The name of the Facebook post was "Disrupt Gavin McInnes". I confess I did not recognize the name, but Mr. McInnes was described by the Daily News as a combative right wing speaker and he was scheduled to speak at an event on the NYU campus sponsored by the NYU Republicans.
The protesters showed up with chants of "No Trump, No KKK, No Fascists USA". And I thought, here we go again. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath here. Maybe NYU needs to add more courses in yoga and meditation. In the end, when the protest was over, the event had been cut short and eleven protesters were arrested. For their own good, I hope mom and dad make them pay their own bail and court costs..
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So now, my youthful friends, let's think about this and review some points you might want to consider if you really want your own voices to be heard.
1) Please listen up here, because this one is important. Our country was based on the principal of free speech. That means anyone can say anything they want, and what is implied, is we must respect everyone's right here, even if we disagree with what is being said, and we should never, ever cause any disruption from letting any and all voices be heard.
2) If you really want to change the direction of the country, I would observe that you are not helping your cause here. By protesting against a Negative (in your view anyway), and not pursuing a Positive (whatever those are, in your view), you are not influencing anyone. As an example, I offer you, Hillary Clinton. Hillary spent too much time going after Trump, and not enough time articulating a case for her own presidency.
You are simply making the problem worse and adding to the polarization in our country today. You must recall the old expression, that that two wrongs don't make a right. How would you feel if the NYU Republicans created a Facebook page called "Disrupt Elizabeth Warren" if she was scheduled to speak on your campus. I am guessing that would not sit well with you.
3) So, let the guy talk. More than that, I think you want the guy to talk. I have no idea what his stance is, but if its so egregious that you felt compelled to disrupt the guy, then go ahead and let him broadcast his message far and wide. You are not fighting for the allegiance of his audience or followers, you are fighting for the hearts and minds of good, conservative, reasonable people who have voted Republican (who are not fond of your misdirected protests). You are fighting for middle America and you need to speak to them respectfully, and listen to them with even greater care. .
4) You also need to learn to pick your battles. Thanks to our aforementioned right of free speech, the political debate for the direction of our country will continue long after you graduate, long after your kids are in college, and long after you (and I ) are all gone. That, my friends is actually the good news,
Note, I have written on this topic of misdirected protests before. While the Woman's March on Washington on Day Two of the new Trump Administration was done extremely well, I was not without my very clear cut criticisms. See Blog post #4
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