When the Far-Right Prove They're Not Actually Against Protesting

December 21, 2020

In the U.S., it is everyone's constitutional right to protest, but some people seem to forget that until it's their turn to want to protest.

All summer long -- as well as in years prior -- leftists and progressives have had to listen to people on the other side of the political aisle talk about how much they hate protestors.

There's no one people on the far-right hate more than those who stand up for racial justice and human rights, whether it's actual demonstrations in the streets, or a silent protest a la Colin Kaepernick.

But at least most of the time they've had the "decency" to disguise their hatred under a thin veil of "respect." Claiming they were against the protests simply because they disrupted people's lives, because they feared property damage, or because they deemed it pointless was easier than admitting that they just didn't like people standing up against white supremacy and the system that benefits them.

For ages, attendees of entirely peaceful protests have had to put up with their political opponents demonizing them, framing them as violent rioters and thugs.

The actual rioters, of course, have been looked down upon even more, with bizarre comparisons to Martin Luther King Jr. being unusually common. For some reason, those who want to tone-police protestors are obsessed with bringing up MLK, claiming that he never would have condoned any kind of violence or rioting, even in spite of the fact that his own son shared one of his quotes on Twitter in the middle of the chaos -- "A riot is the language of the unheard" -- as a way of voicing support for the protestors, an implication that he knew his father would have supported their cause as well.

Yet these anti-protestors for some reason have a very whitewashed idea of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, in which MLK and his associates were not actually considered criminals at the time and looked down upon in much the same way today's racial justice demonstrators are. Sometimes it seems that they've forgotten all about the fact that he was assassinated by people who were against his demonstrations.

Throughout most of this year, we've heard people talk about how protestors who block traffic should be run over. How protestors who get killed or severely injured by the police at a protest got what was coming to them because they shouldn't have been there to begin with. That destroying someone's property is never acceptable. That people who are unhappy with this country should just leave it. And even that the teenager who murdered two protestors to supposedly protect buildings is a "hero."

Protests are either one of two things in their minds: pointless displays that won't change anything anyway and just make you look childish, or violent destructive riots that are destroying entire cities. Sometimes they are both at once, somehow. Whichever seems most effective at making people believe the protests shouldn't be taking place.

Until something happens that they want to protest.

I'm sure none of us are surprised by people on the far-right being hypocritical. We're pretty used to it by now. Some people's response to this will be that people on the left can be hypocritical too, and sure, you're not wrong, although from everything I've witnessed, people on the left do tend to call out their own more often when they see hypocritical behavior.

But even though no one is surprised at the hypocrisy, it is a little astounding just how fast they seem to change their minds. The problem is that they never actually change their minds to begin with; they just think a different set of rules applies to them than to everyone else. It isn't that they are against protesting. It's just that they apparently think the constitutional right of protesting only applies to them.

What did anti-maskers do when they were told to wear a piece of cloth over the bottom half of their faces to possibly save lives? They protested. On the Capitol lawn. With guns. Something that Black Lives Matter protestors would have never been able to get away with, by the way.

What did Trump voters do when they didn't want Biden's supporters to get to the polling locations on election day? They blocked traffic. They got out their big Trump flags and held rallies in the middle of the street, making it physically impossible for people to get to the polling station. Of course, the people who did make it to their polling place also ran the risk of being confronted by gun-toting Trump supporters trying to intimidate them into not voting a certain way.

And what did those same people do when Biden was declared winner? Not only did they protest, but yes, you guessed it, some even rioted. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out the people doing the rioting had previously claimed moral superiority over those who rioted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. But now that it was their turn, many people who had previously been against protestors were now threatening violence, actually shooting at people who showed up to oppose them, and vandalizing property belonging to historically black churches. So much for rioting and destroying property never being okay.

My point is that nearly everyone feels strongly enough about something to protest against it, especially when they feel their rights are being infringed upon. Unless they are completely apolitical, or just apathetic, most people have some kind of a hill that they think is worth dying on.

For some people, it's black men being killed in disproportionate numbers by the police, children being separated from their parents and kept in cages, or refugees fleeing war in their home countries being denied a safe haven based solely on their religion. For others, it's face masks and election results.

Some are also more willing to stand up in protest of other people's rights being on the chopping block, while others are willing to protest only for their own rights.

But one thing's for sure: you can't say you're against protestors when you yourself are willing to protest the things you disagree with. Just admit that your bias against Black Lives Matter protestors is rooted in white supremacy. Don't try to hide behind some false sense of respect for the law if you are going to go out a couple months later and block traffic to prevent people from voting.

These people are not against protesting, they are just against progressive causes.

People are willing to speak up, get out of their comfort zone, or even put their lives on the line for something they think is important enough. So if someone tells you not to be in the streets, that you're wasting your time, or that you shouldn't be allowed to demonstrate -- it's because they don't believe your cause is important. Don't believe any other excuse they give you.

tags: protesting, hypocrisy