Galtung's Triangle and The BLM Protests

     I believe that a good example of Galtung's triangle can be the BLM protests that happened over the summer. This is because the systems that were being protested against are actively against people of color. The protests that occurred were just things coming to a boiling point after having no way to express the anger of systemic oppression.  

    On the latent level, there are many different things that in place that make sure people of color, and especially black people aren't treated fairly by the system. In terms of contradiction, most statistics show that police disproportionately arrest black people despite white people committing an equal amount of crime. On top of that sentencing for black people tends to be higher than the sentences given to white people. That is only the tip of the iceberg of the systemic racism in America, and it goes far deeper than just what I mentioned.

    Before the protests happened, there was already the assumption that police are racist and can't be trusted, and the attitude towards police was negative. As a person of color, I can confirm that I do not believe I can trust most law enforcement because they're likely to be racist. Then when George Floyd was murdered by a police officer, that latent level of distrust turned into behavior by both sides. 

    From the BLM side, there were some riots at the start, but the overwhelming majority of the protests were peaceful. On the side of the police, they were significantly more violent, with there being heavy evidence of them abusing their power and using excessive force. Although the protests were mostly peaceful, the police responded almost entirely with violence, which only confirmed many of the negative assumptions about police many people have. 

    Viewing the protests through the Galtung triangle shows how peaceful actions aren't always met with peace. In many of these situations, it seems that violence speaks the loudest, and is only made worse when attitudes and assumptions are brought into it. 

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