Features

Power of Protest

Voters at home are listening and learning from citizens in the streets.

Protest has really been resuscitated in the United States in the past few years, to a level we haven’t seen since the late 1960s. At that time, President Nixon introduced the idea of a “silent majority” of voters, content with the status quo, who stood in opposition to protest and protesters.

But there’s been a real change since then in how most people view protests. If you look at the relationship between protesters and the larger electorate, the evidence suggests a much less adversarial relationship. In fact, protests are serving as part of a social learning process for voters. There are no longer people just standing on the sidelines, just observing protests over gay rights or gender issues or race or the climate. Individuals are now taking sides based on their ideological leanings. And they don’t necessarily go pick up a sign or a banner and begin to march. Rather, they decide whether that particular movement buttresses their own perspective on a particular issue.

That means that ideological polarization is actually feeding the growth of protest. The protester on the street is speaking to that citizen sitting at home watching and observing—and seeking to establish a link with them. For example, a white gay man protesting on the street may establish a link with an African American woman observing, who sees the world through a liberal perspective.

A really important point, and one that comes out of the research I did for The Loud Minority, is the effect protests have had on the voting public. The evidence shows that protest not only influences opinion but also leads people to acting in a way that has consequences. They’re getting out and voting, and they’re making campaign contributions.

If you look at protests since the 1960s, in areas where there have been greater levels of protest by racial minorities, we have seen liberal politicians benefit because individuals are mobilized to come out to vote in that direction. In 2020, we saw an increase in campaign contributions to the Democratic party because the protests happened to have a liberal link. And then when it was time to vote once again, it’s not a coincidence that the areas in which we saw major rises in voter turnout taking place happened to be areas that were centers of protest.

It’s significant that when President Biden came into office, on his first day in office he put forth executive orders that look to address racial inequality. That’s the effect and the impact of protest. It’s a political tool that individuals use when they feel as though government is not moving in the right direction.

Racial minorities have long used it and will continue to use it. Now they’re using it in an environment in which the powers that be are more likely to pay attention.