Yesterday I attended a Civil Rights Demonstration
There was a civil rights demonstration in my town yesterday. It was a short distance from where I live and was organized to be a walk and a trash pickup as part of a community service theme. I feel very strongly about the issue, I support it deeply (it's the only issue that I'll cross party voting lines for), and I knew several of the participants. I wanted to participate in at least some small way to begin to conquer my fear of the state on this issue.
Instead I felt the corrosive effect of intimidation from the state first hand. I was at the beginning with the speeches and the tv cameras, but I didn't walk with them. I was intimidated. I let the fear of "being out of line" intimidate me. I think that means the state won through intimidation. That makes me feel inferior -- and a little ashamed.
Nothing happened during the walk. It was all very pastoral. There were no confrontations with counter-protesters. There was no intimidating police presence. No firehouses, no police dogs, no riots. They didn't do anything as severe as closing the Edmund Pettus bridge to stop us like they did to the Freedom Marchers in '65 outside of Montgomery. It was just an eight or ten block walk, then everyone went for coffee. In hindsight, it was very low key.
Oh, there were parts of town that the Chief of Police told us were "off limits": schools, government offices -- and parks. I think keeping civil rights protesters out of parks under the pretense of some new-fangled "Jim Crow" law is corrosive to the exercise of the right and intimidating. It limits our freedom of movement only because of the particular civil right we supported. However, our current City Council seems to lack the courage to support this particular civil right. (Income here is 50% higher than the county average and White, Asian and Latino make up 96.5% of the population, so you can draw your own conclusions about the 'Have Gots' in the homeland.)
The fear of some yahoo attacking the marchers because he thinks "it is wrong" and that the state's position gives him moral authority -- is also corrosive and intimidating. Let me be clear -- that didn't happen. But I was afraid it would happen to me. I was afraid, because if I would have defended myself, I would have been arrested. That's how the intimidating effect of the state becomes corrosive.
This is really where the erosion of a civil right hits home. Civil rights are inherent in people. They are inherent in each of us. When you are intimidated from exercising a civil right, you are not defending yourself. When you are afraid to defend your self or your family by exercising a civil right, you have been intimidated. If you have been intimidated into not voting by some thug with a baton standing in front of the Polling Place, you haven't defended yourself.
The heroes in this civil rights movement will come from the early days. The ones who are there at the beginning when the crowds are small and the stakes are high -- those are the brave ones. No lawyers by your side. Shunned by the politicians who are actively legislating against you. No celebrities by your side. You may be outnumbered. You may be reviled. You won't know what you're getting into until it is over. You may end having coffee with friends. You may not.
This is going to be a new journey for me. I have to create a new comfort zone and learn to live in it. I don't want to be intimidated. I don't want to be ashamed, I want to walk with them. I want to be brave. I want to think of myself as a hero. I want my civil rights. Next time, I want to be one of them. To do that, I am going to have to oppose the wishes of the state and put myself at risk for something I should be able to take for granted. Instead it is the wish and intention of the state to reserve it for the agents of the state.
Join me or not. Pass this note along, if you like. I can pretty much guarantee that no matter how many protesters there are, at some point you will feel alone. I can also pretty much guarantee you that those who oppose you will not be reasonable. You won't be able to "talk them down". You won't have the luxury of letting yourself be afraid of the consequences of lawful protest.
I can also guarantee you that YOU WILL understand HOW HARD it is to defend your civil rights when the state is opposed to them.
"May God give us the courage."
Instead I felt the corrosive effect of intimidation from the state first hand. I was at the beginning with the speeches and the tv cameras, but I didn't walk with them. I was intimidated. I let the fear of "being out of line" intimidate me. I think that means the state won through intimidation. That makes me feel inferior -- and a little ashamed.
Nothing happened during the walk. It was all very pastoral. There were no confrontations with counter-protesters. There was no intimidating police presence. No firehouses, no police dogs, no riots. They didn't do anything as severe as closing the Edmund Pettus bridge to stop us like they did to the Freedom Marchers in '65 outside of Montgomery. It was just an eight or ten block walk, then everyone went for coffee. In hindsight, it was very low key.
Oh, there were parts of town that the Chief of Police told us were "off limits": schools, government offices -- and parks. I think keeping civil rights protesters out of parks under the pretense of some new-fangled "Jim Crow" law is corrosive to the exercise of the right and intimidating. It limits our freedom of movement only because of the particular civil right we supported. However, our current City Council seems to lack the courage to support this particular civil right. (Income here is 50% higher than the county average and White, Asian and Latino make up 96.5% of the population, so you can draw your own conclusions about the 'Have Gots' in the homeland.)
The fear of some yahoo attacking the marchers because he thinks "it is wrong" and that the state's position gives him moral authority -- is also corrosive and intimidating. Let me be clear -- that didn't happen. But I was afraid it would happen to me. I was afraid, because if I would have defended myself, I would have been arrested. That's how the intimidating effect of the state becomes corrosive.
This is really where the erosion of a civil right hits home. Civil rights are inherent in people. They are inherent in each of us. When you are intimidated from exercising a civil right, you are not defending yourself. When you are afraid to defend your self or your family by exercising a civil right, you have been intimidated. If you have been intimidated into not voting by some thug with a baton standing in front of the Polling Place, you haven't defended yourself.
The heroes in this civil rights movement will come from the early days. The ones who are there at the beginning when the crowds are small and the stakes are high -- those are the brave ones. No lawyers by your side. Shunned by the politicians who are actively legislating against you. No celebrities by your side. You may be outnumbered. You may be reviled. You won't know what you're getting into until it is over. You may end having coffee with friends. You may not.
This is going to be a new journey for me. I have to create a new comfort zone and learn to live in it. I don't want to be intimidated. I don't want to be ashamed, I want to walk with them. I want to be brave. I want to think of myself as a hero. I want my civil rights. Next time, I want to be one of them. To do that, I am going to have to oppose the wishes of the state and put myself at risk for something I should be able to take for granted. Instead it is the wish and intention of the state to reserve it for the agents of the state.
Join me or not. Pass this note along, if you like. I can pretty much guarantee that no matter how many protesters there are, at some point you will feel alone. I can also pretty much guarantee you that those who oppose you will not be reasonable. You won't be able to "talk them down". You won't have the luxury of letting yourself be afraid of the consequences of lawful protest.
I can also guarantee you that YOU WILL understand HOW HARD it is to defend your civil rights when the state is opposed to them.
"May God give us the courage."
posted by Dewage | 7:26 PM
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