FYS Black Lives Matter

1. Anna Woomer
February 12, 2016
1. Armstrong, Ari. "Smith College President Says "All Lives Matter"; Racist Left Goes
Ballistic." The Objective Standard 10.1 (2015): 88. Web.
President of Smith College in Northhampton, Massachusetts, Kathleen McCartney sent out an
email to the students following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner stating “All Lives
Matter.” This email created great controversy among the students who felt the issue at hand
wasn’t a matter of all lives, but black lives specifically. The author of the article, Ari Armstrong,
makes it clear that all lives do matter and white police officers deserve equal justice under the
law. The author makes a very valid argument stating that “The presumption that a white police
officer is always in the wrong, whereas any black man the officer confronts is always in the
right, is racist, pure and simple. It is just as racist as the presumption that a white police officer is
always in the right and that a black man he confronts is always in the wrong. Clearly, justice
demands that individuals in a given case be judged by their actions, not by the color of their
skin.” These issues should not come down to white or black, but rather the violation of
individual rights. The article includes specifics on both Michael Browns case and Eric Garners
case. Armstrong also includes statistics from 1999- 2011 2,151 white people died being shot by
police and 1,130 black people being shot by police. The solution to this issue is to not to label
police officers as racial bigots and to not only focus on black people as blameless victims. Also,
to not only focus on white police officer and black victim abuse situations when there are white
police officers and white victims and black people killing other blacks people. A case should be
judged upon facts, not race.
This article was published by The Objective Standard. The purpose of the article was to inform
readers and to prove that the issue at hand isn’t one sided. The publisher is not a biased, but the
author of the article could be viewed as biased because it is one sided. This article was published
on December 19, 2014. This article is very useful and relevant to the issue at hand. The author of
this article is Ari Armstrong. He is employed at The Objective Standard. He has previous
worked for the Complete Colorado, The Denver Post, and The Colorado Springs Gazette. He is
not an expert in this field, he is a blogger who writes on many topics. He has been awarded the
Modern Day Sam Adams award and the Independence Institute’s 2015 Vern Bickel Award for
leadership. This article is intended for general readers. It is also peer reviewed.
2.“Candidate Carson tours Ferguson, says lack of 'respect,' not race is issue.” Reuters. World
News Digest. Infobase Learning, n.d. Web. 10 Feb.
2016. <http://wnd.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?wid=101092&nid=234371&umbtype=1
>.

2. Republican Presidential candidate, Ben Carson, visited Ferguson, Missouri in efforts to rebuild
the town after several riots and to help mend the racial divides. The city of Ferguson received
national media attention following the murder of black citizen Michael Brown by a white police
officer. This murder uncovered a racial divide among several regions throughout the United
States. Carson, who is an African American, stated that he does not see racial issues as much of a
problem for America compared to other giant issues our country faces. He included that mutual
respect between civilians and police officers needs to be a focus. Instead of emphasizing race,
Americans should emphasize respect for one another.
The article was published by the World News Digest on September 11, 2015. The purpose of the
article was to inform general readers. There was no form of bias in this article. The author of
this article was Patrice Rice. I could not find any information of Patrice Rice. I think this article
is relevant to the topic at hand because Ben Carson is an African American man and he is also a
highly respected man who is running for the highest level of office in the country.
3.Luders, Joseph E. The Civil Rights Movement and the Logic of Social Change.
Cambridge;New York;: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Web.
This book by Joseph Luders highlights information about racism, the Civil Rights Movement,
and social issues. It examines the success and failure of social movements and the change they
have brought to our society. As well as including stories from protestors and bystanders and their
responses to social movements.
This source is very useful for the issue at hand. This book was published by Cambridge
University in 2010. The main purpose for this book is to inform readers of civil rights and social
movements in American history. The author is a professor of political science at Yeshiva
University. The intended audience for this book is students, specialists, and scholars. He is
unbiased on the topic.
4. WILLIAMSON, KEVIN D. "No War On Cops, No War On Blacks." National Review 67.18
(2015): 18. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2016
This article discusses how American is not facing a war on police officers or black people, but
rather systematic fails. In this article, the Black Lives Matter social movement is examined, as
well as crimes against police officers. In 2014, 117 police officers were killed. The majority of
deaths occurred by automobile accidents. The number of police murders has actually decreased
through time with a number of 280 people in 1974 and 300 people in 1930. The article points out
that the current protest movement is irresponsible and distasteful. In Ferguson for example,
people weren’t interested in the facts, most were interested in the looting and rioting that
followed. There is war on young black men and there is no war on police.

3. This source is useful in concluding that there is no war on either sides of this argument. This
article was published by the National Review in October of 2015. The author of this article is
Kevin Williamson. He is a regular commentator on Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC, and NPR. His
work has appeared in the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Commentary and
Academic Questions. The intended audience for this article could be any general reader.
5. EMORD, JONATHAN W. "Every Life Matters." USA Today Magazine 144.2844 (2015): 48.
Points of View Reference Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
This article provides information on the activist group, Black Lives Matter, and the goal of its
members to bring down government institutions and parties. The article provides a comparison
between the Black Lives Matter social movement to those of Martin Luther King and Malcom X.
The current movement most resembles the movement of Malcom X in that it does not embrace
the Declaration of Independence and equal justice under law. Instead, it promotes the interests
of blacks at the expense of law. The Black Lives Matter movement views American Institutions
as anti-black because of the past views in our country. Basically stating that since an anti-black
time occurred in our country it can never be eliminated. However, the majority of Americans
today view racism today as evil. Black lives do matter, but so does Caucasian, Asian, and
Hispanic lives.
This article could be useful to the issue at hand. It brings up several good points about how
racial conflict as a source of inspiration leads to violence and hatred. This article was published
by USA Today Magazine in September 2015. The author of this article is Jonathan Emord. This
source is unbiased.
After completing all five sources, my views on the subject have not changed. I am fully aware
that this is an actual movement and slogan. However, I do not believe it is a valid social
movement. Black lives do matter, but not just the lives of only black people. Every individual’s
life matters, regardless of the color of their skin.