The Black Lives Matter movement has garnered increased attention in the media following the senseless killing of George Floyd. Considering that 2020 has been a difficult year grappling the successional tragedies facing America, quarantine has become a period of reflection and introspection within the individual. With the access to technology, we have become increasingly aware of the unrest nationwide surrounding police brutality against black people. With this thought comes one main concern: why do we care once it's too late?
The recent peak in the BLM movement following the death of George Floyd was the turning point of the history of BLM. At first, big-name media companies covered the peaceful protests, but began to diverge from the protests done in good faith. We saw a false depiction of the heart of the movement with coverage of the sparks of violence when peaceful protests persisted for months worldwide.
These protests have even brought a change in national opinion with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitting he wished he had “listened earlier” and released a public apology to Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick still remains a free agent in the NFL and has become the face of peaceful protests in the present-day.
We can see the issue come to light nationally, but the greater issue is that we have not done our part on the local level. We must do our part to educate ourselves and understand how we can become better allies to our black peers. Going to Ardsley means that we are all beneficiaries of a wonderful education, but given that black people are disproportionately represented at our school means we must engage in a self-guided, anti-racist education to understand our biases and control them. This can be starting a conversation with BIPOC friends and studying narratives untold through literature and media with accurate representations of other cultures. These are just some of the smaller things that we can do to address a deep-rooted issue, but it all starts with you.
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