The Threat of Visibility and State-Sanctioned Violence for Rural Black Lives Matter Youth Activists

• In Event: Reimagining Rural Education in the Times of Black Lives Matter

Abstract

Less than 24 hours after police murdered George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protesters organized in cities demanding that their elected officials defund their police and redirect this funding to better healthcare, schools, public transportation, affordable housing, and food security. Protesters also came together in rural communities and towns to push for similar demands. Journalists documented these protests highlighting both the similarities and differences across rural and urban places and protests. Our presentation responds directly to the oversights and stereotypes that much of this journalism promoted about rural protests, through a careful analysis of the experiences of two rural youth—a Black, Puerto Rican young woman and a Black, Dominican young man. These youth were already part of a long-term, ethnographic study of schooling and education in this community as the Black Lives Matter protests unfolded in their predominantly white small town in Pennsylvania. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations, this study illustrates the threat of visibility that rural youth experienced and how this threat shaped their decision to participate or not participate in the protests.

Author

• Erika Kitzmiller, Barnard College