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Don't stereotype anti-war protesters |
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A casual perusal of Letters to the Editor in several papers reveals terms like "naive peaceniks," "posers," "uneducated," "lazy" and a comment that they "didn't look like the hard-working type." During the March 20 demonstration, television newscasters repeatedly referred to demonstrators as rioters and even the hydra. As someone who was arrested that day, my experience was quite a bit different. I saw a broad range of people who would not conform to any ready-made category. I saw teenagers, grandmothers, professionals of all sorts, students, workers, soccer moms and unemployed folks. I met people with more radical political views and others with more moderate views. I saw some who would fit in at any shopping mall or PTA meeting in America, and others with a less mainstream appearance. I met some who were seasoned activists, but many more who were participating in this kind of activity for the very first time. Everyone I met believed in and practiced the principles of nonviolence. The disparaging stereotypes employed by critics of this demonstration give the impression that protesters represent a narrow, irrelevant and tiny minority, but I experienced something very different. We were a large group of rather ordinary people driven to extraordinary measures by an extraordinary situation. We could no longer stand by and watch as our leaders recklessly ignore the principles on which our country was founded. Kysa Nygreen
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