This is about the protests last night at Westlake Center in Seattle. It takes a while to make my point, but I had a lot of thoughts. First, I want to tell you a couple of things about my eldest daughter, Jasmine.
Jas has always been special in that she’s know exactly what she’s interested in and wants to do. Jas is interested in three things: drawing, performing, and helping homeless people. She has been – all three – since she was five, and she works intently on all of them. She refused gifts for her 10th birthday and instead got all of her friends to donate clothes to a local shelter for homeless families. She puts together care packages of socks, hand warmers, first-aid kits and water bottles that she carries with her to give out. She paints faces at our local farmer’s markets and donates the proceeds to a center for homeless children.
She works just as hard at performing, and she’s been talented and lucky enough to become part of several productions at theaters around Seattle. Most recently, Jasmine has been lucky enough to be part of the ensemble of “A Christmas Story”, at 5th Avenue Theater, the pre-eminent musical theater in Seattle.
That describes Jasmine’s interests and some of her accomplishments, but not the nature of her character, which is dominated by an extreme dedication to justice and doing the right thing. She will not lie. She will not litter. She will not jaywalk. She’s unable to refuse someone in need. She won’t even play tricks. It sometimes sets her outside social circles of her peers, but it is who she is.
“A Christmas Story” is the third show she’s been in at the 5th, but this one is something special. I’ve been amazed by how hard the kids in that show have worked. Jasmine was in rehearsals from 10 am – 6 pm 6 days a week for a month, and noon – 11:30 pm nine of the past ten days. She’s been exhausted at times, but has kept a positive attitude. She realizes how lucky she is for the opportunity. I know many adults who couldn’t pull that off or don’t have that level of dedication to their craft. Jasmine’s focus and dedication are remarkable for any age. I think the same can be said for the rest of the kids in the show.
And like the other kids in the show, Jasmine was enormously excited about the opportunity to sing numbers from the show at the tree-lighting ceremony in Westlake Center. They worked extra hours on top of their already extensive rehearsal schedule to prepare. They were thrilled at the opportunity to be able to do what they love and know they do well for people who might never get to see their show.
So when a shouting crowd of protesters seized the stage of the event and the performance had to be cancelled because it appeared it might not be safe for the children, I was as upset as most folks, and dismayed that I couldn’t be with my child during what clearly was a frightening and confusing episode. But as I heard my child describe what happened from her perspective, I grew truly angry.
She saw a crowd of adults shouting obscenities, gesturing wildly, and pushing over one another to try to push toward her. The kids quickly grew terrified and most began to cry, but the angry mob didn’t notice, only growing louder and more threatening. One man provoked one of the girls to cry more.
As a family, we’ve worked hard to surround ourselves and our children with people who themselves work hard to be, while devoted to truth and ethics, at the same time kind. This is the first time Jasmine has come into contact with adults who truly betrayed her understanding of how human beings should treat one another in daily life and I am saddened by the way it has shaken her faith in people.
I should note that the frightening and disheartening behavior the kids experienced was balanced by some equally kind and uplifting acts by others.
I’m extremely grateful to the adult members of the cast and crew who happened to be with them and worked to guard them from the threatening crowd. One of their caretakers was in the emergency room last night because he was beaten while trying to shelter them.
As we stopped by a local restaurant to pick up dinner, a random couple walked up to us, apologized for the behavior of the crowd, and insisted on buying dessert for the kids who were there.
Mayor Murray and Police Chief O’Toole both stopped by the theater before the show to apologize to the kids for the cancellation and ask them if they were okay. They were able to perform their number for the Mayor and Chief, and it did make them feel as if the city appreciated what they had wanted to do.
And they did go on to perform an exciting, joy-filled show for a couple thousand people. Just before her call, I asked Jas whether what happened was going to cause problems for her during the performance. She looked right at me and said, “We’re actors. If it does cause problems you won’t know.”
I understand that in the grand scheme of things, this upset is no great thing and will pass. We are extremely fortunate, and with the aid of God, fortune, and our on not inconsiderable efforts, we hope to remain happy and fulfilled. I know there are those who daily suffer injustices and frustrations far in excess of any we face, and which in great part feed the kind of protest we saw last night.
I understand what drives the protesters. I do. We’ve discussed the killing of Michael Brown in our house. I have my own opinions about the case, based on a reading of the copious documents reviewed by the grand jury and released in unprecedented fashion to the public, but I’m not going into those here.
