The Impact of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Protests on Emerging Adults’ Views on Racism and Racial Identity: A Mixed Methods Analysis

Abstract

This study explored how the death of Mr. George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed it influenced emerging adults’ views on racism and racial identity. A mixed-methods study consisting of open-ended and Likert items was used. Two major themes, developing racial awareness and negotiating positionality, described the processes of how Mr. Floyd’s death influenced emerging adults. Quantitative analyses revealed that most participants indicated that the death made them more aware of racism (79.9%), helped them realize how serious racism is (74.1%), and increased their wanting to learn more about race relations (71.3%). Only 8% of participants attributed Mr. Floyd’s death to an unfortunate accident caused by a police officer just doing his job, with White men more likely to hold that view. Black participants reported feeling more racial pride after the death. Quantitative data revealed students’ perceptions, while qualitative data revealed the processes of how those perceptions were formed. We interpreted results using an integrated critical race theory and symbolic interactionism framework.

1. Introduction

The murder of Mr. George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that followed occurred at a time when making sense of race and racism was a crucial component in the development of emerging adults. Mr. Floyd was an unarmed Black man murdered by a White police officer, Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for over nine minutes while he gasped for air on 25 May 2020 (Hill et al. 2020). Mr. Floyd’s murder sparked nationwide and global BLM protests against police brutality. The BLM movement has been described as an “ideological and political intervention” formed after the acquittal of George Zimmerman (a White man) in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin (a Black boy) to raise critical racial awareness among Black Americans to mobilize themselves to advocate for legal and political changes that recognize and reflect the importance of Black lives in America (Garza 2014). Americans have different views about BLM; however, some view it as a vehicle to disrupt police brutality against Black Americans, while others see it as more of a movement geared toward promoting individual rights rather than collective group action and empowerment (Tillery 2019). Yet, other Americans regard it as divisive racial rhetoric that sows discord and tension among racial groups (Baker 2020). After Mr. Floyd’s death, videos about race and BLM were viewed approximately 1.4 billion times on Twitter between 5 May and 5 June 2020 (Blake 2020). Further, individuals used social media to link the death of Mr. Floyd to the high-profile deaths of other Black men and boys in the United States, thereby charting a history of violence and racial injustice perpetrated against Black communities (Liebermann 2021). Since emerging adults use social media as a means of sharing information (Scott et al. 2017), there is a high probability that they were exposed to and impacted by Mr. Floyd’s death and the BLM protests.

Although police brutality and the killing of unarmed Black men have been previously documented (Taylor 2013), the televised, blatant killing of Mr. Floyd reignited America’s awareness of the horrifying extent to which systemic racism continues to influence the lives of Black Americans (Cheung 2020). The purpose of this study was to explore how Mr. Floyd’s death and the BLM protests intersect with racial identity development and how emerging adults come to understand and make sense of racism. The research questions were as follows: (1) In what ways did the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests influence perceptions of race and race relations among emerging adults? (2) To what extent did the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests influence identity exploration among emerging adults? Critical race theory (Delgado and Stefancic 2023) and symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969) were used to interpret the data. An overarching goal of the research was to provide empirical evidence that emphasized how high-profile racialized events influence the developmental processes of emerging adults in the Southeast region of the United States.

1.1. Linking Racialized Events, BLM Protests, and Racial Identity

Interestingly, the BLM protests intersected with individuals’ racialized, gender, and sexual identities and provided them with an outlet to protest not only against racial injustice but against injustices related to gender, LGBTQ, and immigration as well (Fisher and Rouse 2022). For emerging adults, the BLM protests may have intersected with intense identity exploration that is characteristic of the emerging adulthood developmental period. Engaging in intense identity exploration, including racial identity, while forming one’s ideas and philosophies about the world, with few expectations to adhere to societal norms, is a hallmark of emerging adulthood (Arnett 2003). Racialized events intersect with the racial identity development of emerging adults (Linder et al. 2019) and may catalyze emerging adults to be politically active, including engaging in protests (Hope et al. 2019). College students across racial groups have participated in BLM protests since the movement began (Lee 2018). Participating in BLM protests is a way for minoritized emerging adults to exert agency in dismantling racial discrimination and rectifying social injustices (Hope et al. 2019).

In addition, BLM focused increased attention on police brutality against Black Americans and catalyzed some biracial (i.e., Black and White) emerging adults to form a more robust Black identity (Clayton 2020). Latino American undergraduate students who reported that they experienced more racial microaggressions were also more likely to support BLM (Hope et al. 2019). BLM literature on research that examines Native American emerging adults’ attitudes toward BLM and protests is scarce. However, Native American community leaders have emphasized commonalities in experiences with Black communities, such as systemic racism and racialized oppression through White supremacy, as reasons for supporting BLM (Belfi 2020). Asian Americans are more likely to support BLM than White Americans (Parker et al. 2020); however, their support varies, with those born in the U.S. showing more support (Yellow Horse et al. 2021). Emerging adults who held negative views about BLM were more likely to be White and viewed the movement as an attack on police (Ilchi and Frank 2021). White individuals’ support of BLM may depend on how they make sense of Whiteness and how cognizant they are of how White privilege is beneficial for Whites but problematic for People of Color (Cole 2020). White privilege refers to “the myriad of social advantages, benefits, and courtesies that come with being a member of the dominant race” (Delgado and Stefancic 2023, p. 89).

