The Black Lives Matter movement is an example of a movement against respectability politics . The movement was motivated by the shooting and death of Trayvon Martin , an unarmed black teenager who was killed by a neighborhood watch member . The number of subsequent police killings of unarmed black men motivated a conversation about racial stereotypes and why certain racial stereotypes came to imply black men are " dangerous " . The Black Lives Matter movement argues that people are deserving of rights regardless of " any ostensibly non-respectable behavior . " Instead of acknowledging and shying away from negative black stereotypes , the Black Lives Matter movement works to expand the concept of what it means to be " respectable " and argue that negatively stereotyped behavior should not be met with deadly force
shooting and death of Trayvon Martin
Shooting of Trayvon Martin
Respectability politics