I understand that regardless of the reality of the case against Darren Wilson, the Michael Brown killing has raised real issues of racism and inequality that exist in our society. Issues that deserve discussion and are worthy of protest. But that is also not at issue here.
For none of that dismisses the complete inappropriateness of the behavior of those trying to make their point, and the need for all of us, including them, to understand that.
Everything about Jasmine’s character, work ethic and the choices she makes about how she directs her considerable energies make me so keenly aware of how inappropriate a target the protesters chose against which to level their anger and how little they understood that. I believe the same is true of all of the people she was with. These are children who at the very least have no connection to the issues that purportedly drove the protesters, at most actively work to alleviate those issue, and…were just there to sing.
I saw a comment from one of the protesters that they, “didn’t know there would be children at the event.”
All this tells me is that by their own admission the goal of the protesters was to “shut down” something when they didn’t even know what it was.
Moreover, it was true of the very event itself. This was a public event where everyone – rich, poor, young, old, and of any race – was welcome to come and be happy together. For goodness sake, what else do those protesters desire but the very type of activity they were attempting to disrupt?
Everyone in this country is free to hold whatever opinion they choose and even to express it. We will do our best to remember that and not let this incident harden us.
But the instigators of this action need to understand that whatever their intent or purpose may have been, their execution of such in the target they chose and the way they treated the people around them was so poor as to show the very disregard for those they chose to “educate” of which they accuse the police, and ultimately greatly damage their cause among some of those who may otherwise have been most sympathetic to it.
Further, the moment they left the public square and hurled their anger at that group of children, they crossed the line from civil disobedience to terrorism. They need to understand that and live with it, if they can.
When you choose to wield action, intent is not sufficient. If you drive someone to the hospital while drunk, the intentions behind your act don’t excuse the damage you may do with your vehicle. Anger as a blunt instrument inspires neither change, nor sympathy, but only more of itself.
Happy Harricks 
Well said, Tod. Which makes me more intent upon supporting the Southern Poverty Law Center as much as I possibly can.
Mom
Thanks for posting such a long and well thought out overview of what happened Tod. For those of us that couldn’t be there with you, it really helped put it into perspective.
I have an ongoing convo with a fb friend who participated in the protest. I agree with what you wrote, Tod, and that is much of what I had said to her. Her reply, .” I would suggest if people felt bullied (or intimidated), it was because they didn’t want to have to face the uncomfortable reality to which we were chanting (“What is Christmas for Michael Brown’s family?” and “There is no peace and justice”), rather than because we (the protestors) were in any way violent while we were at Westlake or that the situation was unsafe (despite what the media implied). Our protest at Westlake was peaceful. I would suggest that anger is an appropriate response to the our chant of “What is Christmas for Michael Brown’s family?”, but the anger should not be directed toward the protestors as much as toward the reality behind our message: that there injust system that keeps black men and their families living in fear that they could be the next casualty of police violence simply for walking alone outside. (Which is something that I, as a white woman, will never experience.) If there was outcry (anger and fear) in response to the disruption of “business as normal”, it serves to show that Money and “Christmas tradition” really is held higher regard than the lives of these black men.” I am left… SMH.
Thank you. Part of the point of my essay is that the kids singing weren’t scared because they were avoiding any uncomfortable realities. That is an illusion that your friend is maintaining. In fact, my children and I have addressed what we consider ongoing issues of societal injustice by words and actions ourselves. The kids were scared because there were full-size adult that were coming into a space that was supposed to be safe for them, and who WERE threatening towards them. I FULLY support the rights of the protesters in the public street and square. The moment they entered the building and then got on that balcony, they crossed the line from “peaceful protest” to terrorizing. Their goals may have been justified, but their execution of those goals was criminally misdirected.
The other point I try to make is that their actions appear diametrically opposed to their stated goals. The question should not be, “What is Christmas for Michael Brown’s family,” but rather, “What should Christmas be for Michael Brown’s family.” The question I’d put to your friend is, “so when this issue is solved, what does life look like?” I contend that what Michael Brown and all people daily suffering prejudice would want to be doing is exactly what was going on that night and what the protesters were shutting down, a free public celebration open to all races, creeds, ages, genders. I’m sorry that your friend’s desire to proclaim a problem has blinded her to the pursuit of a solution.