1.2. Racism and Emerging Adults

1.2.1. Early Parental Racial Socialization

Racial socialization refers to “how parents shape children’s learning about their own race and about relations between ethnic groups” (Hughes and Johnson 2001, p. 981). Such racial socialization includes (a) cultural socialization, where racial pride and cultural awareness are instilled in children; (b) preparation for bias, which prepares children on how to cope with their inevitable encounters with racism; and (c) promotion of mistrust, which teaches children not to trust other racial groups (Hughes and Chen 1997). In addition, egalitarianism promotes racial equality, and silence about race does not address race at all (Hughes and Chen 1999). The influences of racial socialization practices on outcomes such as adjustment to college (Anglin and Wade 2007) and psychological functioning (Bynum et al. 2007) among emerging adults of color have been well-documented.

Loyd and Gaither (2018) argued that White people’s historical experiences with power and privilege in U.S. society make racial socialization look and operate differently in White families than in families of color. For instance, unlike parents of color, White parents are more likely to avoid having conversations about race with children or take a colorblind approach to racially socializing children (Zucker and Patterson 2018). Colorblind racial socialization posits that racism and its negative impacts on People of Color have been mitigated or resolved (Bonilla-Silva 2006). Colorblindness among White emerging adults has been linked to anti-Black beliefs, prejudice, and negative attitudes towards Black people, and a greater likelihood of committing microaggressions towards Black people (Kanter et al. 2020). White parents who have more positive racial attitudes are more likely to engage in color-conscious and egalitarian-based racial socialization practices such as enrolling their children in racially diverse schools and teaching their children about racial discrimination (Zucker and Patterson 2018).

1.2.2. Social Media

Most emerging adults aged 18–29 use social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok (Auxier and Anderson 2021). Social media has served as an avenue to draw attention to racism and BLM (Blake 2020; Sobande et al. 2022) but also to promote racial discrimination and victimize People of Color through the sharing of racist images (Tynes and Markoe 2010). Some social media users resisted BLM by making posts using the hashtag #AllLivesMatter (Carney 2016). Social media has been linked to expressions of identity development among emerging adults. For instance, emerging adults use social media as they are discovering how they want to present themselves to others (Yang et al. 2018). In the present study, the researchers surveyed emerging adults to determine the degree to which they used social media to combat systemic racism after the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests.

1.3. Guiding Theoretical Framework

The inherent complexities of examining racialized events and systemic racism required an integrated theoretical lens to explore and interpret how emerging adults were impacted by the murder of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests. In this study, we integrated critical race theory (Delgado and Stefancic 2023) with symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969). A brief overview of each theory is provided, including key concepts that were relevant to our research. We integrated the theories by discussing how they complement each other to allow us to better capture the nuances of participants’ perspectives.

1.3.1. Critical Race Theory

The critical race theory (CRT) movement emerged from critical legal studies and radical feminism to explain how race and racialized power are manifested in legal policies and societal practices that serve to create and maintain gendered, racialized, and heteronormative echelons that promote White supremacy and relegate minoritized individuals to a lower social status (Delgado and Stefancic 2023). Delgado and Stefancic (2023) outlined key tenets of CRT that helped guide this research: (1) racism is an “ordinary” aspect of how society operates, but refusing to recognize this fact makes it more difficult to stop racism; (2) rich and poor Whites benefit from racism, so eliminating racism is typically not a priority for Whites; (3) race is socially constructed and based on societal beliefs; (4) mainstream society “racializes” individuals on a continuum based on societal needs and interests; and (5) counter-storytelling is used to challenge mainstream society’s notions about the lived experiences of racial minorities (Delgado and Stefancic 2023). It is important to note that CRT rejects liberal, colorblind approaches to eliminating racism, as they serve only to address blatant forms of it while other, more covert forms are perpetuated and maintained (Delgado and Stefancic 2023). Concepts from CRT, such as racialized power, White privilege, and systemic racism, were used to examine how emerging adults formed views on racism after the murder of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests. Racialized power is a “process” occurring on a continuum that bestows power to certain racial groups while denigrating others (Kramer 2016). Racialized power was used to explain how emerging adults recognized and interpreted how racial group membership influenced the power or powerlessness they experienced in U.S. society. As described earlier, white privilege refers to the benefits that are associated with majority group membership (Delgado and Stefancic 2023). Systemic racism refers to how racism has been integrated into U.S. institutions (Feagin 2006). Systemic racism was used to examine emerging adults’ awareness of how racism has been created and maintained on an institutional level in the United States.

