In Search of a Critical Mass: Do Black Lives Matter in Criminology and Criminal Justice Programs?

• Author: Eric A. Stewart,Rod K. Brunson
• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/21533687211015950
• Subject Matter: Introduction

Introduction

In Search of a Critical

Mass: Do Black Lives

Matter in Criminology and

Criminal Justice Programs?

Rod K. Brunson

1

and Eric A. Stewart

2

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement arose following the untimely killing of

Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, at the hands of George Zimmerman, a

White man who was subsequently acquitted of all charges. BLM has again been

propelled back into the global spotlight due to the highly publicized killings of George

Floyd, Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, and far too

many other Black Americans. The atrocities perpetrated against Black people at the

hands of Whites and police has reinvigorated a diverse coalition of advocates’

impassioned outcries for racial justice. BLM casts a critical focus on a historically

uncomfortable reality that continues to plague Black lives—systemic racism. BLM

brings heightened attention to the inequality and injustices that Blacks and other

people of color routinely endure, despite more than 65 years of civil rights legislation.

Equal treatment within justice, education, healthcare, housing, and employment

systems, while constitutionally protected, has been elusive for marginalized people

and the communities that they comprise (Bell, 2020; Feagin, 2006; Pager & Shepherd,

2008). Scholarly research has well documented the collective harms resulting from

inequalities across a spectrum of social and formal institutions in the United States

(Bonilla-Silva, 2006; Hughes & Thomas, 1998; Ray & Seamster, 2016; Reskin, 2012).

BLM’s meteoric rise has captured the attention of policymakers, politicians,

activists, academics, and mainstream media. In fact, BLM has become an interna-

tional phenomenon, highlighting systematic inequality and disenfranchisment of

people of color throughout the world. Intense frustration stemming from the deva-

luation of the experiences, achievements, and lives of people of color continues to fuel

1

University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

2

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Rod K. Brunson, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

Email: rbrunson@umd.edu

Race and Justice

2021, Vol. 11(3) 255–259

ªThe Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/21533687211015950

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