As the Occupy America protesters enter their second month of occupation, people around the country are settling in for a long holiday season of activism. California students in particular have a lot to rally about. In addition to the Occupy movements, the CSU just voted to raise tuition by nine percent for the fall 2012 semester and students have not taken the news lightly. We’ve seen students protest peacefully and, as seen here in Long Beach, violently with equally aggressive consequences. If students want to keep protesting the injustices they find in the world, they need to do so peacefully in order to keep themselves safe and to get their message across effectively.
When the CSU Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition last week, students reacted in some of the worst ways possible. Tensions were running high since word of the new tuition hike got out, and it culminated in what was basically an angry mob rioting in front of town hall. Students were damaging property, cussing out police officers and each other. Long Beach police showed up in riot gear to tackle and arrest students.
Student protests are often completely justified. Students absolutely have the right to speak out against anyone who takes advantage of them. Especially when it’s their own state screwing them out of an education. We all work hard to pay for our tuition, bills, books, gas, and food, but after semester after semester of tuition hikes, it isn’t enough. We have the right to protest how the state is handling education, but at what point does it cross over from being a valid form of dissension to an act of pointless violence?
Screaming and destroying property isn’t going to help anyone see our side of the story. The more we yell at each other and “the man,” the less he’s going to want to listen. We’re not doing our cause any favors by sullying it with violence. As long as our actions are pure, our message will be, too.
Of course, there’s always the possibility of danger, even when protesting nonviolently. One example is the recent protests which took place at UC Davis. Eleven students who were protesting tuition hikes were taken to the hospital after getting pepper-sprayed in the face at point-blank range by a police officer. They were completely peaceful, sitting on the sidewalk arm in arm when they were doused. Their actions were completely different from those of the Long Beach students, and the media coverage reflects it. People are in uproar over the Davis story and have called for the resignations of not only the police officers, but the UC Davis Chancellor as well. All we got in Long Beach was a sensationalized story on the evening news. All I’m saying is that it’s a lot easier to care about the peaceful Davis kids than the out of control Long Beach students.
As we head into Thanksgiving hopefully we can gather our thoughts and rethink our approach to civil disobedience. If the yearly trend of increased tuition continues, we’ll have plenty of chances to come up with a new strategy.
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