As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the social movement he inspired, the struggle for racial equality remains a harsh reality in American society. More than 50 years after the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the cry for justice and fairness in the treatment of blacks continues. The Black Lives Matter movement is now one of the top trending political issues on social media. Some argue there is a declining significance of race while others contend discussions of race reinforce the racial divide and impede racial harmony. But race and racism are among the most highly contentious issues in America. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, 73 percent of blacks perceive racism as a big problem. An increasing number of whites (44 percent) believe racism is a big problem, an increase of 17 points since 2010.
The deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice fuel the perception of differential treatment when it comes to black lives. The public sentiment following these deaths has impacted the American psyche. A mere eight percent of blacks believe the country has made the necessary changes to achieve racial equality in contrast to 40 percent of whites. Although 86 percent of blacks believe more should be done for blacks to achieve equal rights, only 53 percent of whites find the same to be true.
Excerpt from OpEd posted in PA Times Opinion/Continue reading at Keeping an Eye Towards Racial Justice
Photo credit: Skokie Parks
Stirring Up Trouble by DrVLoLil 
I had the opportunity to hear Alicia Garza, the co-founder of the hashtag #blacklivesmatter speak at my university. One of the things she mentioned that resonated with me is the movement does not discredit the lives of everyone else, it is only finally bringing light to the injustices the black community faces, especially with police brutality. The statement “black lives matter” is not an anti-white proposition!
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The #blacklivesmatter campaign brings awareness to a social problem that has become almost like an epidemic. Those who fail to recognize this problem do not realize that they too, are making it worse. It now being the 21st century, most would hope racism and social injustices would have ceased, but it is a grim reality to face knowing that these injustices still occur today.
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Thank you Vanessa for having a spotlight on the Black Lives Matter movement. I believe it is an important movement everyone should be aware of and know what it truly stands for. I was completely unaware of campaign zero and how they functioned. As of now, I have a better understanding on what the Black Lives Matter movement represents and how it all started. I hope this movement continues standing strong and does not vanish like others have in the past.
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#blacklivesmatter, this is a interesting topic that I am still educating myself about, is sad to see that as the years go by, and new generations are growing, racism still present in one of the (consider to many) most powerful countries in the world, the United States.I was raised in Mexico and don’t know a whole lot about American history, but with presentations and speeches given at my university California State Monterey Bay, I became more aware of this issue that is happening every day all over America, with racism along with the use of force by law enforcement. As mentioned at the speech #black lives matter is a movement to express that this issue still happening in 2016 the history on the slaves in the United States have might be terminated, but the issue had not. Proud to see people stand up for themselves in a country of freedom, where people speak up about unfair situations, and also educating new generations by making visible to others what is happening in our society.
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How many more people have to die before our country sees that racial injustice exists here? When will skin color stop defining people’s worth? I truly do not understand how the United States has failed to extinguish racism when minority groups make up a giant chunk of the population. Could it be that minority groups feel forever trapped in a society of racial injustice so much that we don’t even bother to fight it? Are we so engulfed in our lives to care about this issue that we would rather wait for another Martin Luther King Jr. to fix our problems? By “our”, I mean all minority groups.
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