Protest Politics

I've never been a big fan of protesting, although I've done my share. I've not entirely sure what it accomplishes. Recent articles in the Washington Monthly and the American Prospect say very much the same thing. Christina Larson at the Monthly and Kevin Mattson at the Prospect suggest that while they make the participants feel good, marching usually has either a minor or even a negative impact on the polity at large. The Civil Rights analogy is, ultimately, an inappropriate one, because that was an exceptional case. The majority of Americans already agreed with the principle of equal rights for blacks. King was just preventing them from ignoring the issue. The modern protest movements are ones where there is widespread ambivalence or positive disagreement. I really doubt whether the Vietnam protests saved a single life. Sorry, but there it is.

Now I don't think protesting is always a waste of time. I thought the protests against the Iraq war were pointless until I went overseas and realized that the demonstrations had gotten substantial international coverage. People overseas understood that support for the war was not monolithic, and so didn't hate all Americans. In that instance, the protesters did an invaluable service.

I also believe that the attempts to marginalize protesting by the media and police forces is a major violation of people's rights. Marching in support of your favorite cause is a fundamental right of political expression, and smothering that right is disturbingly undemocratic. Thuggish tactics to humiliate or imprison protesters is a rape of liberty.

Having said that, I still find protesting (and protesters) very frustrating. The problem is that they see the march as an end rather than a means. If the demonstration were the first step in a broader effort, I would be all for them. If it was a consciousness-raising effort that was the beginning of a broader campaign, if they were signing up the participants and using the march as a mobilizing tool, then protesting would be of some real value. Instead, all I hear about is the next protest. Marches rarely change any minds or votes. I'm much rather all those people were spending their time knocking on doors that holding signs. Activism is great, but it needs to be sustained activism, not spasmodic episodes of popular angst.

So keep marching. Just be sure that's not all that you do.