photo credit: Tom Ferda
If you were the average American citizen going about your daily activity and ran in to a protest march and people were carrying this sign, what would you think was going on? How would you “see” the persons carrying this sign? Would you view them as peaceful protesters? Would you be fearful? Would you leave as quickly as possible without asking what they were protesting?
I am a firm believer in the 1st Amendment and our right to free speech. At the same time free speech means accepting responsibility for the words being used. One may see the words, “fuck the police” as violent speech. I certainly do. One cannot claim to be part of a peaceful demonstration/protest/march and use inflammatory language. If someone comes up to me and says, “fuck Inge.” I am probably not going to be open to hearing what they have to say next.
Seattle protester expressing himself
It was May Day two days ago and there were marches held all over the world, including Los Angeles. May Day began as an international day honoring workers, but it recently grew to include a myriad of grievances from immigration reform to home foreclosures to gay rights. Police escorted protesters through downtown Los Angeles (you can see an officer pictured in the photo above. I wonder what he was thinking walking alongside the “fuck the police” sign). I did not hear of any serious confrontations with police in L.A., but Seattle was a different story. Protesters chose to express themselves by damaging private property and insulting police.
photo credit: LA Times (customers inside Starbucks)
A couple years ago there was a “riot” downtown Anaheim and many businesses were damaged. Customers who were not aware that a protest was going on down the street, soon found themselves in the line of fire. How do you think those persons felt? I’m guessing they were scared. How do you think business owners felt about having their property damaged by protesters? I’m guessing they were pissed off. Do you think any one of them felt empathy for the reason people protested in the first place? In case you wonder why there was a protest, a young man was shot and killed by an Anaheim police officer.
I am against violence whether it’s from law enforcement or those protesting. Violent speech will not create a peaceful environment. Words (written and verbal) set the tone for whatever comes next. Words can soothe, educate and inspire or it can insight physical violence. Since the early 90s, I have been to so many protests that I lost count, but I do know those protesters that chanted “fuck the police!” always resulted in property damage and arrests. Now if that is the goal of a protest, then consider it a success. But mainstream Americans will not see it your way.
Martin Luther King and Ghandi were great examples of peaceful protesters. Yes, they both ended up spending time in jail but they gained the support of many others, started a movement and eventually were successful, because they chose to speak out using peaceful words. Choosing to speak out and doing so peacefully is much harder than just “flipping someone off.” It takes a great deal of patience and self discipline to remain peaceful in a potentially explosive situation.
I am all for civil disobedience but even that can be done peacefully. People get arrested all the time for failing to follow orders to disperse. If one chooses to attend such an action he/she should be willing to face the consequences and not be surprised if they do end up before a judge. It’s the name of the game and won’t change anytime soon.
In my opinion, those who organize protests should decide what their goal is. Do they want to be arrested? Do they want to challenge law enforcement? What is the core message? Are kids allowed to attend? If so, what kind of example do the adults want to give to impressionable young minds? If kids see and hear violent speech, what does that teach them about behaving in another situation, like when their teacher asks them to do something? Will they see such behavior as “ok?”
I am aware of the argument that “police plant provocateurs” to get the crowd riled up. I am sure that happens, but organizers of the action should take in to account all the different scenarios that can happen, especially ones that can turn a peaceful protest in to a violent one, and that should be discussed before the protest even happens. That is — if the organizers want to have a peaceful protest. We can’t just run in to the streets screaming and yelling without a plan and expect a positive result.
Police will always respond the way they are ordered to. We cannot control their actions, BUT protesters always have a choice about how they choose to behave.
Good essay — but I have some trouble reconciling it with your writings on Cliven Bundy.
Say what, Greg? I think you’re the only one who connected those dots.
I doubt that, Carl. Sad fact, though, if so.
I believe each should be judged on it’s own merits.
I knew you would bring that up, Greg. Here is the difference. Nevada allows guns to be carried in the open. 200 BLM and Feds showed up along with SWAT to take Bundy’s cattle. The people there were unarmed. It wasn’t until the video, showing unarmed people getting tazed by law enforcement, that others showed up with weapons. How much of your tax dollars was spent to do that? I’m guessing a lot more than the 1 million the Feds claim Bundy owes them.
