Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Stop Using Violence to Get Your Point Across

Unsurprisingly, there has been a spike in violence after the beginning of the Trumpocalypse. All jokes aside however, this post-election violence must be addressed by both big wig politicians and the public at large. The orange bag of skin who is set to be the leader of the free world even encouraged his supporters to “knock the crap” out of protestors. Nice.

Shamefully, America is no stranger to post-election violence.

The period between the 1820s and the onset of the Civil War was marked by a substantial increase in ethnic and religious diversity. This period was also notable for an increase in violent conflict surrounding politics and elections.

In a precursor of today’s politics, these clashes stemmed from heightened anxieties among native white Protestants about the consequences of Irish and German Catholic immigration for American identity and social harmony.[1]

It isn’t hard to see how contemporary events have come to mirror historical incidences of hate and ignorance-fueled violence against socially marginalized groups of people. Election Violence, however, isn’t limited to the nation’s early foundational days. Just a few decades ago, white supremacists tried to suppress the African-American and minority vote.

The threat—and repeated execution—of violence remained important features of efforts by white supremacists to suppress African American (and Latino) registration and voting all the way up until enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which strengthened federal voting rights protections and authorized federal monitoring of election rules in states with records of racial discrimination in voting.

Violence implemented by Trump supporters being encouraged by the man who has somehow become our country’s president-elect is not the only election violence the nation should be worried about. Liberals, after this election are collectively heartbroken after the results of the election and as several news outlets have covered, have taken to the streets to protest. There’s no issue with exercising your first amendment right, but the line has to be drawn when peaceful protesting turns into looting and vandalizing.

Using violence to get your point as cross is not only redundant, but simply takes away from the bigger picture a group of people may be trying to get across. If you want your cause to be taken seriously, bashing someone’s head in or looting under the pretense of a protest is definitely not the way to go. Who would be inclined to listen to you whine about something you don’t like after you behave like a Neanderthal?

These sentiments are echoed by the revered Bernie Sanders himself.

"Any person who is a Bernie Sanders supporter, please, do not in any way, shape or form engage in violence," the senator from Vermont said.[2]

The outrage from both the left and right is understandable. The extremes on both ends of the political spectrum are acting like underdeveloped children. This isn’t the way public discourse should take place among those with differing views on how the country should be run. Despite our differences, it’s imperative that we can understand one another’s views instead of quite literally trampling on other people simply for disagreeing with our own perspectives. Being displeased about election results is understandable, but please don’t hurt anyone simply because they don’t agree with you. No matter how right you may think you are.




4 comments:

  1. Violent protests has been a recurring problem in America for centuries. I agree that regardless what the protest is for, violence is counterproductive. No one is going to listen to what protestors have to say after they slug the person next to them. The best way to get a point across is to listen and accept (or at least understand) where the other side is coming from. Without a peaceful discussion, America's most pressing problems will never ever be solved.

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  2. In my opinion, the source of all this violence is how distant both sides have become. There is no "enemy" to fight against, its time to accept the fact that Trump will be the president of the United States regardless of whether you voted for him nor not, or whether you agree with him or not. A nation divided between pro-Trump and anti-Trump simply cannot have a peaceful discussion without compromising and meeting the other side halfway. I'm obviously not saying that since Trump won, his views have been justified and we shouldn't have our own opinions on the matter, but that both sides should be given just as much media attention and respect.

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  3. I totally disagree with this post.

    How could you equate leftist protesters with alt-right reactionaries? The fact that you equate the left with the right is, frankly, incredibly wrongheaded. Though I understand your concern about violent protests, I vehemently disagree with the assertion that leftists activists should stop staging "violent" protests.

    And, indeed, your conception of violence is incredibly problematic. You provide no definition of violence. You force the reader to accept the fact that leftists are engaging in violent protests without showing them any evidence of violence from the Left.

    To me, the Left needs to engage in disruptive acts if they want to stop Trump from committing terrible acts. People will not be able to stop Trump through open dialogue or a John Oliver skit. You should not rebuke the Left.

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  4. I disagree with this post as well, but it seems, Dara, that your distinction between both sides of the protesters are just that one is left and one is right. Both this comment and the post in question fail tot take into account the factor of power. Violence is, by name, a violation of the victim's civil liberties, unless they were the instigator. This is a tricky area where I would agree with Sanders that it is a road best not to travel. However, there is something to be said for protestors that block the freeways and vandalize public areas. I saw a lot of this happen during my time in South Africa, where university fees are so high that most black students, who have been historically oppressed by apartheid, can't afford them. When these peaceful protests are ignored day in day out, and they slip deeper into helplessness, there's nothing you can do except to have people pay attention. So they burned down one of the school buses, causing a discussion, circulating images, and a message from the school who finally put their grievance on paper in an official email. To white students complaining about the destruction of property, one has to wonder why it is that they care so much more about the wellbeing of a bus than they do about the well being of their peers. Why do we care more about having the freeway open and going to work on time than we do about black pain and silenced minorities (in regards to BLM)? Priorities matter here. It doesn't matter if it's left or right. What matters is which class/race/gender is trying to be heard. - Alya

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