NEW YORK (AP) — They’re hallmarks of American history: protests, rallies, sit-ins, marches, disruptions. They date from the early days…
NEW YORK (AP) — They’re hallmarks of American history: protests, rallies, sit-ins, marches, disruptions. They date from the early days of what would become the United States to the sights and sounds echoing across the landscapes of the nation’s colleges and universities during this activist spring.
And just as much a part of that American history? Those same events being met with irritation, condemnation, anger, calls to desist, and at times the use of law enforcement and aggressive tactics to make that happen.
“Dissent is essential for democracy. But dissent must never lead to disorder,” President Joe Biden said Thursday, summing up the enduring national paradox.
Americans cherish the right to assemble, to speak out, to petition for the redress of grievances. It’s enshrined in the first of the constitutional amendments. They laud social actions of the past and recognize the advances toward equality that previous generations made, often at risk of life and limb. But those same activities can produce anger and outright opposition when life’s routines are interrupted, and wariness that those speaking out are outsiders looking to sow chaos and influence impressionable minds.
“The public at large disliked the Civil Rights protesters. The public at large disliked the Vietnam War protesters. And the public at large disliked the women’s movement protesters … and all of the protests that have that basically have occurred going forward,” says Robert Shapiro, professor of political science in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and an expert on public opinion in American politics.
But that doesn’t mean protests haven’t had an impact, he says, even if it’s not immediate. “Public opinion changes on the issues as a result of the effectiveness of the protests doing one very important thing, raising the visibility and salience of the issues.”
Consider, for example, the Occupy Wall Street protest of 2011. “It drew attention to economic inequality in the United States,” he says. “People were paying more attention to the conversation thereafter. The issue of economic inequality in the United States has become, and remains, more visible.”
PROTESTS SWELL, AND OPPOSITION TO THEM DOES TOO
Over the last few weeks, protest camps have sprung up and been forced down over the Israel-Hamas war, which has been going on since early October.
The Israeli government launched military action in the Gaza Strip after militants from Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 more as hostages in an attack on Oct. 7 in southern Israel. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, as well as caused widespread damage to infrastructure.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at U.S. schools have been calling on their administrations to cut economic and other ties with Israel or companies they say support the war. The protest encampments started April 17 at Columbia University and have rippled out nationally.
What has also rippled is opposition to the demonstrations. Administrators, under pressure to restore order and normal functioning close to college commencements, have said they support the right to speak but not to disrupt life for other students or violate conduct rules. Police have been called to clear campus encampments all over the country, with more than 2,300 people arrested.
When it comes to protest activity, though, disruption is the point, says Celeste Faison, co-national Director of the Movement for Black Lives network, a coalition of organizations that came together following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2014 that were…
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