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PROTESTS
Why Attacks on Protestors Are Giving Us Civil Rights Era Flashbacks
An essay about the battle for free speech and the intersecting struggles of civil rights and anti-war protesters
For Black Americans, the grim reality of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protesters is a tale as old as time. The First Amendment’s promise of the right to assemble and petition has been shattered by the brutal response of police and National Guards. We need only look to the experiences of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Nobel Peace Prize recipient arrested 29 times in his pursuit of racial justice and equality, to witness the contrast between America’s ideals and the harsh reality we face. As anti-war protestors encounter violent opposition today, history is repeating itself, giving us civil rights era flashbacks. Our nation’s past is prologue.
America did not start as a perfect nation; it started as a nation riddled with social inequities and remains flawed. As a result, Black people have challenged these injustices to foster a more equitable nation. And they’ve found common ground with those who see hypocrisy in this country’s domestic and foreign policies. This is a connection conservatives have long opposed. Former President Nixon’s assistant for Domestic Affairs…
