Protester Motivations in the Black Lives Matter Movement: What Turns Bystanders into Participants?

Abstract

In 2020, the United States experienced unprecedented growth in the number of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters, which led some commentators to believe that the racial justice movement in America was approaching a tipping point. What turned so many bystanders into BLM protesters? This study investigates the mechanisms that helped millions of people become active BLM protest participants during the summer of 2020. Through in-depth interviews with diverse informants, this thesis qualitatively examines the micro-mobilizations of persons who became active BLM protest participants—and those who chose to remain bystanders. This study interviews individuals who describe the shifting personal costs and benefits, and internalized moral identity mechanisms activated during collective protest actions. Study informants report that the strongest motivations propelling bystanders to become protest participants are moral identity mechanisms that activate bystanders’ sense of moral obligation to bear the cost of collective action. Informants who chose to remain bystanders or who demobilized from being a protest participant to being a bystander describe how the costs of protesting (including career and reputational costs) exceeded the benefits of pursuing expressive moral identity rewards through the act of protesting. Study findings suggest that moral identity mechanisms provide effective messaging frames to expand the number of protest participants using innovative protest designs which maximize the mass and impact of future BLM protests.