Protest

Protest is a public demonstration meant to express objection to or disapproval of a particular idea or action. In most cases, protests have some sort of political motivation. Most protests are also aimed at accomplishing a stated goal or effecting a specific kind of change. No matter what the intent, protest can take on many potential forms, often ranging from individual demonstrations to mass gatherings of people who assemble in support of a particular cause. While many protests are generally peaceful, some may also involve acts of violence meant to capture the public’s attention and force them to take notice of the problem at hand.

Protests have been a useful tool for activists throughout much of human history and have often led to meaningful change. While some critics question how effective they really are, protests continue to be one of the most prominent and important forms of dissent and resistance.

Background

Protests have been a common form of expression throughout much of human history. Accordingly, historical records describe many particularly notable and influential protests. One of the most significant protests was a simple act of defiance that sparked the Protestant Reformation. By the sixteenth century, a major rift was starting to form within the Catholic Church in Europe over various abuses allegedly committed by Church leaders. In 1517, German theologian and priest Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses – a treatise that outlined his grievances with the Church – to the door of a German church. This individual protest marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and, ultimately, Protestantism’s split from the Catholic Church.

One early protest that was particularly important in the formation of the United States was the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, a group of American colonists frustrated with excessive taxation decided to send a message to the tyrannical British government by dumping forty-five tons of British tea into Boston Harbor. Although it was a relatively harmless demonstration, the Boston Tea Party was a key symbolic moment in the American Revolution that helped fuel the colonies’ push for independence.

Much as the Boston Tea Party was an important moment in the American Revolution, the storming of the Bastille Prison marked a crucial turning point in the French Revolution. On July 14, 1789, as tension between absolute monarch Louis XVI and France’s Third Estate reached a fever pitch, a group of citizens rebelled against the king by attacking the Bastille, a prison that symbolized the crown’s power and excess, and liberating the people imprisoned there. This violent protest was ultimately a major catalyst of the French Revolution.

Between March and April 1930, Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi carried out the Salt March, an influential act of nonviolent civil disobedience in protest of British rule in India. Over a period of twenty-three days, Gandhi and more than 60,000 of his followers marched to the Indian coast to collect salt, an act then barred by British law. The Salt March helped oppressed Indians win global support in their struggle for independence.

Few protests have had a greater impact on the American way of life than the 1963 March on Washington. In August of that year, legendary civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. led a massive peaceful demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, to call on the government to pass meaningful civil rights legislation. It was at this historic event that King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the more than 200,000 people who had joined the March.

Overview

The concept of protesting has existed in one way or another since humans first formed civilizations with established laws and cultural norms. While people generally conform to these laws and norms most of the time, the need for change occasionally arises. Protesting is one of the tools that people often rely on to bring about substantive political, social, or cultural change. Indeed, protests of one kind or another are almost always at the forefront of major changes in how people live their lives in countries around the world.

The three major forms of protest are civil disobedience, nonviolent protest, and violent protest. Civil disobedience refers to simple acts of defiance that demonstrate opposition toward an unjust law or cultural norm. Acts of civil disobedience may be carried out by individuals or whole groups of protesters. Civil disobedience was a particularly popular approach to protesting during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. At many segregated lunch counters in the South, African American activists staged sit-ins to protest racial segregation and challenge racial inequality. An even more famous example of civil disobedience tied to the civil rights movement was activist Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her bus seat for a white passenger in 1955.

Nonviolent protests are perhaps the most common type of protest. Such protests often come in the form of demonstrations, marches, and vigils. At a demonstration, people show their support for a cause by assembling at an appointed place and making their feelings known. They may do this by holding signs, chanting, or singing. Marches are similar to demonstrations, except that they feature a large parade of sorts that travels through a city or town to raise awareness about an important issue. A vigil is a mostly silent gathering aimed at raising awareness while causing as little disruption as possible. Many of the world’s most notable and successful activists, include King and Gandhi, made extensive use of nonviolent protests to capture the public’s attention and achieve meaningful change.

When peaceful demonstrations fail to make an impact, violent protests sometimes become inevitable. Large-scale protests can easily turn violent, especially when a heavy police or military presence is involved. Many protests are emotionally charged and when angry protesters clash with security forces, violence can break out suddenly. Outbreaks of violence at protests can also spiral into rioting and looting. In some cases, protests may even be violent by design. In any event, violent protests often result when demonstrators feel they have no choice but to take extreme steps to make themselves heard. Some of the 2020 protests that took place in American cities following the police-involved death of George Floyd turned violent and ultimately led to riots and looting.

There is some debate over the effectiveness of protests. Supporters of the concept argue that protests force authorities to change their behavior in the short term and undermine the legitimacy of those authorities in the long term. Critics, on the other hand, argue that protest is an outdated and ineffective form of dissent that does not have a major impact in the modern world.

Bibliography

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