My Moral Outlook on Black Lives Matter

This article explores the moral outlook on the Black Lives Matter movement and the need for racial equality. It discusses the ethical frameworks, such as fairness and rights approaches, and emphasizes the importance of treating everyone equally regardless of their race. The article also highlights the role of the police force and the need for society to develop morals that promote equality and peace.

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My Moral Outlook on Black Lives Matter
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My Moral Outlook on Black Lives Matter
The “Black Lives Matter” slogan is used to advocate for racial equality across the globe. Though
it might seem like an obvious phrase, what it advocates is visible in society. “Do black lives
really matter?” (Roberts,2017) Not that black lives are not recognized, but the mistreatments and
discrimination behind being a black person among whites are what this slogan is against.
(Edwards and Harris, 2015) Since the times of slavery, black Americans have not had the
freedom to live freely among white Americans. Many black Americans have ended up in prison
or even lost their lives innocently just because they were perceived to be a threat to the rest of
society. Society needs to make a lot of changes to ensure that everybody is treated right
regardless of their skin color, which can be established through some ethical frameworks.
One of the basic framework which can be used it fairness approach to ethics. This
approach was used to ensure that there is fair treatment for everyone, regardless of their state or
race. Over the years, establishing fairness and justice between different races has been a major
challenge. (Mosley et al. 2021) For instance, black Americans have encountered injustices and
unfair treatments from their fellow Americans and even the police. Some have been tortured and
others murdered, yet establishing justices for their families is a nightmare. Eric Garner was
murdered by a police officer for claims that he was selling cigarettes illegally. The police officer
involved was fired from work but that did not serve enough justice since he was never
prosecuted and justice served to the family of Garner. Although there have been movements to
condemn such kind of brutal acts from the police, many changes need to be implemented to
ensure that the police force treats all people equally. Strict rules should be put in place to guide
the morals of the police while handling the citizens regardless of their skin color.

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Every citizen of any country has his rights. They should live without fear or feeling of
being incomplete citizens of any country, in contrast to how life for blacks has been in the past
years. “why did God make me an outcast and stranger in my own home?” (Bois, 1991) The
rights approach to ethics dictates that any right taken should uphold the rights of the people
affected. For instance, black Americans have their rights just like the rest of white Americans,
but considering their rights is where the problems arise. During the slavery era, blacks had no
rights and all they had to do was spent time serving the whites. There were no morals when the
whites were interacting with the blacks as they saw them as lesser beings, and all they could
provide to them was just labor alone. These slaves suffered a lot of ill-treatments from their
whites who were rude and hostile to them, instead of being kind, just and generous to them.
Even though the slave trade and forced labor were abolished a long time ago, there have been no
enough efforts made towards the rights of the blacks. In some states, there are no rights of free
movement for black people. They have no right of expression before the police and even in
courts. For instance, George Floyd who died after being innocently arrested by police and held
down was never given the right to express himself. (Hill et al., 2020) He died after a long period of
pleading to be allowed to breathe. His death caused a lot of unrest in the united states of America
and also across the globe, with people protesting against this act. Although justice was served in
this case, a lot needs to be done since there are a lot of cases that are unheard of this kind which
violates this group’s rights. (Opie and Roberts, 2017)
Even though the police force is a perpetrator of racial discrimination, the rest of the white
Americans also contribute to the same. Black Americans are perceived as a threat by the rest.
When using the virtue approach to ethics by Aristotle for instance, where ethics should revolve
around the society and not the individual. People should strive towards having good morals

