2008 Woodie Awards
Hub peace protest represents democracy
? GUEST VIEWPOINT
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Editorials
After reading the Nov. 9 op-ed column by Brian Graney ("Peace protestors fail to attain MU student support"), it appears necessary to clarify the motivations of those of us involved in the peace demonstration at the Hub. Graney complains, "The only listeners will be people like me-students late for class who are unable or unwilling to put up with peace signs when all we want is a spicy chicken sandwich." If the author of this statement means this as a disparagement of our movement, he actually reinforces the necessity of our manifestation at the Seal, to remind people of the important role that they play in a democracy-a role that Graney appears to have chosen to abdicate.
In urging us to protest in "influential places," he forgets that the capital neither is nor should be the only locus of power in a democracy. "A quaint and quiet Midwestern college campus," contends the author, "is not exactly where decision makers will be hearing peace protestors." You aren't a decision maker, Graney? While you may not be on the floor of Congress, you can make an informed decision about whether or not you support our nation's actions and proceed accordingly. (And let it not be forgotten that it was Ohio that swung the 2004 election, making the claim for our own irrelevance hardly plausible).
The column also complains that we, "are reliving the year 1968 all over again," that we are "peaceniks who seem to have been born in the wrong decade" and that "weeks and weeks of protest are not necessary. The message on day 1 will be the same as the message on day 25." Unfortunately, the status of world peace has not progressed so much that we can change the call to peace from the Vietnam era. Our protest will change when the message changes, and not before. To disappear is to allow the wish for peace to slip from sight and consciousness. Not to mention that the 36 U.S. troops and 875 Iraqi casualties that occurred in just the month of October while we have been demonstrating constantly renew the call to end the violence.
That Graney has relegated student activist organizations to the realm of "lost causes" further shows his pessimism for the ability of students to enact change. We live in a democracy, Graney-where policy is made in the public forum, a forum not limited to Washington, D.C. What could possibly be more of a public space than the middle of a state university campus, an institution dedicated to forming productive members of a democracy? The author complains that we are "hijacking ... our lovely college Seal" while in fact we are using it to the very utmost extent of its intended purpose.
If we are causing you distress, Graney, with our peace signs that you are "unable and unwilling to handle," we deeply regret it.
We do not desire to harass you or to be in any way aggressive, and if the peace sign itself causes you pain, I'm sorry for that as well, but that is between you and your own conscience.
Gina Stamm
stammgm@muohio.edu
In urging us to protest in "influential places," he forgets that the capital neither is nor should be the only locus of power in a democracy. "A quaint and quiet Midwestern college campus," contends the author, "is not exactly where decision makers will be hearing peace protestors." You aren't a decision maker, Graney? While you may not be on the floor of Congress, you can make an informed decision about whether or not you support our nation's actions and proceed accordingly. (And let it not be forgotten that it was Ohio that swung the 2004 election, making the claim for our own irrelevance hardly plausible).
The column also complains that we, "are reliving the year 1968 all over again," that we are "peaceniks who seem to have been born in the wrong decade" and that "weeks and weeks of protest are not necessary. The message on day 1 will be the same as the message on day 25." Unfortunately, the status of world peace has not progressed so much that we can change the call to peace from the Vietnam era. Our protest will change when the message changes, and not before. To disappear is to allow the wish for peace to slip from sight and consciousness. Not to mention that the 36 U.S. troops and 875 Iraqi casualties that occurred in just the month of October while we have been demonstrating constantly renew the call to end the violence.
That Graney has relegated student activist organizations to the realm of "lost causes" further shows his pessimism for the ability of students to enact change. We live in a democracy, Graney-where policy is made in the public forum, a forum not limited to Washington, D.C. What could possibly be more of a public space than the middle of a state university campus, an institution dedicated to forming productive members of a democracy? The author complains that we are "hijacking ... our lovely college Seal" while in fact we are using it to the very utmost extent of its intended purpose.
If we are causing you distress, Graney, with our peace signs that you are "unable and unwilling to handle," we deeply regret it.
We do not desire to harass you or to be in any way aggressive, and if the peace sign itself causes you pain, I'm sorry for that as well, but that is between you and your own conscience.
Gina Stamm
stammgm@muohio.edu
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