Thoughts about the RNC Protests This Fall
I am bitterly disappointed with the protests at the RNC early this September, especially in light of all the authorities did wrong in the handling of the RNC. From reporters being handcuffed and led away from the action to the raids on the homes and convention spaces of RNC protesters - raids already labeled as unconstitutional by groups such as the Laywers Guild - there was already plenty of news to be had without the violence, rashness and sheer arrogance of some protesters. Not only does news of protesters acting violently, including but not limited to dousing Connecticut delegates with bleach, legitimize the use of force in the minds of the public - the majority of which experienced the RNC protests through the news and not from the ground - it encourages the media to slip into familiar narratives. Suddenly, the protesters aren't "concerned citizens," nor are they seen as representing the collective voice of a disapproving public, they are wild and crazed miscreants who represent a minority in public opinion.
If people cannot identify with you, they will find it more difficult to identify with your cause.
My plea with protesters everywhere is this: if you are going to start a revolution, get on with it already! Enough pissing around in front of national television. The pitifully small scale violence is the proverbial fart in the wind. Until you get the majority of Americans thinking the same way, your efforts will have as much influence on national politics as Nader has on the presidential election each cycle, which is to say the choir will nod with you while the vast majority sighs and looks away. What's more, dousing candidates in bleach and other acts of violence warrant a legitimate show of force from authorities. In the ensuing chaos, it becomes less and less likely that a photographer will be fortunate enough to capture an abuse of force. Consider this video of a New York City Critical Mass Bike Rally. Had the rest of the cyclists been acting violently, not only would their subsequent beating at the hands of law enforcement seem more justified in all probability, blatant cases of police brutality such as found in this video would be lost in the shuffle.
Consequently, my humble suggestion is this: look to the Civil Rights protests of the 1960's. Imagine the same number of people who showed up to protest the RNC organizing as a mass, settling in and doing nothing. This way, when or if the waves of violence come rippling through the crowd from the overzealous police force present, the camera tells a different story than does this video essay from the Associated Press. What I see in this video essay is foolish individuals rushing into harm's way to be inevitably brutalized by the police state. Imagine these images with same people, but with them nonviolently resisting, laying on their stomachs, covering their heads - now we have film roll ready to go alongside images of blacks being viciously attacked by police dogs and battered with fire hoses.
This early September, all I saw was a bunch of individuals rush into the teeth of a vicious machine eager to work its jaws at the first scent of blood. The protesters at the RNC gave the police the catalyst they wanted to justify their generalized and brutal attacks and they gave the papers easy headlines. In turn, the protesters get their "I was there" Purple Hearts and public protest becomes a little less legitimate.
If people cannot identify with you, they will find it more difficult to identify with your cause.
My plea with protesters everywhere is this: if you are going to start a revolution, get on with it already! Enough pissing around in front of national television. The pitifully small scale violence is the proverbial fart in the wind. Until you get the majority of Americans thinking the same way, your efforts will have as much influence on national politics as Nader has on the presidential election each cycle, which is to say the choir will nod with you while the vast majority sighs and looks away. What's more, dousing candidates in bleach and other acts of violence warrant a legitimate show of force from authorities. In the ensuing chaos, it becomes less and less likely that a photographer will be fortunate enough to capture an abuse of force. Consider this video of a New York City Critical Mass Bike Rally. Had the rest of the cyclists been acting violently, not only would their subsequent beating at the hands of law enforcement seem more justified in all probability, blatant cases of police brutality such as found in this video would be lost in the shuffle.
Consequently, my humble suggestion is this: look to the Civil Rights protests of the 1960's. Imagine the same number of people who showed up to protest the RNC organizing as a mass, settling in and doing nothing. This way, when or if the waves of violence come rippling through the crowd from the overzealous police force present, the camera tells a different story than does this video essay from the Associated Press. What I see in this video essay is foolish individuals rushing into harm's way to be inevitably brutalized by the police state. Imagine these images with same people, but with them nonviolently resisting, laying on their stomachs, covering their heads - now we have film roll ready to go alongside images of blacks being viciously attacked by police dogs and battered with fire hoses.
This early September, all I saw was a bunch of individuals rush into the teeth of a vicious machine eager to work its jaws at the first scent of blood. The protesters at the RNC gave the police the catalyst they wanted to justify their generalized and brutal attacks and they gave the papers easy headlines. In turn, the protesters get their "I was there" Purple Hearts and public protest becomes a little less legitimate.