Is There A Right Way To Protest? HD

Protests can be peaceful one minute. Chaotic the next. And can even turn violent a minute after that. This episode looks at not WHY people protest, but HOW. Is there a right way to protest? TEACHERS: Get your students in the discussion on KQED Learn, a safe place for middle and high school students to investigate controversial topics and share their voices. ABOVE THE NOISE is a show that cuts through the hype and investigates the research behind controversial and trending topics in the news. Hosted by Myles Bess. *NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY* SUBSCRIBE by clicking the RED BUTTON above. Follow us on Instagram @kqedabovethenoise **What are the general rules around protesting in the U.S.?** If you head over to the ACLU’s website to look up what your rights are when protesting, it’s kinda sad. You can stand on the sidewalk with a sign, but you can’t get in the way of people as they walk by. You can pass out leaflets, but you can’t block entrances to buildings. Oh, and if you want to, you know, march in the street with a bunch of people, there’s a good chance you’ll need to get a permit. It can be hard to make an impact if you’re following all the rules. **How did people view Martin Luther King Jr. and the protests he led back in the 60s?** Today, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement are pretty much universally admired. But back in the 60s they were super controversial. A poll from 1961 found that 57 percent of Americans thought the Freedom Riders and sit-ins at lunch counters hurt the chances of integration in the South. And after the 1963 March on Washington, where MLK delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, 74 percent of Americans believed mass demonstrations harmed the cause. **So, is there a RIGHT way to protest?** No. There isn’t REALLY a right way to protest. But we do know that as protests get more extreme, they usually get less support from the public. At the end of the day, protests are a battle to win over public opinion, and to do that, they have to navigate a weird dilemma. More extreme actions get more media attention that can spread awareness to more people, but at the same time, if it’s perceived as TOO extreme, some people might be reluctant to support the protest. SOURCES Speaking and Protesting in America (American Archive of Public Broadcasting) https://americanarchive.org/exhibits/first-amendment Why Protest Movements Are ‘Civil’ Only in Retrospect (NY Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/politics/us-protests-history-george-floyd.html What Protests Can (And Can’t) Do (Vox) https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-protests-can-do/ Your Rights When Protesting (ACLU) https://www.aclusocal.org/en/know-your-rights/protesters#:~