1.3.2. Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism was used to understand how emerging adults made meaning of the murder of Mr. George Floyd, the BLM protests, and the systemic racism that was called into question during those events. Symbolic interactionism focuses on how individuals construct reality based on the definitions and meanings of objects that they learned through interactions with others (Blumer 1969). In symbolic interactionism, “an object is anything that can be indicated or referred to” (Blumer 1969, p. 11), such as race, political movements, images, videos, protests, systemic racism, policies, police brutality, and behaviors. The ways that individuals define objects are fluid and based on an ongoing interpretation of the interactions they have with others, including what others teach them either directly or indirectly about objects (Allen and Henderson 2016). Such “daily interactional encounters” (Anderson and Snow 2001, p. 397) influenced emerging adults to interpret and reinterpret the murder of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests. Further, the way individuals engage with objects can vary over the course of a lifetime, leading them to new ways of thinking and behaving (Allen and Henderson 2016). Thus, the meanings that individuals create for their own racial group and other racial groups are fluid and based on experience (Blumer 1969). Since race is central to our research, a symbolic interactionist perspective highlights how “race is shaped by social interaction” (Morris 2007, p. 411). This means that two people can interpret race differently based on what they have learned about it from their experiences with others (Blumer 1969). Accounting for differences in how individuals interpret race allowed us to explore how emerging adults of various racial backgrounds experienced changes in their ways of thinking and behaviors after the murder of Mr. George Floyd.

In addition to the concept of object, the symbolic interactionism concepts of generalized other and identity were used in this study. The objects studied in this research are race, BLM protests, police brutality, systemic racism, and interactions between and among racial groups. Generalized other is “an organized set of attitudes that are common to the group to which an individual belongs” (Allen and Henderson 2016 p. 65). Generalized other was used to help explain how emerging adults’ different beliefs about the prevalence and significance of racism may be based on what they learned about race from their respective racial groups. Identity refers to internalized expectations and meanings (Allen and Henderson 2016, p. 70). Identity was used to explain how emerging adults internalized messages about race and incorporated expectations for behaviors of members of their racial group to construct a racial identity.

1.3.3. Integration of Theoretical Frameworks

Critical race theory (CRT) and symbolic interactionism complement each other in several ways. Both frameworks address how social constructions of race reinforce White privilege and racial hierarchies (Delgado and Stefancic 2023; Morris 2007). CRT complements symbolic interactionism by illuminating how power dynamics among racial groups shape the processes of how individuals interpret social interactions when making meanings of race (Morris 2007). Symbolic interactionism adds a micro-, interactional-level lens to CRT by accounting for the agency (Allen and Henderson 2016, p. 63) that individuals exert in constructing new realities about how race operates in their lives. Agency refers to the intentional, purposeful actions of individuals that are shaped, to some degree, by societal and cultural expectations (Snow 2001). Finally, symbolic interactionism allows researchers to examine how the racialized power addressed in CRT manifests itself in the daily interactions of individuals (Morris 2007).

2. Materials and Methods

A concurrent triangulation mixed methods approach (Hanson et al. 2005) was used to examine a sample of emerging adults’ perspectives on racism. The quantitative aspect of the study was to identify how demographic factors such as gender and race were associated with perceptions and impacts of the death of Mr. Floyd. The qualitative section sought to explore and understand the meanings and changes among emerging adults associated with the death of Mr. Floyd and the subsequent BLM protests. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently but analyzed separately.

2.1. Participants and Procedure

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained before participant recruitment and data collection. Participants were emerging adults enrolled in five lower-level sociology courses at a large Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in the Southeast region of the United States. Students were emailed a link to a Qualtrics survey by their instructors in August 2020 and asked to complete a 39-item survey consisting of open-ended and Likert-type questions. The students were used due to their availability to the researchers. Participation was voluntary, and no incentive (grade or otherwise) was provided.

The data was used for various research projects. In the current study, the qualitative data consisted of 133 participants who had seen the video of Mr. Floyd being murdered and answered all open-ended questions and Likert items (White 58.6%, Black 19.5%, Biracial or Multiracial 9%, Asian 8.3%, Hispanic/Latino 3%, Native American 0.8%, Other Person of Color 0.8%). Most participants were women (80.5%); men and gender non-binary individuals were 18.8% and 0.75%, respectively. The mean age of the sample was 19.14 (SD = 1.64) with a range of 18–30. The quantitative data consisted of 166 participants who had seen the video of Mr. Floyd’s murder and answered all Likert items only (57.8% White, 21.7% Black, 8.4% Biracial/Multiracial, 7.2% Asian, 3.6% Hispanic/Latino, 0.6% Native American, and 0.6% Other Race). Most participants were women (78.9%), 19.9% were men, and one person identified as a gender non-binary individual (0.6%). The mean age of this sample was 19.28 (SD = 1.68) with a range of 18–30.

2.2. Measures

The Qualtrics survey was developed by the authors and consisted of three sections: demographics, five-point Likert-type questions to collect quantitative data about students’ perceptions, and open-ended questions to collect qualitative data about the processes of how those perceptions were formed. The demographic questions included gender, age, sexual orientation, class standing, GPA, and self-identified race (White, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Asian American, Native American/Alaskan Native, Biracial or multi-racial, and Other Race).

The second section of the survey included questions regarding the perception and impacts of Mr. Floyd’s death and BLM protests. Likert-type questions about perceptions included items such as “The death of Mr. Floyd should not have happened and is a symptom of larger problems with racism in this country” and “I feel the death of Mr. Floyd is an unfortunate accident caused by a police officer just doing his duty.” Questions about the impact of Mr. Floyd’s death and BLM included items such as “I participated in a Black Lives Matter protest after the killing of Mr. George Floyd,” and “I feel more comfortable talking about race in general since the killing of Mr. George Floyd.” Examples of statements students responded to included, “Someone in my family taught me to be proud of my culture and heritage.”

