-2013
After pursuing and killing unarmed Black man Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman was found not guilty of first-degree murder due to "self-defense". The use of "Stand Your Ground" laws have become commonly used in defenses of citizens who have chosen to take the law into their own hands and victimize Black identifying Americans.
-2015
Sandra Bland was arrested and within three days of her arrest, found dead in her jail cell in a claimed suicide. No true investigation was conducted into her death, leaving the sentiment that black lives simply do not merit careful consideration.
-2016
Rudy Giuliani speaks to what black citizens must consider. He insists that "black on black crime" is a larger concern than that of police violence. It is important to note that while the rate of police on White civilian shootings has decreased, the rate of police on Black civilian shootings has increased in the past three years.
-2016
Candidate Donald J. Trump proposes Black voters should vote for him because they "have nothing more to lose". He continues to state that Black Americans don't have jobs or homes or stability, all of which are classic racist tropes of Black Americans that only perpetuates the negative stereotypes deriving from Black enslavement.
-2017
President Donald J. Trump suggests that American Neo-Nazi's, a racist and violent group, were good people. While not a direct statement about Black Americans, when coupled with the President's negative comments about #BlackLivesMatter and similar groups that are far less dangerous than Neo-Nazi's, it becomes clear that President Trump's issue is less based in action or ideology of these groups but instead in race.
-2017
Dylan Roof committed a terrorist action. He was thankfully held accountable. However, the effects of Roof were massive. In a modern day terrorist attack (based on federal statues for considering what domestic terrorism is), Black Americans were targeted solely based on the color of their skin. Additionally, Roof was not charged with domestic terrorism for reasons still unclear.
-2018
Laura Ingraham used a common stereotype of Black Americans to insult Lebron James after he commented on his opinions as they pertain to the Trump administration. While James is a basketball player, the insinuation Ingraham made is that he cannot as a basketball player have political opinions, even going as far as to call what was talked about in James's video "barely intelligible". In claiming this had nothing to do with race, Ingraham gives a series of examples where she posits that she takes equal opportunities to call out leftists in the same fashion as she did to James. Only one of her examples uses the same structure. Additionally, Ingraham called upon two Black commentators to emphasize that she is not a racist, which lead to a conversation full of racially charged micro-aggressions. Ingraham is simply one example in which media contributors have perpetuated false stereotypes about Black Americans. These stereotypes create a narrative of uneducated and thus unworthiness Black Americans, which contributes to the idea of Black Americans not mattering.
-2020
This is one of the most recent reminders that Black lives should matter, although they seemingly do not. Ahmaud Arbery was recently murdered in Glynn County, Georgia. "Greg McMichael, 64, told police that he and his son grabbed their guns and chased Arbery in their truck, believing he was responsible for burglaries in their neighborhood, according to a police incident report." (CNN Report, May 12, 2020). In other terms, two White men took the law into their own hands and acted as vigilantes to hunt and eventually kill a Black man on the suspicion that he may have committed a crime. While slavery may have ended, the belief that White men- with no credentials or legal power, have jurisdiction over how the law should be applied to Black individuals has not seemed to have changed. This is still an active case and hopefully justice is found.