Beginning with Columbia University, colleges across the nation have seen a dramatic wave of pro-Palestinian student protestors rallying together to push for university financial investment from corporation’s complicity with Israel’s “apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine.” These anarchist actions, originating with student involvement in political matters, will change America for the worse by building off of a centuries-long system that has allowed for chaos to be concealed under the premise of free speech.
One of the most prominent sit-ins of American history got its start with student activism. The unfortunate events of the Greensboro Sit-Ins — despite being nonviolent — led to immense discomfort within local communities, especially at the Woolworth Department store as many white patrons felt the need to defend themselves. Bob Burgerson, a member of the Neighborhood Watch at the time, argued that “segregation is essential to protest the safety of our communities from very suspicious behavior by colored people. What is the point if I cannot eat my meal in peace!”
In the end, the sit-ins forced the owners of the store to end their policy of racial segregation, not only in the city of Greensboro but also throughout their entire chain. It also spurred the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), setting a dangerous precedent for student activism independent of major political movements, operating autonomously. This would create the impression that the silly Constitutional freedom of expression thing has value.
Time and time again, students have had to be brought to justice by local and national law enforcement for taking radical action. In July of 1986, after years of student “yapping,” for the administration to withdraw money from investments to companies with ties to the government of South Africa, the University of California (UC) system was backed into a corner and UC Regents eventually “voted to divest $3.1 billion from companies doing business with the apartheid government.” But, the UC was able to achieve a win by arresting “158 protestors” at UC Berkeley before the vote.
It is clear to see these students had no idea what they were fighting for. While a few leaders of the movement did their research on the actions taking place on the other side of the world, many of their peers remained unaware of what was going on and chose to participate in these movements for the sake of rambunctious rowdiness. On one Reddit board titled r/boottheUC, user monkeybrains666 wrote, “I don’t know anything about Nelson Mandela or what apartheid actually is but it was cool to camp out until the police came by.”
These students are too young to know anything about American foreign policy and shouldn’t be weighing in. According to a study done by Americans for American America, 25% of students at American universities score in the lowest quartile when answering questions on American political history.
In more recent times, students have been vocal about matters calling for police reform. Holding conversations about so-called racial bias and abuse of power, millions took to the streets protesting the death of George Floyd. A laughable matter considering the establishment of the police is to uphold the liberties of justice and peace in society. To take down the system’s only way of enforcing the law will bring about naught but rampant crime and terror.
Now, the situation currently is not necessarily one that will bring about harm to anyone within the states, but having to divest from these companies will lead to a loss of money for the United States, only comparable to divestment from South African Apartheid. True American activism does not come from the young’uns, rather it takes the older and wise to lead the charge. American values have not been respected with the actions undertaken currently.
While what has happened in history and today has been a horrifying sight to see, there have been times where the ol’ red, white and blue took a stand for itself, displaying what it means to be truly American. Amy Vet, a proud participant of the Capitol Riots shared, “These students don’t understand that they must respect American institutions and values. Let me tell you, when I broke into the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, it was such a stunning and moving show of patriotism that they formed a whole House Committee to celebrate!”
*This is a satirical piece and is not intended to communicate any true or factual information about the writer’s opinion except through humor and/or exaggeration. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental or is intended purely as satire, parody or spoof of such persons and is not intended to communicate any true or factual information about that person.
