In a Violent World, Non-Violent Protest is the Grown-up Choice
What is it you’d like to happen in this moment?
A new tool in the casino management bag I carry around with me came to me when a guest of the hotel was losing his shit.
He was furious that A) he wasn’t informed by Booking.com that there was a $100 deposit on the room (standard for our specific clientele) and B) that the hotel couldn’t refund the money the online booking website took from him. He was given the number to call to cancel the reservation (he either didn’t have the C-note or didn’t want to pay it) but was caught in the modern maze of phone chains and just wanted to speak to a human.
He stood at the front counter, gesticulating like a loon, barking at our hotel manager, yelling at his phone, and protesting that it all was because he was a black man.
I intervened. I listened to a bit of his rant. Then it occurred to me.
“I think I understand. It’s frustrating. So, what would you like to happen in this moment?”
The question caused him to pause. He hadn’t taken the time to map out his expectations of the next steps. He was angry and wanted everyone to know it. What happened next wasn’t even in the picture.
“I want him to call whoever he has to call to get my money back!”
“Okay. That’s reasonable. What if I told you he would have to call the same number you called?”
“There’s another number! There’s always another number!”
There is not another number.
I’d love to write that this diffused his rage but it didn’t. He continued his tirade until I had to have him escorted off the property explaining to him that it had nothing to do with his skin color and everything to do with his increasing belligerence.
It did, however, give me a new approach. What would you like to happen in this moment?
In Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan analyzed data from 323 violent and nonviolent pro-democracy movements. They concluded that nonviolent protests were twice as likely to succeed as violent ones—53 percent of the nonviolent demonstrations achieved their goal, as opposed to 26 percent of violent ones.
The vast majority of demonstration events associated with the BLM movement are non-violent (see map below). In more than 93% of all demonstrations connected to the movement, demonstrators have not engaged in violence or destructive activity.
Yet, despite data indicating that demonstrations associated with the BLM movement are overwhelmingly peaceful, one recent poll suggested that 42% of respondents believe “most protesters [associated with the BLM movement] are trying to incite violence or destroy property.”
Groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have documented organized disinformation campaigns aimed at spreading a “deliberate mischaracterization of groups or movements [involved in the protests], such as portraying activists who support Black Lives Matter as violent extremists or claiming that antifa is a terrorist organization coordinated or manipulated by nebulous external forces.”
The difficulty faced by both BLM and Antifa is the same conundrum that artists confront: anyone can claim membership without credential or declaration of intent. In the wake of a contentious election with some ground to still cover, the question presented is how to maintain a non-violent presence and weed out the extremists whose aim is to paint a violent target on the whole shebang?
What would you like to happen in this moment?
The most effective protests are theater of a sort. Targeted. Strategic. Not a question of numbers but of intent. Where you protest matters. How you protest matters. Mobs of angry people screaming at lines of cops is only truly effective if the cops turn violent and the protesters do not fight back (see every successful protest in the ‘60s in America and everything protest-oriented initiated by Gandhi).
What would you like to happen in this moment? What would you hope to achieve tomorrow?
Remember, in order for a protest movement to be effective it has to capture the hearts of the millions not invested in your cause. Aim your message to the middle (or at least to the vast population unaffected by the source of your outrage). This is a communication not a tantrum. Be aware of how the media will portray your protest. If there is humor and restraint but a serious message aside from the Howard Beal “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” you can at least attempt to visualize tomorrow’s headlines.
This scares the living shit out of Nebraska.
This provides thoughtful context, evokes no fear, and is the kind of protest moment that changes things.
What would you like to change?
Your rage is useless as an expression of change unless you are able to channel it into a message of hopeful co-existence. Anyone can break windows, scream in the streets, and tear down statues including the jackasses looking to demonize your tactics. Change in America comes slowly because there are so fucking many of us and we have such a diverse population. Include everyone in your message and more will gravitate to it.
For at least a decade into my middle-age and beyond my over-the-hill capacity, I’ve been unmoved by the protest movements of the Left. This was not a stance against protest but a disdain for emotionally unsophisticated mobs so angry and so unmotivated to communicate anything but rage that the results have been consistently ineffective.
I’ve been around for awhile. During that half century plus, there are few absolute truths I’ve discovered. Among the very few capital “T” truths uncovered in my life are these:
Sports fans and political wonks are exactly the same
Every cheese is pretty goddamned good
The Beatles are the classical music of the twentieth century
Most of the most boneheaded and stupid decisions I’ve made in my life were due to letting my emotions drive them
The next two months may be incredibly exhausting. The pandemic is flaring up like something out of a Roland Emmerick film, the economy is just going over the first hill of the rollercoaster, and the exchange of power in Washington is going to be anything but peaceful.
Be thoughtful. Be strategic. Be furious but incredibly controlled or the protests will amount to wasted energy and harmed people.
If someone organizes a protest that includes a thousand people wearing dog collars and barking a version of “This Land is Made for You and Me,” I’m in.
