Order & Chaos: A Look at the BLM Protests

Towards late May, in the midst of the greatest public-health crisis of recent history, America faced the introduction of yet another deadlock, this time one of social injustice, sparked by the death of an African American man, George Floyd, who became the latest victim of American police brutality at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a white officer. Across the country, rage spilled onto the streets and social media, generating chaos reminiscent of the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in the late 1960s. Through the storm of protests, riots, and online reactions, the attitudes and actions of the demonstrators reflect their various motives and mindsets, revealing the disheartening truth that for some, the movement has morphed away from a battle for justice, and into a platform to exercise malpractice.

The backlash against Mr. Chauvin’s actions, and indeed against the overall systemic racism in American policing, is being displayed in two realms: one in the form of physical protests, and the other on the intangible connections of social networks. The former has paved the way for some of the most dramatic events of the month, from reports of police tear-gassing peaceful protestors and attacking unarmed citizens, to the images of rioters raiding stores and businesses and lighting them aflame. It is no exaggeration to describe the state of the mess as something resembling a warzone, with destruction coming from both sides. Yet at the cost of lives, infrastructure, and order, what will this standoff achieve?

On June 1st, Barack Obama described the protests as “a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices”. There is no doubt about the frustration’s validity, yet questions must be asked about whether the collective purpose really is to solve that frustration. A prime example is the frequent occurrence of anarchic riots, in which neutral businesses and properties are damaged by extreme protestors. Unlike peaceful protests, where the purpose is to exert a societal pressure onto officials by making the discontent and solidarity of the people felt, riots attempt to forcefully achieve the same result by unleashing a barrage of violence and carnage to which governments have no choice but respond, by greeting injustice with injustice. Such an approach has several unwanted side effects. The wrecking of a given area discourages its businesses from continued operation and frightens new infrastructure from being deployed there. In already rural locations, this effect can be more keenly felt. Between 2012 and 2016, roughly 14% of all Americans lived in such rural areas, yet non-White ethnicities represent 79% of that share. Such a disparity highlights the need to bring more opportunities to poor communities, yet persistent rioting will lead to the contrary.

Moreover, some incidents of the rioting seem to have no regard for the background of their targets. The majority of retailers being hit are either neutral or even supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement, while some damaged small businesses are even run by African Americans. Here, a bigger problem is exposed. As countless protestors take to the streets to show their desire for change, their voices are tainted by the presence of people who have little interest in the pursuit of justice but are taking advantage of the uncertain times to satisfy their thrill of bringing about chaos. There have been a plethora of reports about far-right white individuals breaking into stores and making way with stolen goods. For them, the battle has never been about justice, but for their personal satisfaction. On the more extreme end of the spectrum, white supremacists have taken this chance to attempt inciting violence in originally peaceful protests, carrying firearms, and planning terror attacks. Such acts are efforts to discredit the genuine protestors and to stoke a flame for their craving of disorder and terror. This is the problem. While thousands of peaceful folk slowly inch towards reform, they are hindered by those whose hearts do not lay with the cause but are taking advantage of the situation to achieve their own goals. For every official persuaded of change by stunning acts of strength from nonviolent activists, there is an officer who has no choice but to resort to force in response to a looter smashing the windows of a small store.

Meanwhile, online warfare is brewing on social networks. Here, ideological conflicts are much more common, with the courage to voice one’s opinions boosted by the apparent protection of their identity from the devices they use. It is also online where radical views can be expressed with little consequence. In particular, the members of Gen Z, who grew up with the readiness of social media at their disposal, have been among the most active responders to the chaos. They have been quick to demonstrate their contempt of systemic racism, creating posts using #ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards), #DefundThePolice, #BLM, and countless other subthreads. It must be admitted that the voices of youngsters on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have greatly boosted the coverage of the topic and thus raised heightened awareness.

However, similar to its physical-protest counterparts, online protesting has spawned a flurry of negative byproducts. Much of the drive behind Gen Z’s willingness to participate in the fight against injustice stems from their exhaustion of constantly having their views rejected by older generations of society who are firmly rooted in tradition over innovation. Therefore, when an opportunity to lead a change and overthrow an old system is presented, it is inevitable that they feel the intoxication of being able to broadcast their voices and bring about a revolution. This excitement often leads to an overenthusiasm that impedes the ability to calmly ponder reports, news, and statistics, breeding the spread of inaccurate news. Claims of a city-wide cellular blackout incited by the government in Washington, DC surfaced online, fuelled by the reports of young social network users. Further rumors hinted that officers were trying to cover up evidence of deaths of protestors. Such outlandish claims have since been debunked with evidence from multiple sources. According to NetBlocks, which tracks outages, there has been “no indication of mass-scale internet disruptions”. Furthermore, multiple independent journalists present at the city have asserted they experienced no such “blackout”.

Sometimes, this intoxication overtakes the true motive of the movement, and some begin to lose sight of their original intentions. As a result, some teenagers protest “for the sake of protesting”, rather than “for the sake of justice”. This phenomenon can be seen during a social media uprising named “Blackout Tuesday”, in which users post a black screen to show their stance against racism on June 2nd. The movement garnered tremendous attention, with over 20m accounts participating. However, a closer look reveals that a large share of participants contributed no further to the cause, with less than half having done as little as signing a petition. This uncovers the dispiriting case that 10m people had engaged in a BLM-related activity with the objective of simply creating a social image to enhance their own online identity, without truly possessing the willingness to make a change.

In any large-scale protest, it is inevitable that there will be people who attempt to take advantage of the discord to achieve disruptive goals. Such troublemakers threaten to smear the reputation of those who sincerely desire change. Yet, as history has shown, if the genuine justice-seekers remain persistent and united, reforms can and will be brought about. The mission is not to end racism overnight, nor over the next month, year or even decade. The mission is to walk towards justice one step at a time, to be able to look back at yesterday and realize that things have improved, even if by just a tiny bit. Perhaps one day, one can look back at 2020, and see it as the beginning of a new era.

As Jahseh Onfroy, an African-American rapper known as XXXTentacion once said: “What’s real will prosper”.