The third section of the survey consisted of open-ended questions. The qualitative questions included were “What have you learned about race in the aftermath of the killing of Mr. George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protest?” and “In what ways has the death of Mr. George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests influenced your interactions with Black Americans?”. See Appendix A for all study questions.

2.3. Data Analysis

2.3.1. Quantitative Data

For quantitative data analysis, all responses were coded to numerical values. For example, the 5-point Likert-type questions were coded from 1 to 5 (e.g., “strongly agree” was coded as 5). The quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS version 25.

2.3.2. Qualitative Data

Concepts related to CRT and symbolic interactionism were used as sensitizing concepts or “starting points” (Charmaz 2003, p. 259) that helped guide thematic data analysis. Responses were coded in three cycles: eclectic coding, pattern coding, and identifying subthemes and major themes in the data (Saldaña 2021). In the first cycle, the first and third authors read the participants’ responses multiple times and coded each response using a combination of initial, process, values, and in vivo codes (i.e., eclectic coding). The first and third authors used the remaining cycles of coding to collapse the most salient first-cycle codes together (i.e., pattern coding) until a pattern of subthemes and major themes that best represented all the processes in participants’ responses emerged (i.e., third cycle). Twelve pattern codes were identified and organized into five subthemes. From those subthemes, two major themes captured all the processes that emerged from the data: developing racial awareness and negotiating positionality. A third coder and colleague from the research team reviewed the coding and validated the thematic analysis by reaching a 90% agreement with the coders. Additionally, we ruminated about and interpreted the meaning of negative cases or data that were inconsistent with the major themes or overall findings of the qualitative study (Creswell and Miller 2000) in regard to emerging adults’ views on racism.

3. Results

3.1. Quantitative Results

3.1.1. Racial Awareness Quantitative Data

The quantitative analysis revealed that the death of Mr. George Floyd resulted in an increase in racial awareness and advocacy. Most emerging adults in our sample indicated that the death of Mr. George Floyd made them more aware of racism (79.9%), helped them realize how serious racism is (74.1%), and increased their wanting to learn more about race relations (71.3%). Furthermore, the respondents were becoming more comfortable talking about race-related issues (38.4%) and starting conversations (77.5%) about racial relations. Young allies suggested focusing on similarities among racial groups (68.9%), and 65.1% advocated equality via social media.

Gender and race differences were noted regarding racial awareness. Since there was only one participant who self-identified as nonbinary, only people who identified themselves as women and men were included in the gender comparison. Compared to men, women were significantly more likely to report that the death of Floyd and the BLM helped them realize how serious racism is (p < 0.05), more likely to want to learn more about race relations or racism (p < 0.001), initiated conversations with family about race (p < 0.01), and felt more comfortable talking about race (p < 0.01). Due to the limited representation of respondents from diverse racial backgrounds, three racial groups were compared (White, Black, and Other persons of color). As expected, race was an important predictor of one’s perception and attitude. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed first. If the main effect in ANOVA was significant, then the Tukey post hoc comparison was followed to detect group differences. Compared to Black students, White students were more concerned about answering questions about race because they did not want to appear racist (p < 0.001), less likely to have family members talk about race (p < 0.001), and less likely to participate in BLM protests (p < 0.001). Compared to Black, Asian, and Bi/Multiracial students, White students were less likely to report being discriminated against because of their race (p < 0.001). Students from all races except Black were more likely to report recognizing their own privilege after the death of Mr. George Floyd. Compared to Black students, White students (p < 0.001), Asian students (p < 0.001), Bi/multiracial students (p < 0.01), and other People of Color (p < 0.05) reported that the BLM protests helped them realize their privilege in society due to their race.

3.1.2. Position/Perception Quantitative Data

One’s social role/status can also affect the impacts and implications of the death of Mr. George Floyd. The vast majority of respondents (84.1%) perceived that the death of Mr. George Floyd was a symptom of a larger problem with racism in American society. Only 8% attributed Mr. Floyd’s death to an “unfortunate accident caused by a police officer just doing his job.” More than half of the participants (51.2%) reported that White students will say the right things, but change is not likely to happen. Approximately one tenth (9.2%) of respondents indicated that one or both parents/guardians believe white people are superior to black people.

Significant gender and racial differences were found. Compared to women, White men were significantly more likely to perceive the death of Mr. George Floyd as an unfortunate accident—the police were just doing their job t(160) = 3.62, p < 0.001. Black and White students showed significantly different perceptions of the death of Mr. George Floyd. Tukey post hoc comparison tests were employed if a significant main effect was detected in the ANOVA. Compared to White respondents, Black participants were more likely to perceive the death of Mr. George Floyd as a symptom of a larger problem with racism in our country (p < 0.05), less likely to believe Black men are violent (p < 0.01), and more likely to agree with the statement “white students will say all the right things on this questionnaire, but there will be no change in their behavior” (p < 0.001). Compared to White students, Black and Asian respondents were significantly more likely to participate in the Black Lives Matter protests (p < 0.05). Regarding privilege, Black students scored the lowest on the question about being privileged than all other racial groups. See

Table 1. ANOVA and post hoc comparison of three racial groups.

