It’s difficult to determine what it’s exactly like to be in the middle of a protest based on what’s shown on television. The media tends to bottleneck the images you see and chooses to show the most extreme versions of protests that are for the most part controlled and peaceful; labeling them as riots and upheavals. It is true that there are occasional bad eggs that enjoy starting trouble or get riled up by the heat of the moment, but the media makes it appear as if every person in the crowd is out to cause harm. I’ve also noticed that the media disproportionally depicts Black Lives Matter protests as these instances of turmoil when in reality the overwhelming majority of these protests are amicable and organized.
My experience covering this protest was the latter, nonviolent option. The Black Lives Matter protest that I covered was at my school, Hofstra University, during the first presidential debate.The protests began with a stand-in behind CNN as they were live in the broadcast plaza area of campus. Protestors stood behind anchors in the back of the shot with their hands raised. Participants dawned shirts and signs decorated in slogans from the anti-police brutality campaign like “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” and “White Silence is Violence.”
These protestors later stood in from of the white house bouncy house that was stationed in broadcast plaza; arms locked together standing strong. The protests later moved to the south side of campus where they joined other protestors advocating for causes like peace initiatives and women’s reproductive rights. They formed a rally, chanting slogans like, “hey, ho, these racist cops have got to go.” All throughout their appearances on campus, the group remained peaceful. They were also eager to speak to the media about issues and allowed photographers like I to document the event. This was the last time of debate day that I was able to cover their protests.
I bring up the issue of media depiction because I have seen a ridiculous amount of uneven backlash in regards to Black Lives Matter protests compared to protests about other issues. Whether you agree with the reasoning behind their protests is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is barely a percentage of anti-police brutality protests are like the extreme riots you see on television. That is the media that is manipulating the way you view them.
However, the media is not doing this with the intent of causing a racial divide. The industry relies on sensationalism in order to garner more viewers and in turn acquiring more advertising opportunities for profit. It’s the nature of the business and whether that is considered ethical is still up for debate. Nevertheless, it’s important to know that Black Lives Matter is an entirely peaceful campaign that utilizes civil disobedience and peaceful protest in order to get a message across. To paint it as something violent is to smear the image of a movement that is simply asking for justice.
So before you take at face value your crazy uncle’s rant about Black lives Matter on Facebook or Bill O’Reilly’s heated commentary on a single riot in the sea of a thousand nonviolent protests, make sure you know about the entirety of what is going on.