Tod:
I say this as a friend who truly loves you: This response displays a stunning level of cluelessness The protests aren’t about “What Things SHOULD Be Like.” It’s about “What Things ARE Like!” Jasmine was “scared because there were full-size adult that were coming into a space that was supposed to be safe for them, and who WERE threatening towards them?” That’s what they were SUPPOSED to feel!
The protests aren’t supposed to be a “cum-bye-ya” event. They’re not about trying to create some impossible utopian vision of “peace, love and freedom for all mankind.” It’s about “I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!”
It’s not Mis’s friend who’s “blind”, Tod. Once more: It’s astoundingly patronizing to assume ” what Michael Brown and all people daily suffering prejudice would want to be doing” especially when you can’t even comprehend what the protests are about.
Spot on. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Beautifully said Tod.
I am all for peaceful protests, but spewing filth and injuring a bystander who was trying to get the children out of harmm’s way and had to be transported to the hospital is not my idea of a peaceful protest. I suggest that anyone who wants to make a comment about a peaceful protest do so by getting his/her facts straight first. I support the Southern Poverty Law Center, and their total existence is to fight for justice. You might want to check them out and start supporting them, also. You will not be sorry for doing so. Thank you.
With all due respect, Tod, you display an ignorance all too common to White America. What Jasmine experienced for a few moments is exactly what the vast majority of Black America experience every single moment of their lives.
Jasmine got to walk perhaps an inch in the shoes of the people of Ferguson. It’s a teachable moment for her, but this diatribe, sadly, shows that you, like too much of White America, is teaching the wrong lesson. You’re telling her that she’s part of a privileged class who should never be exposed to the reality of others less privileged than herself.
I understand you are angry. Can you even begin to relate to the anger protesters are displaying throughout the country? You have such a privileged position that you can work out your anger in a blog post. Can you even begin to imagine the level of anger you’d be experiencing if Jasmine was killed by a “peacekeeper” because she happened to be holding a toy pistol in public (the Cleveland shooting is just the latest in a long history of such “justified” murders)? How would you express your anger then?
Recognize this: If Jasmine was Black and you lived in a Red state, you would fear for her life every second of every day of your life.
When White America says they’re “all for peaceful protests but…” what Black America hears is “Stay in your place, Boy.”
The time for “peaceful protest,” as White America defines it, is over. It’s long past time White America stopped patronizing Black America. Black America will define for themselves what “peaceful protest” is.
Welcome to the second Civil Rights Movement. And it’s as true today as it was during the first one: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
Chris Rock recently said: “Here’s the thing. When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it’s all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they’re not as crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say they deserve what happened to them before.”
It’s not the protesters who are crazy, Tod. Their expression of outrage at endless horrendous miscarriages of justice is completely and justifyingly appropriate (you don’t think this outpouring of outrage is over a single event, do you?).
It’s the privileged Whites who felt put out who are the crazy ones.
I couldn’t disagree with you more, Bob. Your argument is that two wrongs do make a right. No one deserves to be treated that way. I do not appreciate your hypothesizing about the death of my child, but if anyone in my family were harmed by a peacekeeper in Cleveland, the last thing I’d do would be to assault someone else’s child in Florida.
What exactly do you think the solution is?
Wow Bob. I still disagree with you and calling me names like clueless and patronizing isn’t going to go far in changing my perspective. Protesting about what things ARE like without an idea of what you think they SHOULD be like is useless dilettantism and perpetuates the exact kinds of errors the protesters made and that you are making here.
I feel comfortable asking again, what do you think the solution is. If you really don’t have an answer for that, I don’t think we have more to talk about on this.
I cannot change your perspective. I have no desire to change your perspective. The only one who can change your perspective is you.
And I’m not “calling you names”, Tod. I’m stating my perception of the reality of your statements. I’m a White Male, so are you. My societal experiences are little different from yours. We are both of a highly privileged class. I’d be patronizing if I was to tell someone of a lesser-privileged class how he or she should act or think. Actually, I’d be insulting.
Your statements remind me of those a Queen of France having something to do with bread and cake. Do you think her statements weren’t clueless and patronizing, too?
Tod, I feel very strongly about injustice. The words I use are as strong as my feelings. And I strongly believe that for evil to triumph, the good need do nothing. Therefore, I risk my friendship with you to share with you my perceptions of your statements. You don’t like them. That’s not surprising. Few people like to have their beliefs and worldviews questioned.
