5 Key Achievements of Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020, So Far

In 2013, the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer led Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi to declare #BlackLivesMatter. The hashtag grew into an international movement, continuing the work from the civil rights movement in the 1960s to end white supremacy and dismantle systems of hate, oppression, and discrimination.

Despite notable campaigns and changes since 2013, Black Americans are still shot by police at a disproportionate rate, are the targets of an increasing number of hate crimes, and face significant economic barriers and levels of inequality.

On Feb. 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was jogging when three white men pursued and fatally shot him because they thought he looked suspicious. On Mar. 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, an emergency-room technician, was killed in her own home by police officers serving a no-knock warrant for narcotics that did not exist. On May 25, 2020, the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, a fatal act captured on video.

In response to these killings, among countless other shootings, 2020 has become a new era of racial awakening in the U.S., with nationwide protests and new systemic reforms. Support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has reached an unprecedented high.

Here’s a look at the growth and success of the Black Lives Matter movement this year, so far.

1. Increasing Support for BLM

According to some polls, over 20 million people in the U.S. have participated in demonstrations since the death of Floyd and others, making Black Lives Matter protests the largest movement in American history.

A June 2020 Monmouth University poll found a majority of Americans across all races believe law enforcement disproportionately uses excessive force against Black Americans. The findings mark a 20%  jump in the belief compared to 2014 after the death of Eric Garner. The same poll found that 76% of Americans consider racism and discrimination a “big problem,” up from 51% in 2015. Pew Research Center poll from June also found 67% of Americans expressed Support for Black Lives Matter.

After a summer of protests, Support for the movement has waned among white Americans, which is likely linked to the decreased media attention and coverage of racial injustice. Prolonged activism and sustained media coverage are critical in ensuring true changes in the attitudes of Americans on racial issues.

2. Defunding the Police and Other Police Reforms

Due to BLM protests, the “defund the police” movement has risen from a niche idea to a mainstream issue.

Thanks to BLM protests and decades of work from Black activists, about a third of U.S. adults—more than half of Democrats, African Americans, and young people—now Support defunding the police. Many city councils across the country have announced plans to cut their police departments’ annual budgets and use those funds to invest in community services.

New York slashed $1 billion from its $88.9 billion police budget for 2021, reallocating $354 million to mental health, homelessness, and education services, Los Angeles cut $150 million from its $1.86 billion proposed budget, and San Francisco stripped $120 million from the police and sheriff’s departments, using the money to invest in Black communities instead.

In Minneapolis, the city where Floyd was killed, the Minneapolis City Council agreed to dismantle the city’s police department, replacing the current “toxic” system with one focused on community health and safety.

Other reforms prompted by the BLM movement this year include bans on no-knock warrants and ketamine use, limits on campaign contributions from police unions, and a national database to track officer misconduct.

3. Removing of Confederate Statues & Symbols

The issue of confederate statues and symbols in public spaces has reached a new level in 2020 due to the BLM protests.

Protestors themselves have defaced and toppled several Confederate statutes, and local and state leaders have also ordered the removal of these symbols.

“Confederate monuments have become targets because they are powerful expressions of the brutal practices that led to Floyd’s murder; they are the artworks that gild the system,” Kirk Savage, an art historian at the University of Pittsburgh, told NPR.

Some of the Confederate figures that have been torn down include a statue of Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia and a statue of Robert E. Lee in Montgomery, Alabama.

In addition to removing statues, places, music groups, and even birds have been renamed to remove ties to Confederate namesakes.

4. Racial Reckoning Across Industries

In addition to reconsidering Confederate statues and symbols, companies and organizations are reexamining their past in an effort to root out any trace of colonialism, racism, and discrimination.

Names of sports teams, food products, university dorms, and celestial bodies have been changed. Environmental groups grappled with their founders’ legacies of racism. Animal rights organizations acknowledged their past failings to address racism.

Across industries, company leadership is being held accountable for racist remarks and discriminatory actions. Executives from Bon Appetit, CrossFit, Refinery29, and other companies have resigned due to racist remarks or allegations of racist company culture.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from the company’s board after 15 years and asked his seat to go to a Black candidate. Ohanian was replaced by Michael Seibel, the tech company’s first Black board member.

While many companies released blanket statements of Support, some have put their money where their mouth is by donating millions to Black institutions and colleges, Black-owned businesses, Black creators, and grassroots racial justice organizations.

5. International Solidarity

From Sydney to Tokyo to Amsterdam, BLM and anti-police brutality protests and calls for systemic change have spread around the world forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own nation.

UK protesters toppled a statue of the 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol Harbor. A 150-year-old statue of King Leopold II of Belgium was removed from a public square in Antwerp.

What’s next?

“I think this country is at a turning point and has been for a little while. We went from celebrating the election of the first Black president in history to bemoaning a white nationalist in the White House,” Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, told The Atlantic. “People are grappling with the fact that we’re not actually in a post-racial society.”

This year, the Black Lives Matter movement has catalyzed changes in policing, company structures, product names, and attitudes towards racism. While one year of protests and reforms cannot undo the deep-seated and pervasive issue of racism, 2020, with all its crises, has proven to be a critical year for the racial justice movement, launching BLM’s impact and Support to new heights.

“There has never been an anti-racist majority in American history. There may be one today,” journalist Adam Serwer wrote his piece “The New Reconstruction” in The Atlantic.

Read Serwer’s full article and learn about the defund the police movement.

Sign this petition to demand justice for Jacob Blake!

You can also help by signing these related petitions:

• End Qualified Immunity, Rule that Allows Police to Violate People’s Rights Without Repercussions
• Breonna Taylor
• George Floyd
• Tony McDade
• Ahmaud Arbery

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