Photo courtesy of Joseph Myers

Joseph Myers, Boyd Hammond and Joseph Barke protest on the streets of D.C. A lot of WJ students have been advicates for the rights of African Americans.

May 25 sparked a controversy in our country that has been a topic since the day our country was founded: are African Americans treated the same as white people? The killing of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis by police officer Derrick Chauvin made this question a top priority in society. All around the country, people are protesting the unfair treatment of African Americans in this country. 

Black Lives Matter is a great thing. People are using their First Amendment rights to speak about a topic they truly care about. The First Amendment gives the people of the United States the right to exercise free speech peaceably. “Peaceably” is a very important word in that statement. Some protestors are abusing their First Amendment right and are becoming violent, as they loot stores, damage property and hurt civilians. What they are protesting is a good cause that needs to be addressed, but when they take it too far it causes problems. 

WJ students have been very active on social media expressing their support for the movement.

“I think peaceful protest is great but when it doesn’t work, violent protest is necessary to create a voice,” an anonymous student said.

Others have expressed their dislike with the protest.

“The destruction of business, both small and large, has brought nothing but grief and despair to communities across the nation. The BLM movement seems to vindicate these looters, one organizer going as far to tell her following anything (you) want to take it,” senior Daniel Ticktin said.

Looters and rioters cannot be accepted in this country. What they are doing is wrong and unfair to the business owners who worked so hard to reopen after being closed for months due to COVID-19. They are taking advantage of the BLM movement and using it to create anarchy in our country. 

“I think that is absolutely outlandish for them to destroy their own city, their own home, to make a point,” Floyd’s uncle said in an interview with the Rapid City Journal. Black Lives Matter is a movement that has great potential to make a change in this country, but when they have supporters who cross the line and start becoming violent, it takes away from the message they are trying to spread. The protestors who are peaceful and sharing a message should keep trying to create change. The rioters who are burning cities, looting stores and shopping malls need to be taken off the streets.