities, police expressed solidarity with demonstrators, while in other localities confrontations escalated into forceful encounters. In a few cities, opportunistic gangs looted and burned stores, including Black-owned ones.
The prevailing Covid-19 pandemic that had been underway for almost 3 months might have been expected to lessen mass demonstrations. Yet, on the contrary, school-age youth were not in school and many people joined the already unemployed. They could march with masks, social distance and outdoors.
Furthermore, Blacks had been experiencing some improvement in their class, status, and power standing in prior years and expected more improvements. Yet the pandemic had revealed that their living circumstances made them more vulnerable to becoming sick and dying from Covid-19. Moreover, their employment circumstances deteriorated even more than did those of whites as the economy declined. President Trump’s tweets and statements defending white nationalists emboldened them to express racist sentiments, raising Blacks’ concerns. Rising expectations blocked by declining conditions is the well-established formula for revolt.
Another striking feature of the BLM protest marches was the participation of whites as well as people of color. National public opinion surveys indicate that white public opinion had become less and less prejudicial since 1988 and in 2018 whites generally did not attribute most Blacks’ poor conditions to their own failings. More specifically, in late June 2020, 52 percent of white voters believed that George Floyd’s death was part of a pattern of excessive police violence against Blacks.
In many cities, meetings and negotiations began to discuss needed reforms of the policing system and shifting funding. There has been much agreement that police departments are tasked to deal with problems that they are ill-prepared to handle. Problems related to mental illness, homelessness, and extreme poverty need to be dealt with by other government and charitable programs.
Unfortunately, the energy and power of the BLM movement arose at the time that President Trump was seeking re-election during a mishandled response to a pandemic. He chose to escalate confrontations with protesters, proclaiming he was a law-and-order president. He threatened to dominate and take over the streets from the protesters. White supremacists saw an opportunity to gain influence and took actions to disrupt demonstrations, resorting at times to violence. Many Americans were worried at the extreme right-wing rhetoric and actions of Trump and his appointed officials.
These developments suggest that many in the BLM movement could more widely adopt some new constructive strategies. More movement members could enter enhanced negotiations and lobbying of local, school, state, and national officials. The variations at the local level make that likely in any case. More generally, the present national situation opens up an opportunity for a very broad coalition, with electoral implications. Many Americans, Republicans as well as Democrats, are concerned that the authoritarian conduct of President Trump and his appointed officials are undermining American democracy. Certainly, his re-election would not enhance justice for Blacks. It follows, that BLM and other movements for justice should rise up together and vote to repudiate Trump and Trumpists at the polls.
The way Americans who are not part of the BLM movement respond to it is critical. Expressing recognition of the injustices African Americans experience in the criminal justice system is a step toward peace and justice. Particular groups have special opportunities to enhance both peace and justice. Some police unions have given too high priority to simply protect any members who acted badly, rather than maximizing the good standing of their members as a whole. Lawyers in the criminal justice system might provide more information about injustices and suggest ways to overcome them. Citizens can attend public hearings about legislation to improve the criminal justice system. Public engagement in solving present-day problems is the essence of democracy.