Blue Lives Matter: The Countermovement to Address Police Officer Deaths - Essay Sample

Introduction

After the killing of two New York City police officers on December 20, 2014, a group of law enforcement officers began a movement, which is now known as the Blue Lives Matter countermovement. Roediger David's article on "Making Solidarity Uneasy," defines Blue Lives Matter as a movement by retired and working police officers advocating that anyone found guilty of assassinating a law enforcement officer to be charged under the federation prosecution of hate crimes. The law further explains that any person found guilty of intimidating a police officer by either use of explosives, firearms, or any form of ammunition should be sentenced to serve in prison for up to 10 years. In cases of kidnapping, murder, or sexual harassment the punishment is life imprisonment or a death sentence. Over the past years, the Blue Lives Matter ideology has been a controversial topic across the country because the founders of the movements are in support of the movement whereas the American Civil Liberties Union is against the movement as it terms it dangerous for the country. The movement has some negative impacts on the country such as corruption, racism, violence, and great division.

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According to the latest audit by Transparency International, the United States has been ranked number 22 out of 175 corrupt countries, which means that the country is among the least corrupt countries (Sim). However, the situation may worsen in the future as the Blue Lives movement gains momentum because there have already been reports against the law enforcers. The reports claim that the social identity of being in the law enforcement team has guaranteed many officials unmerited favors such as internal cover-ups and supporting their colleagues even when they have violated the law. Police obstruct justice by hiding shreds of evidence of public mistreatments just because of the unity identified by the collective badge. The phenomenon can be illustrated by Hall, Alison, Erika, and Jamie's article "Black and Blue; Exploring Racial Bias and Law Enforcement in the Killings of Unarmed Black Male Civilians." The truth poses a great threat as a toxic culture, which not only affects the country's economy and justice but also political stability.

Police officers have always been given first priority and the respect they deserve for the honorable work that they do for the country; therefore, there has never been any encouragement towards degrading police officers because of their ethnicity either by the state or by the civilians. The Blue Lives Matter has brought controversy over the issue of racial discrimination because the black people have been reported to be the most dangerous following the brutal murders of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The situation has influenced the break of the unity bond that united both the blue lives (police officers), Black (Black Americans), and Whites (Hispanic) as a nation (Roediger 227).

The report has left most white American civilians cautious of Black people and even those in the military service hence bringing division between the different ethnic groups and triggering the emergence of other racial protests such as the Black Lives Matters, and everyone matters movements. The idea behind each group's formation may be out of good will; nevertheless, it may erase the unity and selflessness in the nation since individuals will care for their ethnic interests only. The aspects of the Blue Lives Matter bill have been considered to be targeting a certain ethnic group because they are unrealistic and vague. The situation arises because there is nothing in the bill that clearly explains whether certain misconduct such as resisting arrest can be elevated to be a hate crime. The scenario has led to misinterpretation of the bill making black people conclude that their lives do not matter at all as civilians unless they are police officers.

According to Bouza's work Police Unbound; Corruption, Abuse, and Heroism by the Boys in Blue, the Blue Lives Matter has fabricated hatred between police officers and the civilians in what is termed as unrealistic disparate series of actions, speech, thoughts, and feelings toward the police officials. The civilians have always envied the way the government is protective of the military service officials, in that, they are given free accommodation and meals with generous pensions in retirement. The perception has led to negative aggression by riotous threats, resisting arrest, and use of abusive languages on the police. The result of this has repeatedly been the use of emotive force which has led to a dreadful confrontation between the armed and the unarmed. This violent confrontation has made the country unsafe for businesses and even foreign investors because they are normally classified as internal conflicts that may arise unexpectedly.

The great division published in all media articles recently across America was because of protests for personal interests. For example, Black and Blue protest at the 111th street of Kedzie Avenue in Chicago was triggered by Black people's resilience in making sure Black police officers are respected and recognized (Hall et al. 175). The Blue team (police officers) on the other hand, wanted their presence to be acknowledged by the Chicago police department as illustrated by William Kristian's work "Our Enemies in Blue; Police and Power in America ". Moreover, during the summer of 2015, an American officer shot dead a 25-year-old Black American man, which made Blacks furious, resulting in demonstrations with the destruction of properties, violence, and deaths. The above two are just examples of the many protests that have tarnished the name of the country to the outside world through the media because of personal interests. This, however, may neither be the first nor the last because the movements are still active and hopefully expecting more memberships. It is now evident that Blue Lives Matter has brought bad than good in this country.

It has been said that the rebellious actions by citizens towards the police forces can only happen if there is no understanding between the two groups. The violent actions that have risen as a result of the Blue Lives Matter protests are just an indication that we civilians feel left out by the government and that our lives do not matter at all. There are many civilians who have been killed by officers and their murderers have never been brought to justice because there is never enough evidence to prosecute and convict police officers for their wrongdoings. For instance, the murder of Dontre Hamilton who was shot in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 2014, Eric Garner who died after police officers put him in a chokehold while arresting him, John Crawford III who was murdered in a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, and the famous Michel Brown Jr. of Ferguson Missouri. Police officers can never be perfect because they are humans. They are not the only ones that need protection in the United States since every citizen's life-all lives matter. As long as Blue Lives Matter exists, violence, division and day to day protests will always be the order of the day.

Works Cited

Bouza, Anthony. Police Unbound; Corruption, Abuse, and Heroism by the Boys in Blue. Prometheus Books, 2010.

Hall, Alison, Erika, and Jamie L. Perry. "Black and Blue; Exploring Racial Bias and Law Enforcement in the Killings of Unarmed Black Male Civilians." American Psychologist, vol. 71, no. 3, 2016, p. 175.

Roediger, David. "Making Solidarity Uneasy; Cautions on a Keyword from Black Lives Matter to the Past." American Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 2, 2016, pp. 223-248.

Sim, David. The World's Least Corrupt Countries: The US Drops out of the Top 20. Newsweek. 29 Jan. 2019. www.newsweek.com/corrupt-countries-corruption-perceptions-index-transparency-international-1309816. Accessed 13 Jul 2019.

Williams, Kristian. Our Enemies in Blue; Police and Power in America. AK Press, 2015.