I believe your statements about the protests of November 28th betray a belief in your privilege and superiority. that you shouldn’t have been inconvenienced by what I believe anyone with even a token knowledge of the injustices put upon Blacks by Whites every single day in America.would recognize as justified expressions of outrage.
I believe that you SHOULD have been “inconvenienced.” That you, as a Privileged White Male, should have to confront that injustice every waking moment of your life. Until you see it. And you act to change it.
The first way to act to change it is to change your perspective: to recognize that your response to actions of the protesters are biased by your experiences as a Privileged White Male (and by your love of your daughter). I can’t do that. I have no desire to do that. All I can do is tell you what I see. Either you’ll consider my words, or dismiss them out of hand. But I can’t change your perspective.
Only you can do that.
I don’t believe you, Tod.
I’ve seen you and Jasmine. Your love for her can be felt physically by others. I simply cannot believe you’d act in ANY rational wat if Jasmine was murdered and the murderer was hailed as a hero.
And you’re wrong, Tod: I’m not saying two wrongs make a right. I’ll repeat what I said: what the protesters did was completely and justifyingly right. And it’s you who are wrong. It’s a disgustingly gross false equivalency to equate the infinitesimally small inconvenience you and your fellow White Privileged Class members felt with the horrors of being a minority in Red State America.
Todd, are you really that ignorant of the reality of being an African-American in the United States of America?
Oh, and my solution is for White Americans like you to march with the protestors, not whine about being inconvienced. Or attacked. The Freedom Riders were attacked and murdered. You just had your daughter lose out on an ego-boost. Boo-hoo, Tod, boo-hoo.
Are we still friends?
Oh, and what’s all this about anyone not knowing what “things SHOULD be like”? Makes no sense. We all know what things should be like: Justice should prevail. Nothing more, nothing less. It didn’t prevail in Ferguson (and if you don’t agree with that, we really do have nothing to discuss), it didn’t prevail in Florida. And I can virtually guarantee it won’t prevail in Cleveland (do you believe the Cleveland murderer will be tried for first-degree murder, cuz I don’t).
We protest how thing ARE until they are what the should be.
Did you get that ” useless dilettantism” quote from Fox News? 🙂
Oh, and what “errors” am I making?
Bob,
Your remarks above are making you lose your moral ground. When one’s arguments are right there is no need to debase and insult those you are debating. It makes you look weak and defensive. Use sound arguments, and do so with civility, and people will listen. Smear your opponents, and you are most likely to be tuned out.
And keep Jasmine and the other children out of this. Stop victimizing the children further. They are going to be more marked by the insults by you and others like you than by the message you are trying to convey. Make no mistake: they are the future, they are the ones who will decide how this story develops and whether or not it ends with them. Make them feel threatened by the protesters and safer when they are with the police, and that will mold their opinion on this issue in the complete opposite way you want them to. And no, it will not have been because of “media bias.” They lived this in the flesh.
Long gone are the days of true civil protests. The ones where men in suits and ties, holding hands with women in their Sunday best marched on the streets of our nation’s capital demanding the change that is still so so very sorely deserved. For these people to pretend to be carrying their legacy on is beyond absurd.
You cannot rip the fabric over on one corner to patch it up somewhere else. It will never be whole that way. Adding to the fire with rage will only create more rage, will only give the police arguments to respond in kind.
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Mahadma Ghandi. The man who liberated India from the British crown, giving us all a lesson on civil disobedience that unfortunately many of you have forgotten.
The riots have changed nothing. Remember Rodney King, and the riots in 1991 following his having been brutally beaten by the police? Yes? Ok, now tell me: what did those riots do? Have things changed? Have they changed for the better? No?
Well, then, why keep doing the same thing over and over and over? It is stupid to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome.
Shame on those who believe the end justifies the means. They never, ever do.
Nuria:
My point was, and is, to not defend anyone. My point, then and now, is to express my disgust at Tod’s blatant display of his belief in his own entitlement and privilege. I’m at a loss to know how I was to honestly express that disgust without resorting to words that will sound to the listener like debasement and insult.
My initial response was, I thought, a fairly tame expression of that disgust, with an explanation of why I felt that disgust. I tried to explain that whatever trauma Jasmine experienced in those few minutes was utterly insignificant when compared to what Tamir Rice experienced every single day of his tragically-short life. It fell not only on deaf ears, but ears hostile to any other perception other than, “How dare THOSE thugs disrupt OUR activity.” He actually had the gall to suggest that THOSE people SHOULD want what we want!
