Why Students Must Protest!
Perhaps Because Politicians Are Incapable of Problem Solving!
I’m a child of protests. In fact, one of my favorite things to say is “I’ve spent my life trying to change the things I cannot accept. Many others have spent their lives trying to accept the things they cannot change.” In my view there are three reasons why the wave of pro-Palestinian protests across college campuses are problematic.
First, the country has a love/hate relationship with dissent. When it serves our remembrances we lift the right to protest as a great hallmark of democracy. Sadly, though, when protests have sought a greater value for diversity, equity and inclusion the response has often been less than ideal.
Second, the issues being protested, Israel’s killing of Palestinians with the aid of the U.S. poke at a powerful political/economic/military alliance. As a result, regard for these protests conflate issues of empathy and hate giving purveyors, on all sides, platforms to serve their own needs.
Third, there is fear, in this election year, that powerful alliances are being formed shaping candidate races in ways that cannot be controlled. The more than 100,000 “uncommitted” Michigan Democratic voters protesting Israel’s, U.S. backed, war got the party’s attention.
Where Are The Emperor’s Clothes!
The U.S. says free speech is protected. Yet, our behaviors suggest, that free speech is only protected as long as you’re saying what others want to hear. Students get this! I imagine they see, the line between free speech and hate speech depends upon who has the power. To that point, criticism of Israel earns people an anti-Semitism label; hate speech.
Is saying “From the river to the sea.” free speech or hate speech? What about saying, “Send them niggas back where they came from.” And is hate speech punishable? Again, it seems to depend upon who has the power. For though we know saying these things with the intent to do someone harm, particularly Jewish people and African Americans respectively, crosses the line. However the line moves, depending upon who has the power. Which typically is not African Americans. And, these days has gotten to be a privilege many Jews are enjoying less.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized civil disobedience’s place, as a moral responsibility, when laws or policies unjustly degrade people. He also understood that any violation of the law has consequences. Thus, when hundreds of Jews took over and occupied Grand Central Station in protest of Israel’s war against Palestinians their chants of “Not in our name,” and ‘Palestinians should be free’ did not dissuade police from arresting them. They accepted the consequences! They were peacefully taken into custody, given a citation and released.
College Administrators, law enforcement, college administrators and students should heed Dr. King’s wisdom, even if students do not. Which perhaps is why when my classmates tried to take over the administration building because they wanted the building to be named after slain leader, Malcolm X, the school called the State Police. Seeing these young white police recruits get off their bus in riot gear at a historically Black school had an impact, my classmates ran. Meaning someone has to be the adult in the room, teaching students, without the punitive regard exemplified by Wall street executives who threatened to ban students from employment, fall 2023, the complexities of the country’s position and their demands.
All Learning Is Taught
There are lessons to be learned from understanding just how similar these protests are with those of the past. Lessons that seemingly are challenging U.S. politicians and many others to grasp.
Though these protests are typically labeled as a part of a pro-Palestinian movement, this wave of protests is about so much more. Yes, then and now, students are protesting what they feel are unjust wars. Then and now, many see family, friends and neighbors slaughtered and maimed for no other reason than imperialistic will and power.
However where many Vietnam era protestors were reacting to a war where U.S. soldiers were dying and being maimed in a foreign land, perhaps these students see a larger, and more direct, impact on them. Many see, perhaps, the same alliances that regard Palestinians as “evil others” as also being responsible for today’s societal problems. Responsible not just for wars but also for widening economic disparity, near catastrophic economic collapse, COVID and ineffective responses to the pandemic. They see futures of high student loan debt, and global climate concerns and an uncertain return on their educational investment.
What many fail to grasp is the globalization of societies, as evidenced by worldwide Black Lives Matter protests. These interconnections are natural for today’s students. Social media serve as building blocks for coalitions of empathy, cause and shared experiences. Their protests, exacerbated by views reinforced through the sharing of personal stories, are also reflective of shared futures with prospects to live happy and healthy lives uncertain for many.
Al Fin: Weaponizing Hate
Yes, there are some motivated to intertwine human qualities of compassion and caring with hate and antisemitism. Which causes me to wonder, how is it that hate for Israel is different from hate of Russia when what we see is the same killing, rape and disregard for life? For many the difference is the foe. For others there is no difference at all. Hate is hate! To elevate one over the other is a prioritization of life and who gets to live it. And getting past that growing belief is the problem leaders must solve.
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been gone long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
“Ohio,” Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, 1971
