Rallies,
riots, ruckus proponents for societal
change
Katie
Plourd
We
live in a time where controversial issues
frontload our public agenda. The United
States’ seemingly endless presence
in Iraq continues, debates on civil rights
issues like gay marriage and abortion are
brought up repetitively and it seems as
though every other week some senator or
public official is calling for the impeachment
of President George W. Bush.
I can’t help but compare the issues surrounding our generation to those
of the past. Decades ago the United States was stuck in a war in Vietnam, debating
civil rights issues of minorities and women and there was this guy named Richard
Nixon who said he wasn’t a crook.
The times are a spitting image of one another. It seems those who lead us are
ignoring the issues of today and the voices that oppose them. The discrepancy
of youth activism between now and then is displeasing.
In the ’60s and ’70s, young, college students took to the streets
to protest the issues they were concerned about and helped influence societal
change. They spoke out for the ill-serviced, the unequalled, and the unaccounted
for to help move society a bit toward progress and equality.
This week I had the opportunity to witness a truly inspiring incident. More
than 40,000 Latino high school and middle school students took to the streets
of Los Angeles and Southern California to protest an immigration bill that
would criminalize their families and some of themselves, and potentially ravage
their communities. Almost 1,000 of these youth galvanized the streets here
in Long Beach.
This demonstration is an example of the immense freedom and opportunity we,
as Americans, possess. It surprised me to come back to campus and hear no word
of any opposition activities on our campus. Seeing such passion and fervor
in the youth enables me to commend students who speak out for what they believe
in.
Last week a student at Cal State Long Beach diverged from the ways of our apparently
protest-inept and lethargic student population, which enjoys sounding off about
today’s current issues on message boards, to friends and others who will
listen but isn’t often seen publicly mobilizing an effort to protest
where a voice has the potential to garner some real attention.
The student climbed the ledge of a campus building, became vocal and enlightened
onlookers on the American involvement around the world that left him uneasy.
While our student publications criticized the act, designating his demonstration
tactics inadequate or labeling him a “moron” trying to gain publicity,
a non-conformist voicing opposition to policy he sees unfit is a commodity
and should be valued rather than looked down upon.
Perhaps it is true the student’s methods would have been more effective
if he played them out in an area with more student traffic, made more legible
signs, or distributed his materials more effectively, but the point is being
misconstrued.
The ability to audibly oppose or support things we believe through an expressive
form is an opportunity not all people in this world have. It is something we
should embrace, especially at this time when, as college students, we are exposed
to a plethora of concepts, ideas and ideologies.
As a society we are accustomed to vocalizing our discrepancies toward policies
and the actions of authorities but in a discreet, non-outrageous manner. In
other words, in a manner that policy makers and authorities can easily ignore.
The ability to silence the masses enables the masses to succumb to the things
they oppose.
The voices I heard this week, the voices of 15, 16 and 17 year olds as they
bombarded the streets of the very city we go to school in, were anything but
silent. They were loud, they were passionate, they were standing up for what
they believed in and they were something I feel is lacking from a generation
of young people growing up in such dubious times.
The First Amendment has guaranteed me the freedom of speech and the press,
as it does every American. It also assures people the freedom of peaceful assembly.
The protests of the past have enabled Americans to gain rights previously not
available to sectors of society. I think in order to see change and progress
in the disparity and objectionable actions our country is involved in, vocalizing
should be embraced at every level.
Why not start with the generation that will be leading the country in the near
future?
It was the most prominent, non-violent protestor in American history, Martin
Luther King Jr., who said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much
involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without
protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
Are we willing to accept the wrongs we see in the world today, or do something
about it? Will our generation march, walk out, sit in, rally or boycott? Or
will we just blow off hot steam?
Katie Plourd is a senior journalism major and the managing editor of the
Daily Forty-Niner.
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