Again, I don’t have a clue to express my disgust as such arrogance and condescension without resorting to words that won’t sound to the listener like debasement and insult.
And, as for being at a loss, I’m utterly confounded by your belief that a protest where “men in suits and ties, holding hands with women in their Sunday best marched on the streets” of anywhere is more effective than violence, either by the protesters or the protectors of the status-quo (as in the Amritsar Massacre). Just as one example, are you familiar with the “troubles” in Northern Ireland? No change comes without sacrifice.
What did the Rodney King riots do? The same thing the Watts riots and the Newark riots and the Stonewall riots did: They made noise. They made enough of a noise to get White America Males, like myself, to look, to educate themselves, to make them more aware of the injustices that Non-White Americas have to live with every single day of their lives. Have things changed? Absolutely. Have they changed for the better? Absolutely. The question really is: Have they changed enough? Answer: Not nearly enough. More noise is needed. A Lot More Noise.
Politeness has never engendered change. The March on Washington wouldn’t have occurred if the Freedom Riders hadn’t been killed, if Emmet Til hadn’t been murdered. A journalism maxim: To Lead, It Has To Bleed.
And polite or violent, no amount of protest will change a closed mind.
Are you the the Nuria Coe whose website says she’s native of Mexico and was educated in Spain? Are you aware of Cesar Chavez and the Delano grape boycott? Non-violent. It got farm workers the right to unionize. Now the farmers only hire illegals too afraid to join a union for fear of deportation. That worked out, didn’t it? (You do realize the reason Republicans are upset with Obama’s immigration policy is not because people won’t be deported, but because it removes at least a small amount of fear from their workforce and fear keeps them “in their place”, right?),
I see you live in Bellevue. I think you’d have a very different perception of Tod’s diatribe if you lived in Guadalupe, Arizona. I lived in Phoenix for a while. It’s a nice place if you’re a White Male. Not so much anyone else. (I moved because I got tired of being the Token Democrat).
I’m not saying “the ends justify the means.” I’m saying that for change to occur, people have to make noise and if Tod really cared about equality, he’d understand that. It’s sad that Jasmine got caught up in it. As I wrote to Tod, it could have been a teaching moment for her: to help her understand what it’s like to be a Black American every single moment of every single day of her life. His response was to reinforce his Exalted Position as an Entitled, Privileged Member of the Elite Class (in Bellevue, maybe you’re a member of that class, too, but in backwater Texas, (assuming you are of Hispanic descent) you wouldn’t be and I’m pretty sure you’d understand and share my disgust).
Which is why, after reading Tod’s essay and replies, I’m not planning to work with ### anymore. After the events of the past few weeks, I can’t stomach the Privileged White attitude anymore.
Nuria, my apologies for a second response, but I didn’t address this: Since Tod’s diatribe was all about Jasmine and her trauma, I can’t see how I can “keep Jasmine and the other children out of this.” That was the theme of Tod’s essay: the children’s trauma. That’s what he was complaining about.
I’m no more “victimizing” them than Tod did by writing the essay to begin with.
With all due respect, I find the suggestion that I’m “victimizing” anyone in my responses intellectually dishonest. If you think the children are being “further victimized,” I believe you should point that finger at Tod before you try to brand me with it. He first mentioned the children, not me.
From the beginning:
1) “My point was, and is, to not defend anyone. My point, then and now, is to express my disgust at Tod’s blatant display of his belief in his own entitlement and privilege. I’m at a loss to know how I was to honestly express that disgust without resorting to words that will sound to the listener like debasement and insult.”
Here it is: “You just had your daughter lose out on an ego-boost. Boo-hoo, Tod, boo-hoo” – Debasing and insulting. Completely unnecessary. Some friend you must be. Assuming those of us defending the rights of our children are automatically against Tamir Rice and every other victim of racism in America is demagoguery of the lowest caliber, an attack on his reputation, and TRULY intellectually dishonest.
2) “I tried to explain that whatever trauma Jasmine experienced in those few minutes was utterly insignificant when compared to what Tamir Rice experienced every single day of his tragically-short life.”
