… In the United States, street protests have rarely advanced progressive interests. In those few occasions when they have, they were usually accompanied by strict discipline, nonviolence, and connection to electoral politics. That was the story of the Civil Rights movement’s successes. The Women’s 2017 March on Washington may be another positive example, as it segued rapidly into 2017 and 2018 election victories, led by many who had marched. But those examples are rare. The more common and sad story is that street protests, especially when they end up in disorder and violence, create no progress and even empower reaction. The wider public understandably wants order; they want peace; then justice, in that sequence. CONT.
Claude Fischer, UC Berkeley
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