You wake up to start your usual morning commute downtown,
but you notice there is an absurd amount of traffic trying to enter the city,
yet even more trying to leave. The
closer you get to the town, the louder the sirens get. “Hundreds of people protesting the election”
soon flood the area around your car and smash your windshield in the name of
free speech (Sottile et al). You now
find yourself at the mercy of the protest epidemic.
History
As with all
epidemics there has to be a ground zero.
However, the origin of protesting does not come from a spot on the
globe, but from human nature itself.
Ever since man first took power in the world and started creating its
own form of social standing, there have been “protest[s] raised by popular
masses against an entrenched ‘establishment’” (Robbins et al). To protest is defined as, “[giving] manifest
expression to objection or disapproval” (Protest). Therefore, war itself is considered to be a
form of protest, whether it be over who should have land or whose religion
should be considered as truth. This
means that humanity has been protesting, for certain, since the Neolithic era,
circa 8000 BC, when our ancestors began painting their battles with other clans
on the interiors of caves. As time
progressed, so did man’s ability to communicate and therefore protest. According to a dialogue between scholars,
within the Humanities and Social Sciences Online Forum, “some sort of rising
against the aristocracy/priesthood has been proposed to explain the fall of
both Teotihuacan and the Maya” (2). By
2600 BC, man was now developed enough to object against its own form of
government, and therefore evolved the way we protest and communicate in general
from deadly warring to slightly more thought-involved uprisings. Progressing from barbaric remonstration to
peaceful discussions took time but in the 5th century BC the Athenians invented
democracy. Democracy allowed people to
vote for or against certain policies, which allowed them to protest peacefully
through the use of words rather than action.
Although not everyone was allowed to participate, the Athenians did
allow “Any male citizen 18 years or over [to] speak (at least in theory) and
vote in the assembly” which was at least one step in the right direction
(Cartwright). Which brings us to the
past 2000 years in which we have learned to solve most of our issues through
the use of words albeit the occasional war that proved to be unavoidable. In recent years protests have involved large
groups of citizens taking to the streets to “march, speak and make [their]
voices heard” (10 Actions/ Women’s Day).
However, some have taken to the streets in the same manner, but with
malicious intent causing a once peaceful form of protest to turn sour and
create what are known as riots. Over the
course of human history we find that protesting has played a part in every
single community all the way from small nomadic clans to world renowned
empires. Protesting has and always will
be a part of human nature because it allows us to communicate our
disagreements, but there are many different ways to demonstrate such protests.
Examples
Protesting
certainly has done much for the history books, but in recent years, thanks to
the improvement of various forms of communication, it has become much easier
for people to organize mass protests.
One of the most well-known protests in American history led to the
unification of every man in the nation.
The Civil Rights movement is a prime example of how to use “nonviolent
protest and civil disobedience to bring about change” (Civil Rights Movement). The protest epidemic played a huge role in
convincing millions of people that segregation is an abhorrent disregard to the
rights of a human being. This movement
was quick to spread throughout the country through the words and actions of people
like Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Malcolm X. Those influenced by King and Parks were quick
to pick up on their ideas of peaceful protest, like the calm yet effective
Montgomery bus boycott. Martin Luther
King Jr accredits his nonviolent beliefs to “Indian nationalist Mahatma Gandhi,”
thus exemplifying how infectious the idea of protesting really is (6). Although peaceful protests are statistically
more effective solutions to a disagreement, it is more common for people to
lean towards violent rioting since it does not require any critical thinking
nor conviction. Due to the unsavory
actions of those like Malcolm X, “A series of major ‘riots’ (as the authorities
called them), or ‘rebellions’ (the sympathizers’ term), erupted during the last
half of the 1960s” (6). As the epidemic
spread across the nation, it spread to other races, genders and ages as time
went on.
Even more current than the protest
movement almost 60 years ago is the riots and picket marches over the 2016
election of President Donald Trump. In
cities all around the nation “People carried signs declaring everything from
‘hate won’t make us great’ to ‘not my president’” (Frej & Murdock). From
the perspective of the United States’ population, President Donald Trump does
not seem like an accepting person from his choice words throughout the
presidential campaign. Now that he has
become president, many that believe president Trump’s agenda is against women’s
rights and non-white people in general. This belief has led to the “Women’s
March on Washington [which] is poised to be the biggest anti-Trump
demonstration” to date (Stein & Somashekhar). Even though the people in this march may not
even follow politics, like “Teresa Shook [who] never considered herself much of
an activist,” there are many who have only involved themselves because it is in
their blood to voice their displeasure however they can (9). Although these protests can be helpful in
voicing the opinion of the masses it can sometimes cause major issues like
injuring others. Some protesters have
even been arrested for disturbing the peace, like in Washington D.C. when “Six
police officers were injured and 217 protesters arrested Friday after a morning
of peaceful protests … gave way to ugly street clashes” (Krieg). Marches have proven to aid a cause like the
march on Washington during the Civil Rights movement; however, marching through
the streets of places like downtown Houston do not help anyone, in fact, it
only serves to create traffic jams and incite agitated tempers. Just like any other protest or movement,
there are peaceful and violent sides to these anti-Trump rallies. On March 4, 2017 “Supporters of the president
and anti-Trump protesters clashed violently Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.,”
leading to the injury and arrest of many citizens (Wang). As the day went on many social media websites
shared the events of the “March 4 Trump” protest and caused many people all
over the nation to join in on the rallies which only served to worsen the
problem for both the authorities and the citizens involved (11). Some citizens didn’t even care what the
reasons were for the clashes at the time, “‘[They] just want to fight,’ Nancy
Chase, a Trump supporter, told the Chronicle” (11). The protests that have occurred within the
last century are some of the best examples of the epidemic known as
protesting. The people that contribute
to the marches and rallies have proven that protests can be peaceful or
violent, big or small, purposeful or meaningless. Whether or not a person actively participates
in these protests, there is no doubt that they have spread across the country
to every possible social group. Protests
are an epidemic. The origins of protests
lie within mankind itself and can be traced back to the moment our ancestors
first recorded history. Protests came
first as war but became more and more thought involved as time progressed to
the point where only words were necessary.