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which will affect others positively regardless of their race. When everyone tries to practice the
virtue ethics such as kindness, generosity, justice, and fairness, everyone in the society will be
treated equally regardless of who they are and their origin.
The fear of being accused of doing something which you have not done lives among black
people who are living amongst the whites who are racists. For instance, there are many cases of
black people being accused of fraud or theft, something in which they are not involved. This
arises from the view that people with black skin color are naturally law offenders as the racists
may conclude. When arrested even without enough evidence, they are taken to court and
prosecuted without even being given chance to express themselves. The young generation needs
to be taught how to treat everybody the same even the black men and women. This will ensure
that there is no discrimination in future generations. The leaders need to lead by example and this
generation will learn from them
While black people face a lot of harm and discrimination among white people, black
women may undergo a lot of pain as compared to black men. Women may undergo ill-treatment
even from the fellow black men who are supposed to defend them. They face the same kind of
discrimination but more severe than men. They may be raped, beaten, or even murdered, and yet
no justice for the same will be served. People should learn to respect women and see them as
their equals whether black or white. Any behavior which is immoral against women should be
punished accordingly. White people should treat black women just the way they would treat their
wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers since there is no difference. These morals should be also
instilled into the future generation through practicing and also teaching the young kids on this.
Just as the way they relate to fellow whites, these morals should also be applied to the other
group of black people, and above all, they should learn to respect women.

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No one should take any action which violates human rights even if the consequence
would bring more happiness in the end, according to Kant’s Deontological Ethics. (Alexander
and Moore, 2007) Any action taken should uphold human rights and should not be undertaken
for personal benefits. However, in racial discrimination, every action is just for its purposes
against the black race, which should not be the case, as it is morally wrong.
Everybody, may it be a citizen of that given country or from the outside has their rights which
should be respected by every person. This includes the right to live, no matter what type of crime
they might have committed. But what is observed in racism is that not everybody has equal
rights to live, and a black life can be put to an end easily just because it posed a threat to a white
person. “Some lives matter more than other, that they need to be protected at all costs”. (Butler,
2015) For instance, Tamir Rice, a twelve-year-old black American boy was shot by the police in
2014 after he was found pointing a fake pistol at people by the road. (Adamson, 2017) This boy
was innocent and did not deserve to die. He went through this just because he posed a fake threat
to white lives and he was black. There should be better ways of approaching threats, and the
consequences not result in the loss of life. Before reporting to the police, one should think
morally about what could happen to the reported character. No one should give force information
to the police regarding others, just because they are black and their suffering will bring happiness
to you.
Even though the past generations brought an implication of black people should not be in
the same class and can never have equal rights with the other people, the present generation
should not base their views on this slave trade ended a long time ago and from that point, all
races were viewed as equal. This equality should not be verbal. “Just supporting the slogan of all

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lives matter does not necessarily stop racism”. (Butler, 2015). Everybody should ensure that they
treat each other right regardless of their color, occupation, or even tribe.
Therefore, it’s about time we uphold our morals towards treating each other right and still
valuing the black lives just the way we value the rest. There is no need for discrimination and
everyone has equal rights before the law of the land. In regards to black lives, they should be
treated equally with other people. As citizens of the country, they need to live in peace and
without fear just like the other people. The police force should also be involved in promoting
racial equality rather than promoting racism. Every person has the right to live, and no one
deserves to die innocently or out of a minor mistake that could be corrected in other ways.
Hence, the harsh treatment and brutality against black lives should be eliminated and people
develop morals that will enhance equality and peace in society.

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References
Adamson, B. (2017). Reconsidering Pre-Indictment Publicity: Racialized Crime News, Grand
Juries and Tamir Rice. Ala. CR & CLL
Alexander, L., & Moore, M. (2007). Deontological ethics.
Edwards, S. B., & Duchess Harris, J. D. (2015). Black lives matter. ABDO.
Hill, E., Tiefenthäler, A., Triebert, C., Jordan, D., Willis, H., & Stein, R. (2020, June 1). How
George Floyd was killed in police custody.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html.
Mosley, D. V., Hargons, C. N., Meiller, C., Angyal, B., Wheeler, P., Davis, C., & Stevens-
Watkins, D. (2021). Critical consciousness of anti-Black racism: A practical model to prevent
and resist racial trauma. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 68(1), 1.
Opie, T., & Roberts, L. M. (2017). Do black lives really matter in the workplace? Restorative
justice as a means to reclaim humanity. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International
journal