Over the past couple of weeks I've kept tabs on some of the protests happening across the country, mostly watching New York and Boston. I think it is a great thing for people to exercise their first amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Throughout history classes students learn about groups that have exercised these rights such as the Sons of Liberty in the 1700s and the Civil Rights movements in the 1960s.
However, it is critical to note to students the different causes for these movements and the rules that the protesters followed (or broke) to achieve their goals. The Sons of Liberty were members of the colonies who were under an oppressive political system in which they were asked to give and give and got little in return from the British government in England. Their response, the Boston Tea Party was a felony, they stole goods from a private company and dumped them into the harbor (also polluting the environment, though people didn't care back then). The Civil Rights movement in the 60s tried a more lawful approach to resolving their plight. Again, this was a group of people who were subjected to terrible treatment by a government who didn't listen to the voice it supposedly gave them. They held rallies and marches, gave speeches and boycotted bus systems. Yes, some of these actions were illegal, but they didn't resist arrest, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to prison without a fight, he accepted the consequences of his actions (regardless of how we view those laws now). These were true exercises of their freedoms of assembly and speech and it helped pave the way for equality in this county.
What I've come to realize is that many of the people who are participating in present day protests don't really understand the laws. They believe that there is no penalty for breaking the laws and that the police have no right to break up their protest. They cry out that the police are being brutal and assaulting people. From the videos I've seen in Boston, the police response has been lenient and they told the protesters, not to disband, but simply to move to the other end of the park. The police have let them perform their civil disobedience and stay in the park overnight for 10 days, they just didn't want to have the newly renovated end of the park destroyed.
If you want to participate in protests, good for you, they are an integral part of maintaining the freedoms that people have fought for, but you have to be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions. If you break the law, the police have not only the right, but the duty to arrest you. Don't lose sight of what you're protesting (not that I've been able to figure it out myself...) otherwise you go from a group of people sending a positive message for change, to a band of crazed, disjointed people causing a headache for officials and wasting (yes, the police required to keep you under control have to be paid) taxpayer dollars simply because you misunderstand your rights as a U.S. citizen.
-MB
However, it is critical to note to students the different causes for these movements and the rules that the protesters followed (or broke) to achieve their goals. The Sons of Liberty were members of the colonies who were under an oppressive political system in which they were asked to give and give and got little in return from the British government in England. Their response, the Boston Tea Party was a felony, they stole goods from a private company and dumped them into the harbor (also polluting the environment, though people didn't care back then). The Civil Rights movement in the 60s tried a more lawful approach to resolving their plight. Again, this was a group of people who were subjected to terrible treatment by a government who didn't listen to the voice it supposedly gave them. They held rallies and marches, gave speeches and boycotted bus systems. Yes, some of these actions were illegal, but they didn't resist arrest, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to prison without a fight, he accepted the consequences of his actions (regardless of how we view those laws now). These were true exercises of their freedoms of assembly and speech and it helped pave the way for equality in this county.
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If you want to participate in protests, good for you, they are an integral part of maintaining the freedoms that people have fought for, but you have to be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions. If you break the law, the police have not only the right, but the duty to arrest you. Don't lose sight of what you're protesting (not that I've been able to figure it out myself...) otherwise you go from a group of people sending a positive message for change, to a band of crazed, disjointed people causing a headache for officials and wasting (yes, the police required to keep you under control have to be paid) taxpayer dollars simply because you misunderstand your rights as a U.S. citizen.
-MB
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