Honors Program

 

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

Spring 5-1-2018

Citation

Lutz, Ivy M. "Black Lives Matter: An analysis of Social-Political Activism in
Social Media." University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1 May 2018. Digital Commons.
Honors Thesis.

Comments

Copyright Ivy Lutz 2018

Abstract

Using the contexts of institutionalized racism, ideological dogmatism, and oppression of people of color, this paper will argue the following hypothesis in regards to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and social media activism. People who post on social media about social-political issues have positive relationships with boycotting, protesting, or attending political meetings outside of the online sphere. However, this positive relationship does not correlate to a positive relationship or engagement in regards to their feelings on BLM movement, discrimination of blacks, and police treatment of blacks. If this is the case, then the data for social media postings will demonstrate a clear relationship between the activism online to the activism outside of the digital realm. This paper serves to underscore the infectious nature of institutionalized racism and its mal effect on social-political activism. Results show that there is a positive relationship between those who post on social media about social-political issues and people who participate in boycotting, protesting, or attending political meetings outside of the online sphere. There is no relationship between posting about social-political issues online and their feelings on BLM. Finally, there is a positive relationship between those who post on social media about social-political issues on discrimination of blacks and police treatment of blacks. The analysis that follows in this paper will provide context of the institutionalized racism of the United States from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement. It will also define and determine ideological dogmatism for continued discrimination of people of color. The analysis will discuss the modern oppression of minority groups, as well as introduce BLM as a social media phenomenon. Ultimately, this paper will explore the BLM movement's relationship to social media use and individuals’ social-political activism.

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