Question	White (W)	Black (B)	Other (O)	p Value	Post Hoc
Police Duty “I feel the death of George Floyd is an unfortunate accident by a police officer just doing his duty.”	1.97 (1.20)	1.19 (0.57)	1.6 (0.93)	p < 0.001	W > B ***
Should Not Have Happened “The death of George Floyd should not have happened and is a symptom of larger problems with racism in this country.”	4.19 (1.05)	4.73 (0.77)	4.65 (0.58)	p < 0.001	B > W ** O > W *
Stereotype “Black men are violent, so police officers must be forceful with them.”	1.69 (0.87)	1.35 (0.48)	1.15 (0.43)	p < 0.001	W > B *** W > O ***
Protest Participation “I participated in a Black Lives Matter protest after the killing of George Floyd.”	2.43 (1.33)	3.30 (1.43)	3.25 (1.35)	p < 0.001	B > W ** O > W **
Prepared to Be Discriminated Against “Someone in my family prepared me to be discriminated against because of my race”	2.30 (1.13)	4.51 (0.88)	3.44 (1.07)	p < 0.001	B > W *** B > O *** O > W ***
No Talk About Race “When I was growing up, no one in my family talked to me about race”	2.42 (0.99)	1.42 (0.72)	2.23 (0.97)	p < 0.001	W > B * O > B *
Social Media “Since the killing of George Floyd, I have used social media to advocate and support the black community.”	3.38 (1.42)	4.11 (0.99)	4.2 (0.94)	p < 0.001	B > W ** O > W **
Privilege “The protests following the death of George Floyd helped me realize I am privileged in our society because of my race.”	3.49 (1.23)	1.58 (1.11)	2.95 (1.22)	p < 0.001	W > B *** W > O * O > B ***

Note. * Denotes p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

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3.2. Qualitative Findings

We applied sensitizing concepts from CRT and symbolic interactionism in the qualitative data analysis. Two major themes, developing racial awareness and negotiating positionality, emerged. Developing racial awareness has two subthemes: becoming an ally and understanding Black people’s experiences. Negotiating positionality also has two subthemes: being egalitarian and reexamining racial identity. We integrated quotes from the respondents and identified their race, age, and gender to support the coding analysis. Additionally, exemplary quotes that represent each subtheme and its associated pattern codes are presented in tables.

3.2.1. Major Theme: Developing Racial Awareness

Developing racial awareness explained how emerging adults became more aware of how racial group membership impacts experiences with racism and racial privilege (Buttner and Lowe 2015). Developing racial awareness involves parallel yet distinctly different processes for Black participants and the rest of the participants. For example, Black Americans’ beliefs about the ongoing impact that systemic racism exerts on their lives were magnified. On the other hand, the rest of the racial-ethnic minorities in the sample and White respondents developed a realization of the importance of supporting Black Americans’ efforts to eliminate racism. This major theme had two subthemes: becoming an ally and understanding Black people’s experiences.

The becoming an ally subtheme represents White, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Biracial/Multiracial, Native American, and Other Race participants’ perspectives and has two pattern codes: advocating for change and being empathetic. Among those racial groups, only White participants (21%) reported advocating for change to dismantle systemic racism and show allyship towards the Black community. Black participants did not provide responses that aligned with the becoming an ally subtheme. A White woman, age 19, described advocating for change as “sharing more information on BLM and talking about racism.” This quote is consistent with other research that found that White women connect sharing information about racism with ally behavior towards Black communities (Case 2012). Additionally, 12% of White and 9% of Asian American participants described feeling empathetic towards Black people. A White man, age 18, wrote, “It has changed my behavior towards Blacks by being more empathetic towards them.” Becoming an ally involves a process of taking steps to spread information about BLM and talk to others about racism while empathizing with Black people’s experiences with racism. See

Table 2. Subtheme: Becoming an Ally.

Pattern Code	Exemplary Quote	Participant
Advocating for Change	“I feel that I am now more aware and try to include People of Color more as well as paying more attention to racism in everyday life such as calling out my friends when they say something racist. I have also signed petitions and advocated for Black Lives Matter within my family and friends groups.”	White woman, age 18
Being Empathetic	“It made me realize just how bad Black people have it compared to other races.”	Asian American woman, age 20

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The understanding Black people’s experiences subtheme refers to racial differences in how the participants made sense of Black people’s experiences with racism. The following pattern codes represent how participants understood Black people’s experiences with racism: we’re still not equal, recognizing systemic racism, and educating myself. Among Black participants, 54% discussed how they realized that Black Americans continue to experience racial inequality stemming from systemic racism. One Black man, age 21, wrote, “Black people have never been treated equally in America as a whole.” For Black women and men, the death of Mr. George Floyd and the subsequent BLM protests reinforced a collective understanding of how racial inequality continues to impact the lives of Black Americans. For Black women, this understanding sparked a need to show more support for Black communities.

