You know exactly what’s happening
in the country right now, and you might be upset, but you can’t follow your gut
and react rashly, at least, not if you want your reaction to matter.
Tensions are running high here as
America enters an unprecedented period of uncertainty, and rallying has already
begun. But after the election the, the consequent social and institutional climate
shift is going to change the face of protesting forever. So for the next
inevitable tragedy or egregious law that’s passed, there are a few things you
need to know when organizing a demonstration.
Peace is the most important rule;
if half of the electoral college (but less than half of all voters, since that’s
how the electoral college works) supports a candidate that believes that
protesters should be “carried out on a stretcher”, any confrontation could be
disastrous. Not only that, but violent escalation almost exclusively gains
negative attention, just look at media coverage of the looting in Baltimore in 2015
or in Ferguson in 2014 and 2015.
There are two reasons that peace
must dictate your protesting practices and the first is intended impact. If
your intended impact is destruction or expression of directionless anger, then
sure, go ahead and loot* (*don’t actually, that’s sarcasm), but if you want
your demonstration to stand for something, you need to be clear. Far too often
the media reacts with so much condemnation of violent protests themselves, that
they completely lose sight of why the people are protesting to begin with.
Likewise, opponents of your movement will denounce your methods to distract
your audience from your message. Don’t let them. A violent uprising downtown is
its own headline, but if hundreds of activists quietly sit together in the
middle of a shopping mall, news outlets are going to ask why. And ultimately,
the media is the microphone that you need to grab.
But the second reason is far more important:
violence will be met with violence, and that is a battle you cannot hope to
win. The police department in Keene, New Hampshire, a place with which most of you
are not familiar, has armored personnel vehicles for protecting events like
their annual pumpkin festival. With such military grade weaponry in even the
smallest of counties, one can hardly argue the fact that police militarization
appears to be on the rise. On top of all this, Donald Trump, the 2016 President
Elect has in his 100-day plan, a provision to increase law enforcement funding.
He calls this legislative measure the “Restoring Community Safety Act” which
would create, “a Task Force
On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist
local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and
federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders
behind bars.” (A public statement issued by Donald Trump in Gettysburg, PA, October
22, 2016). This means more police spending and better weapons. Even with just
tear gas a troop of officers could potentially subdue dozens of protesters, and
with automatic weapons and armored vehicles, there is no hope for a forceful opposition
to be successful.
And I could go on all day
about how damaging it is to police-civilian relationships to further escalate
already existing tensions and mistrust, but you get the picture. The police
always win, so you can’t play their game. Instead, Peaceful protest and further
activism outside the scope of demonstration is crucial. Community organizing,
fundraising, petition drafting, and even directly contacting representatives
will move you far closer toward whatever ends you pursue than violence ever
will. Often rioters will angrily chant “No Justice, No Peace!” but what you
must remember, is that if there is no peace, there will be no change.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/police-tank-purchase-new-hampshire_n_1279983.html
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days
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