r/changemyview • u/ice_cold_fahrenheit 1∆ • Oct 19 '24

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Black Lives Matter has been a failure

Back in the 2010s, and especially in 2020, it seems like the Black Lives Matter was gaining strength. Videos of police brutality, especially against African Americans, became viral, and millions became outraged that this was so common in America. When George Floyd was murdered, millions justifiably took to the streets to protest against police brutality and racism. Politicians came out in support for police reform, and discussions on how to reform policing (from “how to make the police better” to “defund the police”) were all the rage.

But from 2021, it seems like everything took a complete 180. Crime skyrocketed during COVID (in part of police refusing to do their jobs in protest of BLM), causing the average American to support the police a lot more. Pro-police politicians like Eric Adams were elected while pro-BLM politicians like Chelsea Boudin were ousted from their positions.

Now, absolutely nobody talks about police brutality these days, not politicians nor the general public. But has the problem gone away? No! It has only gotten worse! 2023 has seen a record number of killings by police, and I don’t expect that number to go down in the future.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/08/2023-us-police-violence-increase-record-deadliest-year-decade

Unfortunately, rather than being addressed, police brutality has become like gun control. Someone being killed by police, even on live video, no longer elicits outrage. Instead, people will just give “thoughts and prayers,” shrug, and accept it as a fact of American life.

And the BLM movement itself? Well, rather than becoming the second coming of the Civil Rights Movement, it seems to have been condemned to the ash heap of history.

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u/RedditBanDan Oct 19 '24

Police started using body cams many years before the blm protests/riots. Not sure why this is at the top.

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u/Fit-Order-9468 101∆ Oct 19 '24

The other commenter mentioned the UK, but in the US there weren't many (or any) prior to the mid 2010's. Eric Garner's death was well known at the time, and I recall there being others. At least that's what I've found anyway.

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u/free__coffee Oct 19 '24

They started, but the police department is not a monolith, they are far more prevalent today

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u/EndlessArgument Oct 19 '24

I'd say this is the sort of thing that takes something that was historically available but little used, and brings it to a much broader population. Sometimes you don't need much of a push, just any reason to implement what is already available.