Research proposal on Blacklivesmatter

Introduction:

The term black lives matter is known all around the world right now, the term means that the lives of the individuals with dark skin is as important as any other white skinned individual. There have been many incidents where black individuals have been targeted unjustly by the important stakeholders like police officers. The incident of George Floyd where a black man was murdered by a police officer unfairly. There was no underlying evidence that he actually committed a crime but he was still killed because he was a black American and seem suspicious. That’s when the hashtag #blacklivesmatter came into being and created an uproar in the United States, there were rallies conducted by the people against this misogyny that Floyd experienced because of his roots and race (Next IAS, 2020).

Harassment and Murder of Black Population all around the world:

United States of America:

America has been on top of the list when it comes to harassment against black Americans on the basis of race and ethnicity. The incident of George Floyd also took place in the country that created back lash from the black Americans, not only they were protesting but people from other ethnicities were also protesting against the discrimination that took the life of an innocent. Bleich et al., (2019) conducted a survey regarding discrimination against black Americans in the country and found out that about thirty two percent of the black American faced discrimination due to their black roots. The black citizens face discrimination in all parts of their life, be it employment, education or interacting socially with others. The black American students face discrimination during their college degrees by the white individuals.

Many of the Black Americans state that the ‘legacy of slavery’ still has an effect on them today as shown in Figure 1. A survey conducted in the country showed that in every ten individuals about four thinks that America doesn’t provide equal rights to black Americans as they have been born and raised in the country as a white skinned individual. Moreover, the black Americans are also concerned about the provision of equal rights in the future given to them as the current era is so modern but still the black Americans are left out in the society (Horowitz, 2019).

European Union:

It is predicted that western countries would have lower amount of harassment and violence against the other ethnicities but the prediction is wrong. Moreover, the countries that come under EU has a significant amount of harassment against black population. It has been noted that Finland is among the top to record the highest number of harassment and violence against other races and Great Britain is at the lower level of the chain. One of the representatives from FRA stated “It is a reality both shameful and infuriating: racism based on the colour of a person’s skin remains a pervasive scourge throughout the European Union” (BBC, 2018).

During the period between 2015-2016 about six thousand participants were surveyed from twelve countries, out of the total respondents about thirty percent stated that they have experienced harassment due to their race. It was also measured that about sixty three percent of the participants have experienced harassment in Finland, twenty one percent in the Great Britain and twenty percent in Malta. Police officer harassed black people in countries like Ireland and Austria (13%) and Finland (14%). Harassment was recorded at a lower level in Great Britain (3%) and Portugal (2%) (BBC, 2018).

Australia:

Australia is called a multi cultural country where people from all around the world have migrated to the country for better standard of living and other necessities of life. However, the Indigenous Australians are the black individuals of the country who are discriminated at every walk of life due to their race and colour. It has been recorded that about forty seven percent of the people in Australia have faced discrimination on the bases of their ethnicity. Among them about 43% of the Indigenous Australians have experienced discrimination as compared to those who were not from an Indigenous background (Vic Health, 2008). The concept of blackness is seen as a burden by many black Australians, the reason for why it is called a burden because where ever they go discrimination follows them. They can not hide their skin colour and if they could they would have changed it. Their skin color causes them to feel uncomfortable; they are marginalized and not empowered to live a normal life as an average white skinned individual (Mapedzahama & Kwansah-Aidoo, 2017). An individual posted an article about how he faced discrimination while growing up in Australia, he stated that only he was teased because of his Asian roots but the Indigenous children were also discriminated because of their ethnicity. He further states that “There’s a good ad with an Indigenous fellow on a bus. There’s an extra burden on that man, and how he behaves and how he walks, simply because he’s Indigenous” (ABC, 2020).

Conclusion:

Black individuals have always fought hard in their lives to receive equal rights as the white skinned individuals have the privilege. The term black lives matter has been also termed as a movement in many parts of the world where black individuals struggle to get their equal rights, they face discrimination throughout their lives just because they have darker skin than others. Moreover, the individuals are not only harassed but also murdered as they are from a different race. The paper provided a brief overview of the three major parts of the world that are considered as west but have an increasing amount of racism on the basis of race and color. Moreover, the black individuals in these parts of the world are fighting for their equal rights in every sector all around the world.

References:

Bleich, S. N., Findling, M. G., Casey, L. S., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., SteelFisher, G. K., … & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States: experiences of black Americans. Health services research, 54, 1399-1408.

Mapedzahama, V., & Kwansah-Aidoo, K. (2017). Blackness as burden? The lived experience of black Africans in Australia. Sage Open, 7(3), 2158244017720483.