Haylie Lange

A04437257

License to Kill

“Black males aged 15-34 were nine times more likely than other Americans to be killed

by law enforcement officers…” (Swain). The Black lives matter movement involves a group of

people standing up to the justice system, mainly police officers, and taking a stand. This includes

protests, articles and other ways to raise awareness about this cause. Black lives matter started

out because of the amount of violent and cruel ways police officers treat people of color. Mostly,

this movement started because of the amount of unarmed deaths, at the hands of police officers,

of people of color. There is a clear divide in the United States between how officers treat White

and Black people. Sociologists Marx, Weber and Durkheim were not far off in what they had to

say about society regarding this movement and what is happening in today’s society. Weber and

Marx’s theories about power and class consciousness depict what is going on in society today

and what led to the Black lives matter movement. I will apply these sociologists’ theories to the

Black lives matter movement and explain how each theory is relevant.

Throughout time, those with higher power have always dominated those with less.

According to Weber, class and status make up power. He classifies class as people who owned

property versus the people who did not. “Racism and poverty may be distinct modes of

oppression, but in the United States— with its history of colonialism, slavery, and genocide—

they are never fully separable.” (Williams). In 2017, class goes more along the lines with

socioeconomic status. Those who are perceived as having a higher class are usually people who

are wealthier. Weber defines status in terms of honor and prestige, which is pretty similar to how

status is defined today. With these two components, one is seen as powerful by society. If one

has power, they have the capacity to influence somebody else’s life just as we have seen with

police officers. There have been many unauthorized search and seizures without probable cause
Haylie Lange
A04437257

solely because these officers have the power to do so. This power leads to authority. Weber

defines three types of authority however, rational-legal authority best describes the authority that

police officers have. This type of authority is based on rules that define power. People follow this

authority because they have to, like society and the laws it holds. This puts the bureaucracy over

the people. As Weber mentions in his works, this rational-legal authority is very unstable and

only works until this authority can’t provide the benefits it once did. This control over the people

makes them feel powerless.

Karl Marx is another sociologist who focuses on society and what drives it. One of

Marx’s main concepts is the idea of false consciousness. He defines false consciousness as the

belief that capitalism is benefiting the lower class. In the United Sates, there is this universal

belief that if you work hard and keep your head down, you can succeed and achieve a greater

class and status than the one you were born into. However, this is rarely true for most Americans

who do not have the same privileges as those who’s socioeconomic status is higher. Those who

were born into privilege have many more chances than those who do not. Marx argues that the

downfall of this capitalist society will be class consciousness. This is when the lower class

becomes aware that their interests are contradictory to those with the power. I believe that the

Black lives matter movement is a form of class consciousness. Typically, the people who are

being affected by this police brutality are people of color who live in low income neighborhoods

and are of lower socioeconomic status. If Marx was around today, he would argue that this is

what is happening with this movement. The people in this community have realized that their

goals and the goals of those in charge are not the same. Just like anyone, the victims of police

brutality and their families want to be treated fairly.

Haylie Lange
A04437257

Although Weber and Marx made some points that are still relevant, they were a little off

in predicting future societies. Weber suggested that with the fall of a rational-legal authority an

ideal bureaucracy would arise. Even though there has not been a decline, I do not see an ideal

bureaucracy in the near future. One of the characteristics of this bureaucracy is the separation of

personal and official affairs. This seems to be one of the biggest issues in the Black lives matter

movement. It is easy to see that many police officers let their racist views cloud their judgment

and the duties that they are supposed to be performing. There are countless examples of unarmed

Black men being shot by police officers with faulty reasoning. A prime example of this is, and

one of the main cases that helped the Black lives matter movement form, is what happened in

Ferguson, Missouri. Unarmed Black teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white officer.

Not only was this a brutal murder, it was overkill. “Officer Wilson fired 12 rounds, including two

from the car and 10 more down the street, where Mr. Brown sustained at least six more

wounds…” (Buchanan). This started several protests and riots which led to the enlightenment of

this movement. With cases like these, it is hard to see where there possible could be any

separation from personal or official affairs. Along with Weber, Marx’s predictions for future

society have not yet panned out the way he thought. He suggested that class consciousness would

lead to socialism. Marx defines socialism as a transitional stage where the government is made

up of the majority. In 2017, this would be the middle and lower class. In this stage, both the

leaders and the masses have the same interests. It seems that only half of the middle and lower

class have reached this state of class consciousness while the other half is still ignorant to what is

happening to the people of color around this country. Today’s bourgeoisie are the top 2-10% of

our population, the ones who let incidents like police brutality get swept under the rug. Because

the people at the top have so much power, I do not see how we will ever reach a classless society

however educating yourself on the Black lives matter movement is a great place to start.
Haylie Lange
A04437257

In conclusion, Weber and Marx had very relative theories to today’s society. Weber’s

theory Capitalism and power go hand-in-hand with the kind of power that is being bestowed

upon the people of color and minorities of lower socioeconomic status. Marx’s theory about the

consciousnesses of the minority class seems to also be right in line with the Black lives matter

movement as well. Although they had both hoped for better societies in the future, it does not

seem that we are close to achieving their “ideal” societies. The best thing that we can do is to

help educate those who are still engaging in false consciousness actions.
Haylie Lange
A04437257

Citations:

Buchanan, Larry, et al. “What Happened in Ferguson?” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 13 Aug. 2014, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-

town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html.

Website
P
Swaine, Jon, and Ciara McCarthy. “Young Black Men Again Faced Highest Rate of US

Police Killings in 2016.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Jan. 2017,

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/08/the-counted-police-killings-2016-young-black-men.

Williams, Kristian. “Poverty crime, privileged crime: policing and economic inequality.”

Dollars & Sense : The Magazine of Economic Justice, no. 319, 2015, pp. 5-6.