ROTHENBURGER – Don’t write off student protesters as spoiled kids

STUDENT PROTESTS at universities in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere are drawing a lot of controversy, condemnation and mockery, all of it deserved to some degree.

The fact that ‘outside agitators’ have been involved damages the credibility of the protests, violence undermines support, and the naivete of some of the students generates derision.

In one interview, a student was asked what the protests hoped to achieve. She replied that the universities must stop what they’re doing. When a reporter asked what they were doing that needed to be stopped, she was stumped for a moment, then could only come up with, “whatever it is they’re doing.”

Demands from protesters that they be fed have made them seem spoiled. One video clip showed a student leader insisting that they had a right to be fed by the university. “Basic humanitarian aid,” as the protester called it.

A reporter asked, “It seems like you’re saying, ‘we want to be revolutionaries, we want to take over this building, now would you please bring us some food?”

That prompted political commentator David Frum to tweet, “The revolution will be catered.”

And, of course, there have been jokes about the sudden uptick in cheap-tent sales.

When the message of protesters is fuzzy, the objective fails. The media describe the protests as either anti-Semitic, ‘pro-Palestine” or Islamophobic, and there’s the general demand that the universities “divest” themselves of financial connections to Israel or other policies they insist contribute to the genuine humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Cutting through it all, though, there’s common agreement that the situation under which people live in Gaza is becoming more disastrous day by day and must stop.

Law-and-order advocates support police actions to force the students out. One of our society’s values is the belief in the right to peaceful protest; few would suggest violence is an acceptable tactic. Any hint of it diminishes public support, and there’s certainly been enough incidences of it at the universities.

But the student protests shouldn’t be written off as pointless or unworthy of our attention. In fact, student protests have had a significant influence on the course of history.

An article I published here on ArmchairMayor.ca a couple of days ago, headlined ‘History repeats itself as Columbia University cracks down’ reminded me of my own days at university in Seattle.

As a journalism student in the late 1960s, one of my regular assignments for the student newspaper was to cover anti-Vietnam war protests on campus. The protests and the entire anti-war movement were fueled in large part by the draft. (As a Canadian, I enjoyed immunity from it while my American friends lived in constant fear of losing their student exemptions.) The protests were loud and charged with emotion but mostly peaceful.

However, the issue was a ticking time bomb. At Kent State, in 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on protesters, killing four students and wounding several others.

It was a turning point in the campus protests that played a huge role in bringing the Vietnam war to an end. Other student protests have been equally effective in forcing change or, at least, drawing our attention to important issues.

In 1976, students in Soweto, South Africa, led a protest against the government’s plan to impose the Afrikaans language on schools for black students. It resulted in rioting and violence but led to the fall of the apartheid government.

Student protests don’t always succeed. Remember Tiananmen Square?

For several weeks in 1989, students occupied the square, demanding free speech, a free press, democratic reforms and a host of other changes. Tragically, the government eventually sent in the military, resulting in what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which hundreds were killed. There followed a crackdown on freedoms — the opposite of what the students fought for.

There are numerous other examples of student-led protests that have succeeded in effecting dramatic change, or have failed spectacularly and ended in tragedy. But no one can write off student protests, as chaotic and unclear in their message as they often are.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.