Although protests can be peaceful, there is always the possibility of
violence. The Civil Rights movement and
the Pro-/Anti-Trump rallies have exemplified the speed at which the epidemic
can now spread and how diverse each protest can be. Man cannot escape its need to protest, but
it can affect how it will change the world.
Solutions
Throughout the timeline of human
history, man has yet to escape the epidemic of protesting. Laws, regulations, violations, war; while we
do not know how to permanently eradicate the social plague of protesting, we do
know how to postpone its effects. The
most effective way to quell the ferocity of a violent protest is through the
use of force; to bring an end to peaceful protests people must be open to
discussions and compromise.
As with any
epidemic there are right and wrong ways to go about solving its problems. However, since protesting is divided into two
different strains, violent and peaceful, it is safe to assume some solutions
may not work against peaceful protests but provide great success against
violent ones. In ancient times, protests
mainly consisted of violent revolutions, which in turn were met by the royal
guard or an entire military force.
Although the most used solution was to leave the rebels “tortured and
crucified,” it usually only added to the public strife and eventually led to a
more ferocious uprising in the not so distant future (Slave Rebellions in
Ancient Rome and in the Americas: The Role of the Supernatural).
A democratic society such as America
is generally held to a higher expectation when it comes to free expression,
especially since the nation claims to be “The Land of the Free.” Both forms of protests in twentieth century
America have been met not only with “police abuse” similar to the ancient Roman
rebellions, but also “mass arrests, illegal use of force, criminalization of
protest, and other means used to thwart free public expression” (Know Your
Rights: What To Do If Your Rights Are Violated At A Demonstration Or
Protest). When the African Americans of
the 1960s showed us that protesting can be used for tremendous change, all of
the nation's people piggybacked on that idea.
Wave after wave of protests started popping up around America as “A
‘black power’ movement emerged” alongside “Anti-war protests” and the “Black
Panther Party” (Social Protests). Each
protest met with timidness in the form of inaction as the government was too
preoccupied to face any of these problems with full force. As stated before, there are wrong ways to
solve this protest epidemic, and showing an inability to deal with issues is
one of the worst ways a government can try to fix it as it only provides the
people with an overly confident attitude that leads to more and more
protesting.
In South Africa “[2016] had - up to
April 30 - seen 70 protests compared to a total of 164 for 2015, and 191 for
2014” (Jordaan). The most effective way
to end social unrest for an extended timeframe is to compromise. As World War 1 came to a close, many
countries wanted Germany and Austria-Hungary to pay for their crimes against
the world. However, President Woodrow
Wilson drafted what is known as the Fourteen Points in his overall plan “for
achieving a lasting peace in Europe” and “called for unselfish peace terms from
the victorious Allies” (Wilson announces his 14 Points). Though his goals were noble, he was met with
disapproval as many considered it far too gentle on the countries that almost
devastated the whole planet. Instead
both countries were forced to give up vast portions of land and pay heavily for
the damages done throughout the war torn Europe. As seen throughout Ancient Rome, punishing
the defeated too harshly only breeds more animosity and vengeance. Almost 30 years later the worldwide protest
was born anew in the ashes of the financially crippled Germany. Had a peaceful compromise been made there
would be no need for the Second World War and thusly the protest epidemic would
have been calmed for an extended period of time. Violent protests cannot be effectively put to
rest by anything less than force. Throughout
history “It seems to be the case that once protesters pick up guns, it
legitimizes the state’s use of overwhelming violence in response,” but, if the
state goes overboard it will only serve to undo their previous efforts
(Fisher). Peaceful protest, however,
should never be met with violence and should instead be met with peace. Albert Einstein summarizes the solution for
peaceful protest in this one phrase; “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can
only be achieved by understanding” (Peace & Inspirational Quotes).
The beliefs
of Albert Camus are one in the same with many citizens affected by this social
epidemic. The protest epidemic is a
prime example of Camus’ views on absurdity and relates to his famous work The Plague. Within The
Plague Camus points out man’s inability to solve such a tremendous problem
while the people focus solely on themselves and their interests. The protest epidemic can never be solved for
the same reason; every time one man’s problem is solved, another person will
have an issue with it as the cycle repeats the end of time. While Camus believes in the people’s freedom
to do what they want with life, he was never a very violent person, nor did he
wish anyone else to commit selfish, violent acts on one another. Because of this, Camus would prefer the
epidemic of protesting to be solved through nonviolent ways and would disagree
with the solution provided earlier for violent protests. However, Camus was an anarchist so it is
difficult to tell what his beliefs on peaceful protest would be and how, if at
all, he would want it to be solved.
The social
epidemic known as protesting has been around since the dawn of time and has
been divided into two different strains, peaceful and nonviolent. The root of this protesting epidemic lies
within the beginning of human existence and our need to make our disapproval
heard. While most protests have been met
with violent force throughout history, humanity has made great strides in
developing peaceful compromise. In the
end protesting is a worldwide epidemic that cannot be cured but can instead be
slowed and postponed through many different solutions when needed.
Works Cited
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Wang, Amy B. "Pro-Trump Rally in Berkeley Turns
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