Black Lives Matter Essay

The issue of police brutality in the United States is one that has sparked a lot of controversy in recent years. Police brutality is defined as various human rights violations by police, which may include but is not limited to: assault, racial discrimination, and indiscriminate use of riot control. (Amnesty 2020). There is undeniable evidence, which will be discussed later, to suggest that police in the United States disproportionately target people of color. While the specific reasons for this can be debated, the public outrage is evident. This is one of, if not the primary reason for the existence of the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in direct response to these types of actions being committed by law enforcement. Black Lives Matter

Tactically, this benefits the Black Lives Matter organization greatly. This positive reception of the movement by the media has played a significant role in affecting police related deaths in the United States. It used to be the case that the media often fixated on the moment of death in cases of police brutality, while contributing to police narratives. These factors often reflect negatively on the characters of victims of police brutality. However, since the rise of the social movement, the media has covered these types of situations differently. The emphasis is now primarily on police violence and, more importantly, the victims. (Emmanuel 2021). Emphasizing the victim in an instance of police brutality is clearly the most effective means of getting the public behind your cause. Emotional appeals are efficient tools in gathering support, and due to the specific circumstance of police brutality cases, this appears to be one of, if not the most effective way of portraying these events. Due to the change in media coverage and portrayal, police officers who behave unethically or unlawfully are commonly called out and put on blast by various media outlets. There have been many recent examples of this type of thing occurring. For instance, the most common and well known example of this is former police officer Derek Chauvin. Derek Chauvin is the police officer that is guilty of the infamous killing of George Floyd, probably the most notable example of police brutality. He was put on trial in March of 2021, and this particular trial was covered heavily by the media, as this case was of particular interest to many people across the United States. Fortunately, Derek Chauvin ended up being convicted of three charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. (The United