That does not excuse it. Just last month there was a 3 year old child who died at the hands of his assassin parents in the course of a three-day torturing spree that included beatings with a metal rod and lashings with a whip. To paraphrase you, “Tamir Rice’s experience is utterly insignificant compared to this.” Sounds horrible, because it IS horrible. It’s a disgusting statement to make, and that is what your arguments reek of. One person’s suffering does not one-up another’s and for you to do that is disgusting. The kids having a group of grown men in gas masks giving them the finger, yelling obscenities and banging against the glass door that was their only way out was a traumatizing experience, and negating that IS victimizing them. Period.
You need to go back and re-read Tod’s post, because you are misrepresenting his sentiments. It is not entitlement that drives our anger. We are shaking our heads at the blindness of the protesters in deciding what and who to target. Their disruption of a happy, peaceful event that gathered people of all races, religions, and age groups to do something as a community is counter-intuitive and will not lead to what is wanted. We are no longer talking about what we can do to change the course of things, but rather, about the “Westlake incident.”
3) “And, as for being at a loss, I’m utterly confounded by your belief that a protest where “men in suits and ties, holding hands with women in their Sunday best marched on the streets” of anywhere is more effective than violence, either by the protesters or the protectors of the status-quo (as in the Amritsar Massacre). Just as one example, are you familiar with the “troubles” in Northern Ireland? No change comes without sacrifice.”
Wrong again. And sad that you are “utterly confounded” by this. I cannot believe you are actually advocating for violence as a driver of change. Seriously?
You willfully ignored my example of how India became independent from the British Empire and the images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his people marching in Washington DC. But no matter how selectively you search for “successful violent uprisings” it will not change the fact that peace gained with violence is no peace, it is the result of the end of every war, with the defeated and the victorious. That is no peace.
Here are other examples that hopefully will not “utterly confound you”:
SPAIN: the ETA terrorist group has been killing people for decades to achieve independence. Do they have it? No.
The Catalans are about to accomplish independence with peaceful means. Mark my words: the maps of Europe will be re-drawn in our lifetimes to account for the new Republic of Catalonia.
How are they doing that?
BARCELONA, September 11, 2012: 1 million people demonstrated peacefully in the streets of Barcelona to demand Independence from Spain. Not one glass was broken, nothing was set afire, there was no looting.
Images here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=barcelona+11+de+setembre+2012&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1440&bih=838&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=bhuCVLr4PMb8igKf74CAAg&ved=0CCAQsAQ#imgdii=_
BARCELONA, September 11th, 2013: 1.2 million people hold hands and create a human chain linking the northern and southern borders of Catalonia. Again, not one glass was broken, nothing was set afire, there was no looting, it was a happy, peaceful event.
Images here:
http://www.ccma.cat/tv3/alacarta/nom-programa/titol-video/video/4672753/
BARCELONA, September 11th, 2014: 1.5 million people gather together and decide this time to make a giant V for VOTE and Victory in the streets of barcelona, get this: making a mosaic of the Catalan flag. This ends up forcing the Catalan political parties to organize a consultation of the general public to see if the pro-independence sentiment is a majority, and if so, to act accordingly.
Images here: (do not miss these, they are truly spectacular):
https://www.google.com/search?q=barcelona+11+setembre+2014&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=iZCCVL_8OIi5ogSwsYGgBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=838
BARCELONA, November 9th, 2014: Against the pressure from the Spanish Government, the Catalan government organizes and carries out a non-binding consultation that manages to bring 2.3 million people to the voting booths (few of them, since it was forbidden) of which 1.8 million vote in pro independence from Spain.
This is ongoing. Stay tuned. Elections in the next couple of months will determine the Catalan fate.
They call it the “revolution of the smiles” because the people gathered at every single demonstration ranged from the elderly to the very young and has always been peaceful, festive, and civilized.
I am the Nuria Coe that lived in Mexico since I was ten. And saw what the Mexican revolution brought to its people at the end of the day: the corruption and misery they live under is but the result of change brought about through war. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and corruption is so vast it has infected everything in life. I have had friends and neighbors tell me of terrible cases of rape in the highest levels of government, of the trials of those dying while trying to cross the desert into the States because the savage life they lived in Mexico pushed them to leave the ones they loved behind.
I see you live in Seattle, alone and with a black cat. I live in Bellevue. That does not mean that because we feared for our kids’ s safety we are somehow callous about the experience of others. It is insulting that you come to such conclusions. Had the protest been a different one you and I might have found ourselves engaged in a different kind of conversation altogether, agreeing on what we can possibly do to bring about change in these horrible racially skewed times we live in.