The pattern code, recognizing systemic racism, captured how 35% of Black, 58% of White, 25% of Hispanic/Latino, 82% of Asian, 58% of Biracial/Multiracial, and 100% of Native Americans (100%) expressed greater recognition of how systemic racism impacts Black people. A Biracial/Multiracial woman, age 18, wrote, “For Black people it isn’t innocent until proven guilty. It is their fault until shown different.” Another pattern code, educating myself, refers to how White and non-Black racial-ethnic minorities were catalyzed to educate themselves about Black history after the murder of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests. A white woman, age 19, wrote, “I have learned that a lot of Black history is not taught in schools.” Understanding Black people’s experiences included an awareness of how systemic racism influences individuals’ life trajectories and, for some, learning about Black history. See

Table 3. Subtheme: Understanding Black People’s Experiences.

Pattern Code	Exemplary Quote	Participant
We’re Still Not Equal	“I’ve learned that not much has really changed since slavery. We’re not owned by white people anymore, but we are still not equal.”	Black woman, age 18
Recognizing Systemic Racism	“Racism is a real issue in America where people’s professional development and participation in society are determined by their race.”	White man, age 19
Educating Myself	“I learned a lot of new information and lots of unheard stories by people who have experienced racism.”	White woman, age 18

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3.2.2. Major Theme: Negotiating Positionality

Negotiating positionality reflected how the death of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests catalyzed participants to reexamine how their social locations, particularly race and gender, influenced the values they placed on race and how they viewed their racial identity. Positionality refers to how changing societal contexts influence how individuals make sense of their interrelated identities while developing belief systems and viewpoints about the world around them (Alcoff 1988). This major theme has two subthemes: being egalitarian and reexamining racial identity.

The being egalitarian subtheme captured how the death of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests that followed reinforced values of racial equality among 22% of White, 36% of Asian, and 25% of Biracial respondents. Members of other racial groups did not provide responses that aligned with egalitarianism. Emerging adults with egalitarian beliefs expressed a commitment to racial equality and rebuked racial hierarchies as they had done prior to Mr. George Floyd’s death. The following pattern codes are associated with this subtheme: reinforcing racial equality and treating everyone the same. Respondents expressed beliefs that individuals should not be treated differently based on the color of their skin. For example, an Asian woman, age 18, wrote, “I believe all people are equal and will continue to believe so.” A White man, age 19, wrote, “I treat people how I want to be treated.” An emphasis among some participants on racial equality and treating everyone equally may reflect early familial racialization experiences where egalitarianism is emphasized. See

Table 4. Subtheme: Being Egalitarian.

Pattern Code	Exemplary Quote	Participant
Reinforcing Racial Equality	“I still view Blacks in the same way I always have. God made us all in his image and skin color does not matter.”	White woman, age 18
Treating Everyone the Same	“I continue to support everyone the same no matter their color.”	Asian American woman, age 18

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The reexamining racial identity subtheme captured how the death of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests catalyzed racial identity exploration among some participants. The following focused codes are associated with this subtheme: having Black pride, recognizing White privilege, defending White people, and problematizing BLM protests. Among Black respondents (50% and most of whom were women), there was a heightened sense of racial identity through racial pride. A Black woman, age 18, wrote, “It made me love my people and culture even more.” Some Black parents engage in cultural socialization practices that instill racial pride in children at an early age (author), and the death of Floyd and the BLM protests intensified that racial pride for Black emerging adults. Among White respondents, White women but not White men (15%) discussed how the BLM protests influenced their awareness of how White privilege has influenced their lived experiences. A White woman, age 18, wrote, “I never understood the full capacity of the BLM movement until then and realized my privilege of being White.”

For some White participants (13%), the BLM protests catalyzed them to defend White people. This finding supports Jackson’s (1999) and Spanierman and Cabrera’s (2015 arguments that White Americans sometimes become defensive or have visceral reactions when asked questions about race and racism. For example, a White woman, age 18, wrote, “Some people are so oversensitive about what White people say.” Some White participants (19%) viewed the BLM protests after Floyd’s death as problematic and negatively impacting White people. Further, those participants believed that BLM protests served to perpetuate racial divisions in the United States. See

Table 5. Subtheme: Reexamining Racial Identity.

Pattern Code	Exemplary Quote	Participant
Having Black Pride	“It makes me love my people even more! I am Black culture!”	Black woman, age 19
Recognizing White Privilege	“I have privilege in America due to my skin color, and I need to use that privilege to speak up and educate the people around me to be anti-racist.”	White woman, age 19
Defending White People	“Racism goes both ways.”	White woman, age 19
Problematizing BLM	“What’s worse is that if a White person doesn’t protest or support BLM, then they are automatically considered racist.”	White woman, age 18

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3.2.3. Understanding Negative Cases

We included negative cases in our data analyses to facilitate an understanding of the nuances of how the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests impacted emerging adults. Nine respondents answered “not applicable” to one or both of the open-ended questions. Not applicable means either they did not want to supply answers or the open-ended questions (i.e., what was learned about race and behavioral change towards Black people) did not apply to them. Among that group of respondents, 78% were White, 11% were Black, and 11% were Biracial/Multiracial. We surmise that these respondents may have chosen to provide a response of not applicable because they did not have any beliefs about the murder of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests. On the other hand, perhaps they did not feel comfortable sharing their perspectives even though anonymity was guaranteed. Most of these participants were White. We infer that perhaps White respondents were uncomfortable discussing racism or had a difficult time reflecting on differences in how race operates in their lives versus the lives of Black people. A survey with only closed-ended questions with a forced completion design may have yielded more responses from this group of respondents.

