To be effective, BLM needs new approach

The Summer of 2020 was like no other with a global pandemic, election tension and, most prominent in the news, Black Lives Matter protests. These protests raged throughout the country in the form of peaceful demonstrations, social media posts and riots.

BLM's motivation is to combat police violence against Black communities, but if you take a look at the bigger picture its methods are flawed and ineffective.

The first step in any movement is obtaining the attention of people in power. While BLM did turn many skeptics away with rioting, weakening its political leverage, it did get substantial attention from the media. Contrary to popular belief, the widely frowned upon rioting is not what keeps BLM from achieving its goals. Rather, it is its inability to act on said political leverage and realize that it is only fighting an effect of systemic racism, not the source.

BLM preaches, "We Want Change," but provides little strategy as to how it wants this change implemented. Because BLM is a decentralized entity, it is not able to leverage its public attention to negotiate with policymakers and actually achieve lasting change. The public support generated by BLM protests creates a tool to cause change, but when it comes to it BLM fails to use it.

Violence against Blacks is an effect of systemic racism in the country, not a cause. Fighting it is futile without first cutting its power off from the source. BLM should instead focus on combating the socioeconomic divide that leads to violent prejudice against Blacks.

Without switching to a larger picture focus, the well intentioned BLM movement is destined to fail.

Steffen Brown

Mundelein