Kadeane Mooyoung

SPCH 142

October 25, 2020.

Black Lives Matter Persuasive Speech

Imagine being beaten, stereotyped, murdered, and even profiled just because your skin is different from the others. Imagine walking in the streets and hear the police say that “you look like a bad guy,” just because your skin is black. How would you feel? This is what Black people go through all the time. All that is needed in America is the equality for all races, whether white or black, none should be subjected to special treatment. The United States Constitution provides for equality of all people regardless of their race, but this has not been the case for the people of color as they have been murdered in cold blood by the police and continue to witness mass incarceration.

Unfortunately, people of color have been stereotyped and continued to be treated as inferior to the whites, and their lives have been downgraded to not being sacred anymore. Families in the current American setting have to deal with family members being killed unjustly by the police, who are meant to protect us. It is important to note that all lives are sacred, and all lives matter: We are all equal, not only before the U.S Constitution, but also in the eyes of God. We all have the same rights as guaranteed by the United States Constitution, and this doesn’t mean that some people are more special to others. A black person has the same rights such as right to live, freedom of speech and expression and that of movement, in the same way a white person is entitled to by the American constitution. Based on this, we are all important in that we need each other for survival. My rights cannot be fully enjoyed without your existence, and this applies whether a person is black or white. All lives are important regardless of the skin color.

All people are equal and have the same rights as humans, but we are still not equal. Most people don’t understand the Black lives Matter movement, and this has been another reason why black people have continued to be discriminated. The primary goal of the movement is to stand up against institutional racism, and this purpose has been in existence for decades especially during the Ku Klux Klan, when white supremacy was evident in United States. We understand that all lives matter, but the people who say ‘All Lives Matter’ do not understand the reason why ‘Black Lives Matter.’ It is unfortunate that some of the people do not understand the course of the black Lives’ movement. All lives are equal, and are equally important, and this is one reason that all lives matter.

However, in the present times, blacks’ lives have been on a thin edge, and this has been due to such incidence of police brutality where thousands of black people are murdered in cold blood by the police without having committed any crime. Currently, being a black person in United States can be a ticket to the morgue or several years in jail. For example, George Stinney Jr. was executed only to be later exonerated after more than 100 years implying that he served a sentence for a crime he did not commit and this is the story for many black people in America. Another instance is Breyona Tylor, a nurse who was killed by the police and also George Floyd who as well died in the hands of police is evidence enough that black people are unfairly targeted by the police, and this is why black lives matter comes into play to help advocate for the plight of black Americans.

Despite the fact that many people claim that all lives matter, many do not understand the reason why Black lives matter. Mass incarceration of black people is one of the reasons why the lives of black people are said to be in danger. The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Blacks account for the highest rates of incarceration despite having a smaller population. Prisoners provide free labor to the state and therefore, the higher the number of arrests, the higher the workforce. Currently there are many black people who are incarcerated for minor crimes such as being in possession of marijuana. The government takes advantage of the mass incarceration to subject black people in to slavery but in pretense of punishment, and this is against the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution which prohibits involuntary servitude.

In conclusion, people of color are unjustly targeted by the police as there is a high number of prisoners who are blacks than whites despite the black population being fewer. The reason behind mass incarceration is to provide labor in state run institutions with cheap labor, and this undermines the constitution. The United States Constitution provides for equality of all people regardless of their race, but this has not been the case for the people of color as they have been murdered in cold blood by the police and continue to witness mass incarceration. America is a diversified nation, and we need to embrace our diversity. Having a different color doesn’t mean I am different from you, and therefore we should cease stereotyping. All we want is equality and respect for all!

Works Cited

Carney, Nikita. “All lives matter, but so does race: Black lives matter and the evolving role of social media.” Humanity & Society 40.2 (2016): 180-199.

Hope, Elan C., Micere Keels, and Myles I. Durkee. “Participation in Black Lives Matter and deferred action for childhood arrivals: Modern activism among Black and Latino college students.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 9.3 (2016): 203.

Page, Marianne E., and Ann Huff Stevens. “Understanding racial differences in the economic costs of growing up in a single-parent family.” Demography 42.1 (2005): 75-90.