Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Protest Marches

I'm the first to admit I know nothing about protest marches from first hand experience, but this seems to be the season for them. Marches go on all the time in Washington. Portland, Oregon is a city that loves to protest so I could march anytime a cause strikes my fancy but so far that hasn't happened.

This week seems to be shaping up to have a lot of protest marches around the country, and in Washington. There will be a large women's protest march in Washington and in many cities around the country this week. Immigrants are marching and there are civil rights marches. During the 60s there were many Vietnam War protest marches. There's a long history of protest marches for Civil Rights.



The year was 1917 when 12 women silently sparked a protest that would later contribute to granting women the right to vote, a protest that included the first picket line to ever take place at the White House. Over 500 women were arrested between 1917 and 1919 for picketing across the nation.

On January 9, 1918 President Wilson publicly claimed support for the suffrage movement - pushing Congress to grant women the right to vote.

My question is, how do you feel about protest marches today? Do you think they're effective? Are they more likely to affect the opinion of the White House or Congress?

Has violence always been a part of protest marches? After the election the first night of the protest march in Portland was peaceful. By the second night troublemakers arrived and there was violence. Is it possible to have peaceful protests anymore?

17 comments:

  1. I don't think protest marches are useful for changing people's minds. In the olden days, most of them were peaceful, but nowadays, there tends to be violence involved and that makes me worry when I hear about my daughter going to D.C. and march in the Right to Life march every year. So far, they have had no problems.

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    1. I get mad when a protest march becomes an excuse to riot and break into stores and burn cars and that sort of thing.

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    2. I talked about peaceful protest marches but upon reflection I think there's always been violence. Probably depends on the cause and how passionate people are about it. As far as I know the protests outside the Supreme Court have not been violent. I think it's another form of the people expressing their opinions much like letters to Congress.

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  2. I disagree that protest marches in the past were peaceful. Lots of people died during the protests for better conditions in the textile mills, the coal mines, on the railroads and in factories. The companies could and did legally hire people to beat on protesters including on the early Suffragettes. Even veterans of the Civll War were fired on by our own government when they had a Washington Sit-in to get their promised pensions. It was terribly messy as some officers refused direct orders to fire upon the veterans and they were in turn fired upon. People died in protests during The Civil Rights Marches and Kent State. And lets not forget that Douglas MacArthur sent then Major Patton to clear out an encampment of Bonus Act protesters, killing over a 100.

    Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to get the attention of the power brokers is to protest, causing an outrage within the general public who demand change. I don't agree with the destruction of private property but protests in general are not a bad thing in concept.

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    1. P.S. I read about a protest overseas that freaked out the law enforcement because everyone just stood in one place, silent and staring.

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    2. I'm sure Rep. John Lewis would be the first to say protest marches are violent. I think there's a place for protest marches. It may be we're going to see people passionate and motivated to march in the coming days. Congress needs to see demonstrations of how voters feel not just in Washington but in cities and districts around the country. Apparently protest marches are effective. They've been around a long time. Some more violent than others.

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  3. Hats off to the women who sat outside the WH for six months.

    I've marched in DC before, but I don't have the fire in the belly to protest in that way anymore. I make my statement with donations these days, and in the voting booth. Like everyone, I hate the violence that often erupts at protests. I'm not sure how effective they are. They probably do raise consciousness, but I think violence harms the cause - whatever that cause may be. A call or email to your congressman is the way to go. When enough people contact them, they pay attention. One thing they care about - for sure - is getting re-elected. They are all about survival. If people only knew how much power they had... But it takes a lot to get people pissed off enough to compose a 2-minute email and hit send. Complacency is the enemy.

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    1. I certainly hear what you're saying. We know that phone calls and letters to the offices of elected officials are very effective. The thing is, it's very hard to motivate people to do that because it's something done individually. Passion is contagious in a crowd. I'm encouraged by all the protests and gatherings across the country this week-end sending a message to Congress not to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I hope the Women's March on Washington is very successful this week. My fear is the new administration will want to meet those marches with force to shut them down. We must not let that happen. There must be a place in our society for people to express their opinions. I would certainly call my elected officials or write letters but I live in a blue state and my representatives and senators already vote the way I want them to. Whatever the method it's important in the coming days that we express our opinions.

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  4. I'm glad you raised this topic. It has been on my mind. I checked into the logistics of attending the women's March in Seattle on Jan 21, but the starting point is not accessible to the light rail, and I will not drive into the city and struggle to find parking. The route is about 3.5 miles, which I could do, and it is a silent march. There is a rally at the beginning and probably at the end, at Seattle Center. I could take the Link and the monorail to the center and join in at the end.
    Then I thought about all of the reactions I have read in the comments on Facebook. That's how I get my perspective of the "other side". Wow. Mean stuff.
    I wore a safety pin as an anti-trump symbol, a message that "you are safe with me". Then I saw that I was being called a cry baby wearing a diaper pin, a snowflake, needing a "safe place", a whiner, a sore loser, and why don't I just get over it. You lost!. Those were the nice terms.
    Yesterday I read the reactions to the on line article about the march posted by the Seattle times. Again, the comments dissolved into name calling and insults, and blamed marchers for destroying property.
    I decided not to march. I am old. I am mad, and I will fight another way.

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    1. You, like me, live in a state where we are in agreement with the votes of our Representatives and Senators. If I still lived in Texas you can bet I would be calling and writing letters. I doubt Texas officials would pay much attention to a phone call or letter from an Oregonian. Perhaps we should be contacting our elected officials to say we appreciate the way they vote and voice our appreciation. I don't know of another way for us to express ourselves short of protest marches but like you, at my age I'm concerned about my own safety. I want to add my voice. I just don't know how to do that.

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  5. I think marches and demonstrations are necessary. We have to participate in protest. The trouble makers bother me.

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    1. I think this post and the comments have helped me reach your opinion about marches and demonstrations. I too believe they are necessary and we may find that out in the coming months. Troublemakers bother me too but that seems to be part of the story of protest marches.

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  6. I support protests but am not able to participate now. Unfortunately, there are many with their own agendas that have nothing to do with the protest issue who infiltrate these groups for the sole purpose of inciting violence. An administration unable to tolerate criticism or views different from their own, desiring to exercise authoritarian control, would likely welcome any violence as an excuse to exercise law and order intervention.

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    1. Absolutely, I agree with everything you've said. I fear we are in for turbulent times as a country. It worries me.

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  7. Sad to admit I wasn't aware of the 12 women protesters. God bless them. I do believe in protest and just wish the looters and violent sorts stayed home. The protests bring the cause to the public eye. Other wise, we would still be sitting at home on election day.

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    1. Absolutely! It saddens me that we continue, after all this time, to need protest marches to keep these causes in the public eye.

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  8. I have participated in many protests and rallies -- Equal Rights Amendment, Pro-Choice, anti-war, Money is Not Speech. I would have loved to go to Washington this coming weekend, but I will be marching with women in Sarasota for sure. I don't think in and of themselves protests change anyone's thinking, but I do think it can be part of a productive process. And for a thoughtful look at the process, I have just finished reading The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement by William J Barber II.

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