Liberals, go protest!

I attended the nationwide ICE out rally yesterday.  I was disappointed.  In my (small) city, 200-300 people showed up, at least half of them from the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL).  I want to urge everyone on r/nl to not just show up to these protests but also to get involved locally so liberalism, not socialism, is driving them.  I argue why below.  Obviously, I am speaking to Americans in this context, but I think this extends to other protest movements more generally.

1. We need a tight focus that resonates with the majority of Americans.

Half of the PSL signs were not about ICE.  While people may care about Venezuela, corrupt billionaires, or universal healthcare, these signs take away from the central focus.  There probably shouldn’t be more Palestinian flags than American ones (or even the single Mexican flag I saw) when we’re protesting ICE’s assault on Minneapolis.  Americans are seeing Minneapolis under attack by a paramilitary force every day in the news and do not like what they see.  

To pressure Trump to back off, we need political pressure specifically to rein in ICE and get it out of Minneapolis.  The George Floyd protests’ most successful calls to action were focused on police reform and yielded results; they did not branch out into a call for universal healthcare or action on climate change, and many of the subsequent general anti-racist/DEI initiatives that had less support have since been rolled back. 

2.       These protests are anti-Democrat

Whatever problems the Democratic Party has, it is the only viable opposition party right now. At the rally, PSL speakers heavily criticized the Democratic Party as a corporate-bought, fake opposition that did nothing to slow ICE down. This is incorrect, in part because ICE works during shutdowns. Shutting down the government would not have touched ICEs massive budget from Trump’s OBBBA last summer.  There’s a continuing resolution for DHS with a vote in two weeks, and given that it’s now separated from the rest of the government funding, Democrats now have more leverage to prevent an additional $10 billion in funding for ICE. I saw that Jeffries says House Dems might not vote for the funding bills, but Republicans can pass it on party lines, and my point here is that Senate Dems actually negotiated well this time.

The speaker who claimed the Democratic Party is as bad as the Republican Party helped Trump yesterday.  Do I think it made a big difference?  No.  He may have convinced a few people on the margins, but he was either preaching to the choir or to committed Democrats.  However, it also contributes to the perception that Democrats are weak and ineffective if the only anti-ICE protests are run by people who dislike the Democratic Party just as much as they dislike Trump.

3.       We need to be more involved!

If we want liberal protests that lead to election wins, we need to be involved. My local Democratic Party made an announcement about the rally the morning of. I had known about this for a day or two, just from a quick Google/Reddit search for protests in my city. The slow reaction means that not only was it organized by a party that actively works against us, but also that our members couldn’t show up in large enough numbers to change the face of the protests.

Those of us who may not feel comfortable need to push past that feeling to create a critical mass of normal people protesting Trump.  Call your local elected Democrats and encourage them to be a visible, active opposition force.  Join your local Democratic Party and show up to events!  We need a protest movement that is pro-democracy and civil rights/liberties, not vaguely socialist.  That only happens if we get involved.  Otherwise, protests will be less persuasive (see support for socialism vs. above links that show support even for abolishing ICE) and people who show up to the protests will be encouraged to not vote.

As an aside, in my opinion, the canned call-and-response socialist/union chants can’t match organic anger.  “Who got the power?  We got the power.  What type of power?  People power” is from a Marxism 101 study guide.  A crowd chanting “abolish ICE” over and over is the rumble of a populace that isn’t taking any bullshit.