3.3. Integration and Synthesis of Mixed Methods Data

The qualitative data and quantitative data complement each other in several ways. Qualitative data revealed the processes involved in how racial awareness and positionality develop among emerging adults. For example, while most respondents had an increase in racial awareness, qualitative data analyses revealed that awareness looked different for Black emerging adults than members of other racial groups. For Black participants, their racial awareness deepened and reinforced an existing understanding of the ongoing racial inequality in society that they had before Mr. Floyd’s death. Further, Black participants scored lower than all racial groups on the survey question about being privileged. They reinforced the notion that racial inequality is ongoing. On the other hand, members of other racial groups realized for the first time about the systemic racism that Black people experience. Further, among White women, qualitative analyses revealed that the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests catalyzed them to recognize their privilege and how it operates in their lives. It is important to note that analyses of the open-ended questions revealed that Black participants experienced an increase in racial pride, while other racial minority groups in the study did not.

Both types of data emphasize within-group differences among the racial groups in the study. Gender differences reveal that women engage in advocacy efforts and vocalize support for BLM more than men. Qualitative data, however, reveal that White and Black women support BLM for different reasons. Black women view advocacy as a means of supporting the Black communities to which they belong, while White women view advocacy as a way to demonstrate allyship with Black communities. The qualitative data revealed insights into differences among White women’s views on racism. While White women were more likely to realize the pervasiveness of systemic racism and their own White privilege, some of them espoused conflicting beliefs consistent with White supremacy, such as resisting White privilege, dismissing People of Color as being “oversensitive’ to racist language, and problematizing the BLM protests as a means of making White people look bad. Such conflicting beliefs among White women were indicative of how they tried to reconcile the internal struggles induced by Mr. Floyd’s death and the BLM protests.

The quantitative results support the interpretation of negative cases in the study. We surmised that people who chose not to answer the open-ended questions may have questioned the anonymity of their responses. Most negative cases were from White participants. Our presumption is supported by the quantitative data in that White participants were more concerned about answering questions, as they did not want to appear racist. Having both mixed data allowed us to better examine the nuances of emerging adults’ reactions and perceptions of the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests that followed. While the Likert-type questions forced students to pick a response that best described their beliefs, open-ended questions allowed them to disclose more about their inner thoughts and perceptions about racism. Since the qualitative and quantitative data support each other, the validity of the study is strengthened. See

Table 6. Integrated results matrix of views on racism.

Qualitative Data Major Theme	Exemplary Quote	Quantitative Result
Developing Racial Awareness	“I stand behind my Black community even more” (Black woman, age 19)	Reflection/Activism Women were more likely than men to engage in conversation about activism and racial injustice.
Negotiating Positionality	“I never realized the full capacity of the BLM movement until then and realized my privilege of being White.” (White woman, age 18)	Perception Emerging adults from all races except for Black people were more likely to recognize their own privilege after Mr. Floyd’s death.

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4. Discussion

The aim of this mixed-methods study was to examine the impacts of Mr. George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent BLM protests on emerging adults’ views on racism. This study encouraged emerging adults to engage in a self-reflexive process to critically analyze how their lived experiences, biases, identities, familial background, and group memberships interacted to influence how they interpreted the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests (Allen 2000). The self-reflexive process served as a consciousness-raising experience for emerging adults to consider how race and racism influence their lives and the lives of racial minorities. The emerging adults explicitly used the CRT concepts of White privilege and systemic racism in their survey responses. The use of other theoretical/sensitizing concepts was gleaned through our mixed-methods analysis and interpretation of results. Additionally, results necessitated that we integrate another race-related term, White fragility (DiAngelo 2018), into our discussion.

4.1. Racial–Ethnic Minority Emerging Adults

Black emerging adults responded to the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests with an existing awareness and knowledge of the longstanding impact that systemic racism has exerted on Black Americans. From a CRT perspective, Black emerging adults were operating from a more nuanced and advanced racial awareness and were already cognizant of White privilege as opposed to some White emerging adults, in particular White women, who acquired that knowledge after the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests. Additionally, Black emerging adults were more likely to use social media as a form of activism. This finding supports existing research that Black Americans in general are more likely to use social media as an advocacy tool (Auxier 2020).

4.1.1. Early Racial Socialization

Early racial socialization experiences appeared to influence beliefs about race and racism among the sample. Evidence of cultural socialization, such as having racial pride, was a common theme among Black respondents, particularly Black women. That Black women respondents were compelled to be more supportive of Black people and discussed having Black pride may reflect Black women’s history of community and political activism to improve the well-being of Black people (author). Despite not being socialized to view themselves in “racial terms” (DiAngelo 2018, p. 1), thematic analyses revealed that White emerging adult women, but not White men, were compelled to consider how White privilege impacts their lives. From a CRT perspective, White people’s acknowledgement of White privilege is central to eliminating systemic racism (Wysor Nguema 2020). From a symbolic interactionist perspective, contradictions between racialized information learned from the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests and familial racial socialization experienced during childhood and adolescence catalyzed White women to reexamine their racial identity.

