Recently, some have suggested that protesters across the country have lost the art of peaceful protest and too often resort to violence. I see a lack of empathy and a lack of critical thinking has caused this belief.
People often use the Ferguson and Baltimore protests, or more recently the Donald Trump protests in Chicago, as examples that protesters are rock-throwing rioters. When all you see on TV is the coverage of a building burning down or police using tear gas to break up protests, it’s easy to think the era of peaceful protesting is gone. When you don’t think critically about it, it is easy to make that mistake.
Students, community members protest peacefully in Black Out March
But when you think critically about the nature of protests, it becomes clear that it is actually often others reacting to protests that causes the break in peace. The protests themselves are often not the reason why violence happens. Look to Ferguson and you see that the police met protesters with militarized force. The police look more like they are about to invade a country than trying to keep tabs on a peaceful protest. Look to the Trump protests in Chicago and you see the Trump supporters reacting violently to the protesters — and Trump was often the one inciting violence.
Protesters are met with violence and are carried off in cop cars — not unlike Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of other protesters during the Civil Rights Movement. Yet people point to the protesters as those in the wrong.
UW students ‘black out’ Capitol in protest of online voting registration bill passed by Assembly
Yes, rioting is bad. No one would argue the opposite. But to blame protesters solely for their existence and to blame only protesters for violence is ignorant.
As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
There are plenty of Americans going unheard today. Whether it be citizens protesting systemic racism in the criminal justice system or students protesting a growing racial divide on campus, the majority of protests around us are peaceful.
There are examples of this on our University of Wisconsin campus. Black Lives Matter, Justice for Tony, Day Without Latinos and various other protests were carried out in peace.
Similar to the body rejecting an organ transplant, society rejects change. Often rejecting protests with violence, fear or anger.
Americans have the right to protest peacefully and they also have the right to not be met with violence. Too often people forget the last part, and often placing blame on those trying to incite needed change.
Luke Schaetzel ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and journalism.