But no, instead, because of the way they chose to protest, we are now yelling at each other over the internet.
Some change.
Thanks Nuria. I didn’t know all of that stuff about Catalonia.
Bob, there is of course much learning and discussion in our household about the events in Ferguson, Florida, Cleveland, and New York and racism in general, although there are too many problems in the world to solve them all, and — as I mentioned — we tend to focus the bulk of our efforts on assisting the homeless, stopping slave trafficking, and protecting wild spaces.
I will try to consider again the extent to which my perspective on life is a function of my own race. It’s something I’ve thought about often, especially given that my family has historically been on the receiving end of racism and that I myself grew up in the South. Several times in my life, I’ve put myself in situations where i was a visible minority and/or had to deal with impoverished living conditions for extended periods in part in an attempt to understand those kinds of assumptions, but it is always something to be on guard against.
So I appreciate your passion for your position, even though I still disagree with it. I maintain that acts of violence towards others are wrong and those of the protesters were wrong. More or less wrong than the acts they were protesting? I don’t know, but still wrong. Your assertion that violence is an acceptable means to promote change is in my mind unsupported by history, self-contradicting, and dangerous. Nuria quoted Gandhi, and I do tend to agree with him the that way of truth and love has always won. I also stand by my assertion that everyone should want the opportunity to live in peace and that protest should be directed at acts of injustice and not at acts of community.
All of that said, I wanted you to also know it’s unlikely I’ll reply to any more comments here. I’m sure there has been value in the exchange, even if it’s been difficult, but it’s absorbed more time and effort on all of our parts than it deserves relative to work we could be doing to affect positive change in our chosen areas of focus. I wish you success in that and happiness for you and those you love.
Nuria:
“Here it is: “You just had your daughter lose out on an ego-boost. Boo-hoo, Tod, boo-hoo” – Debasing and insulting. Completely unnecessary. ”
You’re absolutely correct, it was completely unnecessary. I spoke in the heat of the moment. Not an excuse, but an explanation.. I sincerely apologize to Tod and Jasmine for my thoughtlessness.
“The kids having a group of grown men in gas masks giving them the finger, yelling obscenities and banging against the glass door that was their only way out was a traumatizing experience, and negating that IS victimizing them. Period.”
Seriously? That’s the sum and substance of the “traumatizing experience?” Some dudes yelled at them and blocked their way for a few minutes? That’s the big bad? You’re telling me that expressing the utter inappropriateness of writing an indignant, entitlement-reeking 2000-word essay over such an experience, when virtually daily we’re being exposed to yet another example of the REAL horrors of life as a person of color, is somehow “victimizing” the poor sensitive darlings?
Madam, you grossly trivialize both trauma and victimization. I was raised by an abusive, alcoholic father and a truly victimized mother. I’ve seen real victimization and I can tell you about real trauma. Calling what those children went though “traumatizing” and labeling them as “victims” reeks of naiveté and insulation. Are private schools and gated communities the only way to keep the dear ones “safe?”
Look: I had, and have, no intention of trivializing Jasmine’s experience. I’m sure it was upsetting to her. But it certainly didn’t warrant the barely-concealed entitlement and elitism apparent in every sentence of Tod’s essay, much less the righteous indignation that Tod made no attempt whatsoever to conceal. My point in the analogy was (and is) to offer Tod a reality-based sense of perspective. He responded with more righteous indignation. At least he didn’t respond with insult and condescension, as he did to another person who tried to offer him a clearer perspective.
Yes, I should have let it go; should have just chalked it up to yet another example of a privileged white cocooned in his privileged fantasy world. But, given I thought Tod was better than that, I tried to make myself clearer. I failed. But I’m stubborn. I’m not perfect.
My wife just came home, and I don’t own a black cat, either; that photo’s ten years old. Evidently, you’re not real good at research, and you’re all too quick to make assumptions. I’ll make the rest of this short:
I didn’t ignore Indian Independence or the March on Washington; I purposely invoked the Amritsar Massacre and the Freedom Riders. Neither of the “peaceful” events you cite would have occurred without the acts of violence I cited. Cherry-picking history is dishonest, Nuria.
Speaking of cherry-picking, your only single example of allegedly “peaceful change,” the political discussions in Catalonia, is, again, a false equivalency (you do that a lot, and it really is intellectually dishonest): it’s a political argument between two barely-different factions: the demonstration are just window-dressing for the real struggle occurring entirely in the upper echelons of the ruling government class.
