I was amazed by the editorial cartoon in Thursday’s issue. No doubt referring to the upcoming World Bank/International Monetary Fund demonstrations, the cartoonist declared Protests are anti-American – if you don’t love your country, move!
In fact, the right to assemble in peaceful protest is the most valuable cornerstone of American democracy. As a woman, I treasure my right to vote – a right only secured by 80 years of determined protests led by suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul. All American women are indebted to those protest campaigns of yesterday. And, as we all know, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used protest successfully to secure equal rights under the law for African Americans.
My understanding is that a legitimate complaint of the World Bank/IMF protestors is the exportation of corporate contracts to under-waged laborers abroad. Union activists prefer to see jobs remain in the United States, as our unionized workers enjoy greater political freedom. How is this anti-American or unrepresentative of love of country?
-Bonnie J. Morris
women’s Studies professor
