Race, policing, and Black Lives Matter

The chapter looks at the recent growth of the Black Lives Matter campaign in the wake of the death of George Floyd as a result of police violence and at its significance for wider debates about policing, systemic racism, and racial justice in the United States. It explains how the experience of policing in the United States has been shaped for Black Americans by its association with white supremacy. It details how the early period of the Black Lives Matter movement prompted efforts by President Obama to introduce a series of reforms to policing but also how these reform efforts were reversed by President Trump who wished to appeal to right-wing voters. The new stage of the Black Lives Matter campaign gained worldwide attention and extensive national sympathy, although it also triggered a series of heavily policed demonstrations across the United States in 2020. The chapter details the various responses to the Black Lives Matter campaign, especially to demands for police reform, and assesses the prospects for change under the Biden administration. It concludes that, while President Biden has indicated that advancing racial equity is a high priority for his administration, making that commitment a reality is likely to prove difficult.