I am a staunch liberal. And as a liberal, I have seen a lot of political protests from the left in the past year that do not have legislative goals. They are mostly from communities and organizations that I support: Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ+ community, the feminist community, and now the post-election protests from those in alignment with the Democratic Party. And while I support all forms of non-violent protest, whether the cause is one I agree with or not, I think we have some work to do.
Let me be perfectly clear. It is completely valid to protest with or without a legislative goal. However, I think we’re doing a pretty bad job of explaining the purpose of our non-legislatively oriented protests to those who may not agree with us. If we really want to make a difference, we have to be prepared to respond to questions regarding our purpose with a legitimate explanation. When people ask us, as protestors, “why?” and we in turn label them as racists, misogynists, homophobes, or xenophobes, we have no hope for ever bridging the gap between parties.
If a person is not a racist, calling them one will drive them away from your cause. If a person is a racist, calling them one will have no impact. Either way, on a person to person basis, name calling is not conducive to promoting equality. I don’t mean to put the truth of the label “racist,” under fire; I mean to challenge its effectiveness.
What I’m hearing from the right in response to the post-election protests at the moment is this: What is the point? What are you trying to achieve? If you’re just saying you’re mad you didn’t win, isn’t that a bit petulant?
Similarly, my conservative friends and family question the purpose of Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+, and feminist protests and rallies. After all, if we legally have equal rights, then what exactly are we protesting?
My answer is the same answer that most leaders of the aforementioned groups would have: Visibility. But I definitely think that answer requires some explanation that we, as a liberal community, may not be giving to our conservative friends and family.
As far as the election-related protests go, know that we are not protesting because we lost the election. We don’t seek to change the results, and those that do are not doing what we should be doing.
We are protesting in order to show solidarity with those across the nation who feel afraid. We are protesting to show the international community that America does not stand for the ideals espoused by Trump during his campaign. We are protesting to call attention to the injustice of the electoral college that selected Trump despite the popular vote in favor of Clinton. It would be petty and childish to protest the vote itself. Know that this isn’t the point of the protests.
That might seem painfully obvious to those of us who face racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia every day. It might seem obvious to those of us who voted in favor of Clinton. Despite being obvious to us, it might not be to someone with a different worldview or in a different environment. Even if we think our purpose is obvious or the question “What’s the point?” is patronizing, we have to answer civilly with a legitimate answer when we’re given that option.
If we don’t respond respectfully, we alienate conservatives, which is the exact opposite of what we should be doing if we really want to make a change. If we want to fight for justice in instances of oppression, the end-goal should be changing people’s hearts and minds. It should be making an effort towards mutual understanding with conservatives, not making them hate us more.
I recognize completely that there have been some less than helpful protests since Trump was announced as the president-elect on behalf of the left. Sometimes that means violence. Sometimes, as in my school, it’s holding up signs that say, “F*ck Trump.” Sometimes it’s “#NotMyPresident.” To those protests, I’d like to say a few things.
If you get violent, you are undermining the anti-hatred message that we are trying to propagate.
If you hold up signs that say “F*ck Trump,” regardless of how much I may agree, you are saying that this is a protest against Trump, not for those directly affected by a Trump presidency. You are telling immigrants, racial minorities, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community that your hate is more important than supporting them.
And if you use the hashtag “#NotMyPresident,” you are acting the exact same way that we begged conservatives not to act when Obama was elected. If we really want “When they go low, we go high,” to mean anything, then we have to rise above that kind of rhetoric.
That is why, to my fellow liberals, I am begging you, do not allow yourself to retaliate in hate. You have every reason to be angry, and hatred may even be justified, but I’m begging you not to use it anyway. Act peacefully. Act in love. If we act in hate to protest hate, it means nothing. If we act in hate, our protests are counterproductive.
Fighting with love is a difficult thing to accomplish when we are so emotionally charged. Remaining peaceful and calm seems impossible when we feel deserted and betrayed and uneasy and terrified and marginalized and deeply, deeply hurt.
Let us fight peacefully despite our fear. Let us fight lovingly because of it.
