write an organized and detailed essay, following these guidelines:
Summarize Protesting Is as Important as Voting by Andre M. Perry and Carl Romer
Clearly state your position (thesis) in response to the authors argument.
Support your position with specific examples.
Organize your ideas carefully.
Write clear sentences that use standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Cite the assessment reading at the end of your summary and response in either MLA or APA format.
Protesting Is as Important as Voting (abridged) by Andre M. Perry and Carl Romer, Brookings Institution, August 28, 2020
Jacob Blake became the latest victim of state-sanctioned violence against Black Americans when he was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha, Wis. police officer. While Blake survived the shooting, he is reportedly now paralyzed. Subsequent demonstrations in Kenosha have joined what could be the largest protest movement in U.S. history, spurred by the killing of George Floyd in May.
From those national protests, defund the police quickly emerged as a rallying cry for Americans demanding systemic reform. And those demands have generated substantive policy change. Both Democrats and Republicans have offered federal legislation on police reform, and across the nation, local municipal leaders are cutting bloated police budgets.
In spite of several legislative victories, weve heard pundits and lawmakers say that votingnot protestingis the real solution to systemic racism, and that we shouldnt let slogans like defund the police hijack supposed real reforms. The diminution of protesting is nothing new: During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama began using the refrain, Dont boo. Vote. While Obama, a former organizer, is not necessarily deriding the act of protesting, he signals there is a priority. And prioritizing voting over protesting is the not-so-subtle way we devalue marginalized groups. Voting is only one way that people can exercise their power to create policy changenow, as national protests grow and Black athletes boycott their games, we are being shown that there are other ways to influence policy.
Protests
spurred the quick arrest of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for George Floyds murder
And it was protests that prompted international corporationsincluding Apple, Bank of America, Comcast, Nike, and dozens moreto invest billions in fighting racism and inequality.
By framing voting as the be all, end all, we minimize protestings power to change policy. We also ignore why people have taken to the streets in the first place: Their voices are not being heard through conventional means. [Ordinary citizens] have little
influence on policy, concluded a 2014 study on the influence of elections, confirming
that only the affluent have significant influence in policymaking.
On the other hand, a 2020 evaluation of the 1960s civil rights demonstrations found that minorities can successfully [d]rive media coverage, framing, congressional speech, and public opinion when engaging in nonviolent protest.
By driving media coverage, catalyzing congressional action, and shifting public opinion, nonviolent protests have been a force behind positive social change. A 2019 study of the 1992 Los Angeles riots found that even violent protests can ultimately prompt less hostile policing policies at the local level.
Even if you believe voting to be the most effective way to produce change, there is still plenty of proof that protests alter voting behaviors, shift the attitudes of marginal voters, and mobilize many previously disengaged voters. In 2010, large Tea Party rallies led to more Republican votes. Eight years later, the March for Our Lives protests were successful in registering and mobilizing many young voters who were instrumental to Democratic victories in the 2018 midterms. By highlighting incumbent political failings, protesting makes an apathetic majority sympathetic to the demonstrators causeparticularly at the ballot box.
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level.
