9.2 Applying the Social Problems Process to #BlackLivesMatter
9.2 Applying the Social Problems Process to #BlackLivesMatter
Nora Karena
Recall from Chapter 1 that most social problems go through a social problems process consisting of the following stages of development: claimsmaking, media coverage, public reaction, policymaking, social problems work, and policy outcomes (Best 2021:15). In this section, we will trace this pattern through the Portland protests of 2020. This section also explores inequalities in class, race, and policing. As you read, consider how you have observed this pattern in other social problems.
Claimsmaking and Media Coverage
Claimsmaking: In this step, people and groups identify an issue, and they try to convince others to take it seriously. The problem in this step is called a claim “an argument that a particular troubling condition needs to be addressed” (Best 2020:15). In this stage, people who may not agree that a problem exists agree on what to do about it or who should take action
Media Coverage: In the second step, claimsmakers use media to build a base of people and groups who agree with them on the causes, impacts, and desired outcomes of the particular issue at hand.
On Monday, May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd. One of four Minneapolis police officers who arrested Floyd for allegedly trying to pass a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill, Chauvin forced Floyd to the ground and knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd struggled to breathe, cried out in fear and pain to his mother and to his God, and foretold his own death, but Chauvin did not let up until Floyd lost consciousness. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital later that afternoon. Like Ahmaud Arbery, killed by White vigilantes in February 2020, and Breonna Taylor, killed by police in March 2020, Floyd is one on a very long list of Black people killed by police and vigilantes in the US (Figure 9.2).
Horrified bystanders captured a video of Floyd’s murder and shared it on social media. In the first week after Floyd’s murder, 3.4 million original posts and 69 billion engagements accounted for around 15% of all posts on Twitter during that week. By June 8th, #BlackLivesMatter was mentioned in 1.2 million original posts (Wirtschafter 2021).
However, this hashtag didn’t start in 2020. #BlackLivesMatter is a hashtag that first went viral in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. In the decade following its introduction, #BlackLivesMatter became a popular organizing tool on social media. This hashtag draws attention to racist violence in the US It is a code for a set of claims about racism, policing, lynching, and underserved communities. Underserved communities are groups with limited or no access to resources or are otherwise disenfranchised (FEMA 2023).
Claim: Lynching and Racist Policing
Lynchings are extrajudicial killings in which an individual or a mob kidnaps, tortures, and kills persons suspected of crime or social transgressions. Extrajudicial killings are murders