The message of American protests

Published 3:06 pm Friday, June 5, 2020

Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or the rights of the people to peaceably assemble or “to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” These crucial 1st Amendment protections also limit state government action, thanks to the 14th Amendment, and embody essential values that created and have sustained this nation: People can, should and will protest against perceived injustice.

Liberty only really works when everyone has a voice.The right to protest is the most basic and fundamental of American rights.

People only protest the things they disagree with, so defending the First Amendment is really just about defending the rights of people with whom you disagree.

When government, or society, silences dissenters democracy is threatened.

Protests have gripped the nation over the past week. In city after city across the country, marchers have come out to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

Protests have also been seen in Johnson City, and last Saturday night a group peacefully walked down Elk Avenue during the car show.

However, protests must be peaceful.

The looting and violence that has taken place in some cities is inexcusable. Those businesses had nothing to do with Floyd’s death. Looters see it just as an opportunity to get “free” stuff by stealing it from others.The peaceful protesters need to continue to keep violence out of their demonstrations. If they do, their message of justice for all and that black lives matter will come across loud and clear. Violence will only cloud their message.

So long as a protest is peaceful, non-violent, the protestors should not be silenced by government. Attempting to do so is a slippery slope and a real threat to democracy. Silencing dissenters generally only helps their cause, fans a fire and backfires on those who want to control a narrative or pretend as if there is no opposition to a cause or point of view.

There is no excuse for racism, and no circumstance under which it is acceptable. And police brutality should never be the means of putting down dissent.

No matter the side one is on, violence – the kind that destroys human lives or property – is wrong, and we should not hesitate to decry it. But in doing so, we must seek to understand why violence occurred, and what we can do in the future to mitigate it. That does not include military action. When it comes to civil unrest, even a hint of setting soldiers against their fellow Americans to force compliance is an insult to the U.S. Constitution and an abomination to humanity.

Meeting violence with more violence solves nothing. We need to ask what we, as a country, can do to make sure violence is not just wrong, but unnecessary.

All law enforcement officers cannot be judged by a few bad ones. Most  policemen take their jobs “to protect and serve” seriously, so they should no more be subjected to blanket condemnation than protesters should be, since the looters and protesters are not one and the same.

Not everything is as it seems. Americans must put the situation into context, and listen to their hearts as well as their brains before they render judgments.

The fundamental right to protest benefits everyone in an open and free society, regardless of ideology.