U.S. Global and Domestic Racism in the Era of Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter and the Necessity of Structural Reforms
The U.S. political establishment’s response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has been contrary to the structural remediations necessary to confront all of America’s interrelated flaws. The fatal shooting of Daunte Wright is symptomatic of the political structures disparaging retort to the largest social movement in American history. Once again, the grievances of the most disadvantaged minority tumbled against the backdrop of a highly polarized political environment that allowed for another Black man to be murdered at the hands of the police. The political and business elite in the U.S. is determined to preserve America’s neocolonial ambitions through its policies of exploitation and capitulation by activating the racial animus of white Americans. Even while the slogans of Defund the Police and No Justice, No Peace echoed through the streets of all 50 U.S. states, white supremacist structures still remain in ongoing police brutality and gun violence.
The BLM movement’s bonds of internationalism, institutional critique and street activism have been shouldered to preserve America’s hawkish policies around the world. The worldwide anti-racism protests it sparked reflected the internationalization of the struggle for racial justice, but inequality and unrest is not new – and how quickly and successfully the political establishment can conflate the disease of structural racism with superficial reforms is yet to be determined. America’s traditional ‘soft power’ continues to decline in the context of a highly polarized social and political environment. The bipartisan nature of these interrelated flaws has led both political parties in the U.S. to structure electoral competition around the white voter. A multi-racial and multi-generational movement is the greatest threat to America’s military prowess and to its dystopian carceral state. Neoliberals are shaking in their seats as they attempt to reframe, distract and cosmetically reconstruct the current system which rationalizes minorities status as the product of market dynamics.
The Linkages of U.S. Global and Domestic Racism
Americans from all backgrounds have allied with BLM in the face of repugnant acts of police brutality against Black Americans. BLM possesses characteristics and a vision that calls for deep structural changes that are intrinsically linked to America’s role in the world. The political establishment’s attempt to frame this as a domestic upheaval has been blunted by the fact that America’s racism extends state boundaries in a way that has not been visible in mainstream discourse since after World War II. After the international system ascended into a unipolar reality, the emerging superpower became to be seen as the world’s policeman. The recent protests are an outcry demanding the dismantling of systems of oppressions and departing from the current global exploitative and extractive economy to one that is more sustainable and equitable. These efforts face formidable obstacles as the Biden administration continues to inhibit transformational change. Yet there is still reason to believe he will recognize the connections between home and abroad. Biden often touts his administration’s approach to lead not only by the example of our power, but the power of our example. However, words will not solve the systemic change required. The administration recently published their criminal justice plan calling for $300 million investment in community policing efforts – including hiring of more officers.
The New Jim Crow in its color-blind and post-racial persona has allowed for establishment politicians to sanitize their rhetoric to cover up the racial caste system that came into fruition at the advent of the War on Drugs. Furthermore, efforts to separate the carceral state from liberal internationalism has been suspended by condemnation of American imperialism – the wars, the invasions, the coups and the existence of a shared vocabulary among police forces around the world. This has developed social consciousness on the interlinkages of U.S. foreign and domestic policies that are overwhelmingly framed through rhetoric of security, emergency and crisis. BLM, like the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) has a global audience in which America’s self-proclaimed anointment as a beacon of democracy is splintering. In fact, the U.S. Crisis Monitor examined the demonstrations and political violence and argued that this is in large part due to the escalating use of force against demonstrators amid a wider push to militarize the government’s response to domestic unrest. More importantly is what it shows of democracy as a system of government.
Just as after the 1940’s when American diplomats realized that they could not just dismiss these assertions – today’s covert, coded and elusive methods of racial control allow for this notice to be misconstrued to protect America’s image. Advancing racial justice in the United States requires meaningful accountability at the global level for systemic human rights violations unbridled in the wake of persistent acts of police brutality. The accountability appeal is a legacy of great Black American leaders, notably Angela Davis, who conceptualizes the struggles against institutional racism by advocating for national and transnational social and racial justice. Martin Luther King Jr, who saw planetizing our movement for social justice as essential, and Malcom X, who aspired to connect domestic freedom to international human rights battles. The BLM movement possesses considerable global clout, arguably more so than the CRM when countries were just emerging from their colonial past. Even more pressing is the increased participation of Americans of all walks of life who have joined hands with the movement to shake the prison walls until they fall down once and for all.
Call to Action
The number-one thing you can do is support local efforts underway to encourage lawmakers to reallocate your city’s budget toward healthcare, education, and housing. Moreover, university students should support resolutions calling to divest from companies which enable and profit from multiple forms of systemic violence. Learn about the differences between defunding and reforming, and get familiar with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights for how to get involved.
Cover art designed by GroundBreakers Communications Lead Urooj Ali.
Sources:
https://www.ft.com/content/20a2f4cf-4737-4f01-ad7f-670af563a100
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html
https://liu.se/en/news-item/black-lives-matter-en-rattighetsrorelse-som-spridits-over-varlden
https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-internationalisation-of-black-lives-matter-at-the-human-rights-council/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7sq6f
https://jacobinmag.com/2019/10/badges-without-borders-stuart-schrader-imperialism-policing-cold-war
https://www.wicz.com/story/43670803/biden-opposes-defunding-the-police-heres-what-that-means
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4800748/
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3116/
https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2021/03/ssmu-adopts-divest-for-human-rights-policy/