Egalitarian views were common among White, Asian American, and Biracial/Multiracial respondents. Mixed methods data revealed that egalitarian views reflected beliefs in racial equality (qualitative), treating everyone the same (qualitative), and focusing on similarities among people rather than differences (quantitative). Quantitative data supported that White emerging adults were less likely to have family members deliberately conversing about culture and heritage. We surmised that egalitarian views about racial equality are outgrowths of parental racial socialization practices on how to approach issues of race and racism. Although colorblind racial socialization (Zucker and Patterson 2018) is prevalent among White families, colorblindness was not evident in this study. Although colorblind racial socialization was not reported, it is important to note that focusing on similarities among individuals, as reported by most of the non-Black participants in this study, rather than focusing on finding solutions to the racism and racialized oppression that People of Color experience, may perpetuate social injustice and further marginalize members of racial minority groups (Delgado and Stefancic 2023).

4.1.2. White Fragility

Although most respondents believed that the murder of Mr. George Floyd reflected a larger, macrosystemic problem of racism, some White respondents reported a need to defend White people and reported negative views of BLM protests. To explain these reactions among White participants, it was necessary to infuse the concept of White fragility (DiAngelo 2018) with the symbolic interactionism component of our integrated theoretical framework. DiAngelo (2018) described White fragility as a reaction or position realized from the ongoing benefits of Whiteness; further, White Americans use it to navigate the disequilibrium that results from being challenged to address acts of racism. From a symbolic interactionism perspective, White fragility materialized in the form of defensiveness and negative views of the BLM protests. Specifically, White fragility was manifested in assertions that Black people are “overly sensitive,” and that White people are unjustly viewed as racist for not supporting BLM. Those expressions of White fragility allowed White respondents to minimize the impact that systemic racism has on Black Americans (see DiAngelo 2018). Minimizing criticisms of racialized or racist language used by White people and dismissing BLM protests as racially divisive rather than political interventions of social change helped restore equilibrium to those White respondents who resisted being challenged to confront systemic racism.

4.2. Unique Contributions

This study provided several contributions to the literature on emerging adulthood. First, the death of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests intersected with the developmental processes, particularly racial identity development, which was already underway in emerging adulthood. Second, the mixed methods analysis included qualitative data, which accounted for the self-reflective processes that informed responses on the Likert-type questions, which contributed to the overall credibility of the study. The qualitative data allowed the researchers to examine how emerging adults processed information related to Floyd and BLM protests and how they used that information to become more aware of their beliefs and views on racism, especially for White emerging adults. Third, the study emphasized how privilege operates differently for Black and non-Black emerging adults. Non-Black emerging adults, including other racial minorities and White women, reported becoming more aware of how they are privileged in U. S. society.

4.3. Limitations

There are several limitations of this study. First, one’s racial attitude is complex and multidimensional. Online survey questions may not be able to capture the depth and breadth of one’s views; thus, the construct may not be as comprehensive as it should be. Second, participants were recruited from a PWI in a southeastern state. Participants from PWIs in other geographic locations or from Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) may have provided different data. Further, emerging adults who are not college-educated may have different racial attitudes than college-educated emerging adults. While the literature on non-college emerging adults is scarce, emerging research shows that they experience pathways to financial independence and romantic relationships differently than college students (Mitchell and Syed 2015). More research is needed that examines differences in racism and racial attitudes among college and non-college emerging adults. Third, a sample of racially and gender-diverse participants may have yielded different responses. Fourth, the students were enrolled in lower-level sociology courses and potentially exposed to course content about race and racism that may have influenced their responses. Finally, given the racially sensitive nature of the Likert-type and open-ended questions, students may have provided socially desirable responses to appear more politically correct.

4.4. Future Directions

This study suggests several possibilities for future research. The death of Mr. George Floyd and the BLM protests occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately impacted Black communities, as Black people were more likely to experience severe illness and die from the virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020). Future studies could examine how the COVID-19 pandemic intersected with the death of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests to impact emerging adults’ views on racism. To gain a more nuanced understanding of emerging adults’ views on racism, future researchers might also recruit a more robust and diverse sample of students at HBCUs and non-college students. Additionally, semi-structured interviews and focus groups may provide added layers of insight into emerging adults’ experiences. Qualitative research methods, such as the photovoice community-based participatory method, in which participants use photos to explore and provide solutions for problems that threaten community well-being (Wang and Burris 1997), can be used to examine emerging adults’ advocacy and activism for racial equality. Finally, future researchers might collect/analyze longitudinal data to examine how beliefs after the murder of Mr. Floyd and the BLM protests change over time.

5. Conclusions

The murder of Mr. George Floyd prompted emerging adults to reexamine systemic racism. This process unfolded differently for Black and non-Black participants, with some Whites more likely to deny the video as an example of racism. Overall, most of the participants in the study interpreted the death of Mr. Floyd as a blatant racist act, leading to advocacy and activism to change societal practices that oppress Black people, with Black emerging adults feeling a deeper connection to and stronger need to support Black communities.