Driving north through Alabama today, passing Jesus signs and Confederate flags, I thought about the Civil Rights Movement, which unfolded as I came of age. Just a few years after that tumultuous period, I attended rallies and marches myself, protesting the Vietnam War.
Today, Alabama is among the Red States that have abolished the Reproductive Rights of Women, triggering marches and political action across the country; in concert, the inhumane treatment of innocent Palestinians in Gaza has fueled protests on campuses and in cities. While violence and hate speech are never justified, peaceful protests are vital to American Democracy and must be permitted, even when they inconvenience the general populace.
Those of us who experienced the political upheaval of the Sixties and early Seventies understand that protests had a positive impact (however slow and incomplete) on human rights and governmental policies. Though we now face different challenges, the cumulative effects of civil dissent, voting and legal action will lead to democratic solutions.
