The reason that George Floyd’s death sparked so many global movements is the idea of police brutality. There are many groups in different countries that have experienced police brutality, including the Maori group in New Zealand as mentioned in the podcast. Videos of police brutality could have triggered memories of brutality that they or people they know may have experienced. These memories may encourage them to take a stand. An example of some type of racism from the podcast that I found most surprising was the story of the lawyer from the Netherlands. For context, the lawyer’s parents are from South America and Ghana. One day, he and his client, who was an older white guy, walked into a courtroom. The judge immediately started talking to the client instead of the lawyer himself. He found this very strange because usually the judge would speak to the lawyer rather than the client. The lawyer had to interrupt the conversation, in order for the judge to speak to him. It’s often small acts like this, that can say a lot about someone’s views. I found this surprising because, just as he mentioned earlier in the interview, I have always seen the Netherlands as the perfect multicultural society.
After the Black Lives Matter movement began, the injustices toward people of color have been publicized and televised more often, especially this summer. As more people from other societies are seeing the injustices over and over, they may begin to ask “Why is this happening?” and feel as though they are not safe or respected. They may feel connected to the movement because some of them are categorized as the “minority” in their society and may experience the same injustices that are seen in these videos. Minority groups from other societies may think to themselves, “Why is this happening to people who look like me and my family?” They can relate to those who support the BLM movement.
The courage that a society exudes when standing up for their beliefs can give another society courage to do the same. Seeing good results from protests in other nations can also influence other nations to start a movement. If it is possible for good change to result in one society, then it is definitely possible for it to happen in theirs.
The Animal Rights Movement is an example of a movement that started in one society and spread to many others. It began in the 1970s but strides toward animal protection acts began as early as the 1600s. Many factors have sparked the beginning of the movement, like Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, which drew attention to slaughterhouse operations, scientific experiments on animals, and the treatment of pets and stray animals in shelters.
I also found the story from the lawyer so surprising, especially because the judge didn’t even do it on purpose. It’s just the fact that systemic racism is so deeply rooted that people are forced to subconciously think a certain way. I really like your point about how courage in one society and inspire courage in another and that it really takes courage to start standing up for something that no one talks about.
I agree, I agree. I think because of how technological our society is, it allows news to travel quickly. When Geroge Floyd was killed in the bare hands of the police officer, with so many people filming it, it was a reality check of the US and the world. People will start to realize the same social injustice in their society. The Animal Rights Movement is also one that spread quickly throughout the book. Instead of social media and technology, the news was spread through books like The Jungle. It inspired people to recognize how people were treating animal and the unsafe conditions of producing meat.
I totally agree with everything you were saying. I found the lawyer example quite interesting because the reaction of the judge just goes to show the subconscious prejudice/racism that is rooted in a lot of people. I also didn’t know much about the Animal Rights Movement and had no idea that there was that big of an impact globally. It was also extremely informative to be reminded that pre social media, most messages and movements were spread via books and word of mouth.