My argument in that post was the amount of force that was used against unarmed civilians. I am also against “free speech zones.” My free speech zone is the United States. I do not need permission to protest my government. I do not need permission to assemble. I do not need permission to do it at a certain time and place.
I am willing to engage in civil disobedience. One can do civil disobedience without being violent. I do so openly. I do not wear a bandana or a mask. I am fully aware that I may go to jail for my actions.
However, I am against terrorizing other people and damaging property.
I agree with you Inge about understanding our Rights and our responsibilities. Especially when it comes to how we treat others out in public or otherwise. Words do have meaning and there seems to be a vast lack of respect in the way people deal with each other and our representatives and our public use of force.
I guess I did not express myself very well. I see far to many ‘trouble makers” show up at marches who don’t care about social justice or the welfare of others. They see it as an opportunity to break things and fight with police. Unfortunately, it is those people who are shown on the evening news and the message of the protest/march is lost.
Non-violent protest.
Why do protesters who are looking for a fight called “Non-violent”?
Protest in your bedroom or living room. When you go into others people neighborhoods and disturb their residents and business, then you become the problem and sometimes the source of violent.
I see you have answered my rant in your answer to Carl.
“In case you wonder why there was a protest, a young man was shot and killed by an Anaheim police officer.”
There were TWO young men shot and killed that weekend. Manuel Diaz and my son, Joel Acevedo. Do some more research Inge if you don’t know this.
Peace.
I stand corrected.
Actually there was a THIRD young man shot and killed just a few months earlier – Martin Hernandez, in March of that year. So Jesus, no wonder people were upset.
And folks had been encouraged to come to council and air their grievances… people who’d never been to council meetings before… and they weren’t able to get in because the place was packed with Kris Murray’s union whores. Despite the best efforts of Mayor Tait, they got the impression they were LOCKED OUT of talking to their leaders. So… you can kind of see how craziness was bound to happen. Makes me feel crazy right now.
And let me toot our horn as far as the damage from that riot went: The Orange Juice Blog led the charge to spend money at the stores that were damaged that night. Check it out:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2012/08/it-hurts-my-mind-mathew-sims-vandalized-t-shirts-outlet-lets-shop-there/
Do people read MLK, or simply evoke him? I’ll leave this entire excerpt on urban riots from a ’67 speech he gave to APA:
Urban riots.
Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena. They may be deplored, but they are there and should be understood. Urban riots are a special form of violence. They are not insurrections. The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions. They are mainly intended to shock the white community. They are a distorted form of social protest. The looting which is their principal feature serves many functions. It enables the most enraged and deprived Negro to take hold of consumer goods with the ease the white man does by using his purse. Often the Negro does not even want what he takes; he wants the experience of taking. But most of all, alienated from society and knowing that this society cherishes property above people, he is shocking it by abusing property rights. There are thus elements of emotional catharsis in the violent act. This may explain why most cities in which riots have occurred have not had a repetition, even though the causative conditions remain. It is also noteworthy that the amount of physical harm done to white people other than police is infinitesimal and in Detroit whites and Negroes looted in unity.
A profound judgment of today’s riots was expressed by Victor Hugo a century ago. He said, ‘If a soul is left in the darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.’
The policymakers of the white society have caused the darkness; they create discrimination; they structured slums; and they perpetuate unemployment, ignorance and poverty. It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society. When we ask Negroes to abide by the law, let us also demand that the white man abide by law in the ghettos. Day-in and day-out he violates welfare laws to deprive the poor of their meager allotments; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations; his police make a mockery of law; and he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provisions for civic services. The slums are the handiwork of a vicious system of the white society; Negroes live in them but do not make them any more than a prisoner makes a prison. Let us say boldly that if the violations of law by the white man in the slums over the years were calculated and compared with the law-breaking of a few days of riots, the hardened criminal would be the white man. These are often difficult things to say but I have come to see more and more that it is necessary to utter the truth in order to deal with the great problems that we face in our society.
On May Day I celebrate the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Good Obama fanboy! I like it…