The Suppression and Othering of Black Lives Matter Protests Through Tear Gas

Abstract

Following its formation in 2013, Black Lives Matter (BLM) has evolved into an important social and political movement. However, the organization’s efforts to oppose racial inequality and police brutality through protest routinely have been met with a violent response by law enforcement, including the employment of various “less-lethal” weapons. This article aims to explore and analyze the ways in which tear gas has been used to discipline BLM protesters between 2014 and 2020. Drawing upon themes of race, empire, identity, war, and biopower as they coalesce within metropolitan protest sites, this article argues that colonial logics, power structures, and hierarchies inform the deployment of tear gas on BLM protesters today. While the eras of slavery and Jim Crow may have formally ended, their legacies and exclusionary structures continue to influence the way movements for Black advancement are suppressed using tear gas.