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A love letter to Black people or anti‐white propaganda? Black (non‐Indigenous) people reflections on the role of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in Australia
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

A love letter to Black people or anti‐white propaganda? Black (non‐Indigenous) people reflections on the role of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in Australia

Kathomi Gatwiri and Marcelle Townsend-Cross
The Australian journal of social issues, Vol.60(1), pp.60-74
03/2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.357
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open Access
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A love letter to Black people or anti-white propaganda? Black (non-Indigenous) people reflections on the role of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in AustraliaView
Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open

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Abstract

#BlackLivesMatter Australia racism white supremacy whiteness Social work not elsewhere classified Sociology of inequalities Violence and abuse services
#BlackLivesMatter activism is a contemporaneous manifestation of a centuries-old resistance against anti-Black racism. This paper analyses diverse perceptions about the #BlackLivesMatter movement's purpose, significance and potential utility in the Australian context. Our analysis of the #BlackLivesMatter highlights how the movement harnessed the power of social media to deploy counternarratives to white supremacy on a global scale through sharing stories of anti-Black discrimination and making visible the hidden and subtle conditions, practices and attitudes that embolden racial violence. Focussing on Black non-Indigenous people's understandings of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in Australia, findings reveal that the movement improved racial discourse, raised awareness about the experiences of Black people in Australia and challenged the ‘superdiversity- multicultural- melting pot’ narrative that often obscures the insidious ways in which white supremacy produces and sustains anti-Black, colour-blind everyday racisms. Scepticism about the movement was also raised about the very real risk of the movement being “co-opted” by whiteness in an attempt to capitalise on its popularity.

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