Social influence processes in social change

As applied to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement

The issue

• Systemic racism and police brutality towards black people

• Systemic means it is widespread – from social policy to policing, and provision of resources (employment, education, healthcare)

• What’s just happened in America?

46-year-old George Floyd, an unarmed black man from Minnesota, USA was killed by a white male police officer – this happened against a backdrop of thousands of racially charged killings at the hands of Police, and has sparked outcry and an uprising

The response

• Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international human rights movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people

The psychological theory

• What we are seeing as a response to the issue of systemic racism and police brutality can be understood in the context of ‘social change’ and ‘social influence processes in social change’

• There are 5 stages of social change through minority influence, we will now look at these in relation to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement

1. Drawing attention to an issue

Who is Colin Kaepernick and what happened after he 'took a knee'?

• Kaepernick was an NFL player who started his protest against police brutality towards black people in the pre-season of 2016

• Kaepernick worked with a former Green Beret, Nate Boyer, to find an effective way to "voice" the protest

• They came up with "taking a knee" during the national anthem

• A Journalist attending the NFL game, where Kaepernick took a knee reported on the event and soon it was national news – Kaepernick had successfully drawn attention to the issue of systemic racism and police brutality through peaceful protest

2. Cognitive Conflict

• By creating a conflict between what majority group members already believe and a position advocated by the minority, majority group members are forced to think more deeply about the issue being challenged. BLM created conflict between the existing status quo (systemic racism in American society) and the position advocated but BLM (equality for black individuals). Kaepernick created conflict through the act of ‘taking a knee’ during the National Anthem at the beginning of NFL games, this peaceful act of defiance caused discomfort amongst patriotic Americans, and some saw it as an act of aggression –but it forced them to think about the validity of one people one nation as the National Anthem rang out in Stadiums across America, when so many people were facing discrimination on a daily basis in the USA

• On a Friday night in Alabama at a rally for Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange, Mr Trump called for kneeling players to be fired…

Trump at Alabama Rally

Take that Trump!

• The following Sunday, hundreds of players began kneeling and a full-blown battle with the president was drawn

3. Consistency of position

• Research on minority influence has found that minorities tend to be more influential in bringing about social change when they express their arguments consistently. The protests by NFL players lasted 2-3 years, however the wider protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, and the use of the symbolic action of ‘taking a knee’ has been seen relatively consistently to date

Did the NFL take action to

respond to player protests?

• During the 2017 season, the NFL and the Players Coalition reached an agreement for the league to provide financial support to players’ community activism endeavours. This was a big win for the movement.

4. The augmentation principle

• A minority needs to appear willing to suffer for their views in order to demonstrate commitment, in order to be taken seriously by others. Kaepernick's silent kneeling protest arguably saw him lose his NFL career and he has not been re-signed by any franchise

• The hundreds of thousands of protesters protesting during a global pandemic also risk their health (if not their lives) by protesting with large crowds, where Covid19 could be easily transmitted

The influence of popular culture

• Despite being blacklisted by the NFL, Kaepernick’s popularity in the realm of sports and culture did not fade, with Nike signing him up to a multi-million-dollar advertising contract

• He even had a role in shaping Nike’s decisions; the company dropped plans to produce a sneaker with a 13-star flag known as the Betsy Ross, in part because Kaepernick had privately criticized its use by racist groups. In an award-winning Nike ad called “Dream Crazy,” Kaepernick said, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything”

• Conglomerates don’t take risks with their Brand, so this move suggests that Nike saw Kaepernick’s potential and read the mood of swathes of Americans – not only was change not opposed - it was welcomed

5. The Snowball effect

• Minority influence initially has a relatively small effect – but this spreads more widely as more people consider the issues being addressed. Then, a ‘tipping point’ is reached – and this leads to wide-spread social change

• Over the last 4 years, and especially over the last few weeks –following the police killing of George Floyd, thousands have protested to bring an end to the systemic racism and police brutality that is killing thousands of innocent black people in America and elsewhere. Furthermore, the symbolic act of ‘Taking a Knee’ can be seen at protests – attended by hundreds of thousands of people the world over

The power of social media: June

2nd, 2020 #Blackouttuesday

Then this happened…