You talk about “these horrible racially skewed times we live in.” I think what bothers me the most is that people think this is something new just because it’s the first time they’ve been exposed to it.
I know all about the corruption of the Mexican government. Again, a false equivalency. Violence, in and of itself, doesn’t automatically lead to tyranny. Again, see Ireland. Also see France. What you’re seeing is the results of militarism, not violent protests by the oppressed. We’re not discussing coup d’état, we’re discussing how to get people listening.
I’m not “advocating” anything (except reason). You talk of “war” and “peace”. Yet another false equivalency. The way people relate to each other in a society isn’t a “war”, it’s an ongoing struggle, with no end. Speaking of relationships as a “war” only betrays your perception of a ‘them” that “we” need to vanquish.
It’s simply a matter of hard fact that, in all of nature, change cannot occur without violence. You may find the changing colors pretty as fall become winter, but it’s pretty damn violent for the dying leaves. For living things to grow, they need to kill and devour other living things. Change never, ever comes easily.
And, finally:
“Their disruption of a happy, peaceful event that gathered people of all races, religions, and age groups to do something as a community is counter-intuitive and will not lead to what is wanted.”
An interesting perception. What I saw was the interruption of a disgusting display of gross consumerism resulting in the shallow whining of affluenzaholics upset that they couldn’t pile more stuff into the empty hole where their conscience ought to be. As more and more examples of callousness by the shallow privileged are exposed, there’ll be a lot of people who’ll see it as I do. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it’ll happen, just as it did in the sixties. I was there, by the way. I lived though the assassinations and the riots where police attacked anyone, black or white, who opposed injustice. Change did come. We have major cities with African-American and women mayors. Gays are finally beginning to get equal status under the law. None of it would have happened if we’d just raised our hands like good n****rs and said, “please, massa, can ah has sum rights?”
If we did it the way you think it “should”, nothing would have changed. You wouldn’t be living in Bellevue, that’s a certainty.
And I’m not yelling at you, I’m having a discussion with you. If my words upset you, that’s sad-making, but I don’t believe in sugar-coating my opinions. As I said in another comment, I respond to internet postings to express myself, not to change anyone’s opinion. I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to try.
As always, your mileage may vary.
Namaste.
One last thing:
What was the one headline regarding the Fergusson protests that was seen by the most people and grabbed the most headlines? Was it the dumb wits in Seattle scaring little children?
Guess again:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crying-boys-hug-with-police-officer-becomes-one-of-the-most-shared-images-of-ferguson-protests-9894878.html
footnote: the thugs creating all the “noise” were young white males.
Bob, you might want to read Michael Moore’s facebook post on who you call “whiny affluenzaholics.” It might shed some light as to how tragically wrong your judgement is of those around you. Do not judge a book by its cover, sir, you have no idea what demons and what trials and tribulations people live with every day, black, white, or anything in between.
Did any of you venture out into Black Friday? Or did u issue your annual smug or pithy comments about the “crazy idiots” who camp out overnight and then storm through the doors of the local Best Buy or WalMart, trampling each other on their way to grab a $50 laptop?
So who do u think those people are? Rich people? Ivy Leaguers? Parents with nannies in tow? No. They’re poor people. Working people. People living from paycheck to paycheck. You think they want to spend half of Thanksgiving Day in the cold wrapped in a blanket in the parking lot of some soulless big box store? They have families. They might like to be home. But they know this is the one day of the year they get the chance to risk frostbite or a punch in the nose to get their kid a laptop that they otherwise couldn’t afford. They’re willing to get pushed and shoved and ridiculed on TV to get that one thing they hope might give their child a slightly better chance to have the life the hipsters at home laughing at them may have.
Of course by the time they stumble into the electronics aisle, the 20 piece-of-crap laptops discounted to $50 are gone and all has been for naught. They then look around and see the cacophony of signs announcing “50% OFF!” and, to cheer themselves up, they buy few things they don’t need and leave.
Tsk, tsk, the rest of us go – “consumerism out of control!” The Walton family and Wall Street sit back and watch the billions roll in. Yes, there are people shopping because they’re addicted and yes, some people are nuts about wanting to do the American version of Pamplona this weekend. I guess the one bright spot in Black Friday is that it’s the only thing that’s black and unarmed in America that doesn’t have to worry about being terminated”
I guess he is now wrong about that last bit too.