Personal and professional: The Black Lives Matters Movement

What does the Black Lives Matter movement mean to me personally? To me, it is more than an anthem, a slogan, or a hashtag. It causes my thoughts to think about the death of my cousin, Bill Murphy, who was shot and killed by an N.C. Highway patrolman, named William ‘Billy’ Day on a country road near Ayden, NC on August 6, 1971. My cousin Bill would not live to tell his side of the story. Being only three years old at the time, I was too young to remember Bill. According to patrolman Day, he arrested my cousin for public intoxication, supposedly to keep him from accidentally stepping in front of cars, on a road where many didn’t travel. Patrolman Day claimed Bill became violent, so he shot him in self-defense. My cousin Bill was carried to Pitt Memorial Hospital, dead on arrival, with his hands still behind his back in handcuffs. One could contend it would have been very difficult for my cousin to fight with the officer. My Aunt Lossie and Uncle Jarvis, Bill’s parents, were not notified until the next day. According to newspaper sources, the NC Patrol would not permit media to look inside the squad car for evidence. Investigative journalists did find evidence that indicated the gunfire happened outside the car. To add insult, Pitt County authorities wanted a $200 fee, comparable to about $1,291.00 in 2020, to perform an autopsy, which my farm worker aunt and uncle simply did not have. Instead of paying Pitt County authorities to supervise a conceivably partial autopsy, the black community gathered monies, and arranged for an autopsy to be done at the training hospital of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10328). Officer Day said he shot Bill once, though the autopsy showed that he was shot twice.

As history has shown, it is near impossible to get a conviction involving police brutality. The county sheriff picked a jury that consisted of only four black jurors out of seventeen. The Pitt County grand jury overwhelmingly found no reasons to hold patrolman Day responsible for the death of Bill. Many of all races strongly disagreed with the findings. Protests over the death of my cousin had begun after the shooting, which included a bombing set by students at Ayden-Grifton High School, one of the first high schools in the area to desegregate. Any person who doesn’t realize the long-lasting impact of police brutality are being willfully naive. My mother always spoke of Cousin Bill’s death with sadness and anguish. To this day, this is how the account of Bill’s story STILL stands. My aunt and uncle never fully recovered from this tragedy and it was clear whenever they spoke of their son. The highway patrol transferred patrolman Day to a desk job in Asheville for his safety, where he eventually retired.

Fast forward to the present... I and many of my black family and black friends have been negatively affected by the color of our skin. Our skin has so many connotations, and it is seen. We love the skin we’re in, even though life as a black American is complex, it's difficult! To be black in America, you must be built to endure white supremacy. To be black in America, you are built to distrust and to fear the police! To be a privileged American, you have the indulgence of saying, "they should have complied…or “only if they had” …Indulgence for the privileged is survival for the oppressed! To be black in America, you must hope someone recorded your interaction with law enforcement, since you may no longer be around to defend yourself like my cousin Bill and so many others. Do we believe everyone in law enforcement is “bad?” Of course not, we want accountability and justice! We are pleading for our lives to have the same meaning, that the same care is taken when our citizens are dealing with law enforcement. Black Americans have a place in this country too. There are countless stories of our uneven experiences. Even with our complex relationship with America, we still value our lives and have hopes of trying to grasp the American dream. We want to be part of an America that is void of racism and police brutality. We’re frustrated, fearful, and weary…so very weary. Those who disagree with the stance of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the issue of police brutality want to condemn the movement for the issue of black on black crime. This response is nothing more than a jaded talking point used as misdirection by opponents to distract from the issue, to distract from the movement. Pure deflection… do you believe we are not concerned? Do you believe we are not working towards solutions? Reality is that those who steadily beat the drum about black on black crime, are only interested when WE want to address police brutality. Saying that Black Lives Matters does not mean that other lives do not. It is quite the contrary…so when one says all lives matter, the point is being missed. At its face value, the slogan "All Lives Matter" sounds like we're-all-in-this-together, what I like to call a Kum Ba Ya moment. While some may be using the phrase to suggest all races should join hands and stand together against racism, it frankly is not occurring. Declaring "All Lives Matter" is a distraction and hence takes away the focus from black lives being important TOO.

How does the BLM movement manifest itself in education? Why does it matter? According to the National Education Association, “In a nation with 44 percent non-white students and extreme inequality in educational attainment, it’s time we address these issues as seriously as we did during the Civil Rights Era (http://www.nea.org/home/13054.htm)." Regrettably, we have become a country that tolerates separation, inequality, and inadequate resources in education. Our nation expects schools to create identical outcomes for students deprived by poverty without sufficient resources. Although there seem to be varying opinions about the role of the police in society (depending on cultural experiences and race), marginalized impacted communities need interventions which support the social emotional learning and well-being of its children. One of the goals of Black Lives Matter is to spark an ongoing movement of critical reflection and honest conversation in school communities for people of all ages to engage with issues of racial justice (https://blacklivesmatteratschool.com).

So, what are the professional implications for educators? W.E.B. DuBois was right about the color line still dividing us. Evidence of this in the public policy arena has been the relentless attack on public education. The U.S. educational system is one of the most imbalanced in modern society, and students routinely receive significantly different learning opportunities based on their social status. Social justice in schools matters, and for educators, it should be one of the cornerstones involving our most critical work. Educators must be cognizant of our role in social justice matters. Having collectively raised voices and delivering proactive measures is crucial. The government's role in education cannot be understated! Educators, the community, and supporters must work together to tackle the injustices that stem from systemic institutionally discriminatory policies in the society in which our students exist. What should the Black Lives Matter movement convey to educators? It should convey our stand against racial injustice and movement toward changing the status quo as it exists to positively alter the course for students.