Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Letter to the Editor

Intellectual protest not new

I’m very happy to see that the members of STAND are coming to see the value of protest and civil disobedience in the struggle to challenge injustices (April 14, pg. A1). It is an important lesson in politics. As Frederick Douglas said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Sometimes that demand must be made quite forcefully and civil disobedience is one forceful option for making it.

I am nonetheless troubled by the remarks of Steph Figgins in which she said, “This is not our parents’ generation, where people showed up just to protest. We are well-educated on the subject and we have a clear idea of what needs to be done.” Such remarks drip of condescension and arrogance that is wholly unjustified. She assumes protestors in the past who used many of the same tactics employed by her group were uninformed and aimless. Perhaps she should tell that to the family of Rosa Parks or the countless other people across the country who engaged in civil disobedience during the civil rights movement or the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Perhaps she believes that the generation of her parents was delusional to demand withdrawal from Vietnam. As for the uniquely “well-educated” status of this GW freshman, it seems appropriate to note to her that Martin Luther King Jr. was actually Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He held a PhD.

People did not, and I’m happy to see, do not show up “just to protest.” I cannot understand why Figgins feels as though she is serving her cause in any way to belittle the efforts of those who pioneered the tactics she today finds use for.

Timothy E. Kaldas, Alumnus

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