The long history of civil rights protests making white people uncomfortable

President Trump has launched a three-day campaign against a group of mostly black NFL players who have chosen to kneel during the national anthem before football games to protest racism in America. On Friday, he said players who protest in this way should be fired and, when most NFL owners rallied in support of their players, Trump expressed support for a boycott of the league.

“There’s No Middle Ground”

Alicia Garza, whose 2013 Facebook post in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, created a hashtag that later became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement, is arguably now one of the most influential civil rights leaders of this century. Garza, 36, and her fellow co-founders have since expanded their fledgling racial justice group, Black Lives Matter Global Network, into a national organization with dozens of chapters. BLM members have pushed for criminal justice reforms and worked to elect black candidates to public office. Their activities during the 2016 campaign pressured Democratic presidential hopefuls to publicly acknowledge the movement and the racial disparities it is trying to change.