Modern Methods of Protest

There is a notion that the generation of students today is apathetic and uninvolved in politics, disengaging from issues and events. This is a misconception created in part by lack of media coverage, but mostly by changing means of protest and involvement. I asked Carolyn Knox about this misconception of an apathetic generation and she said,
"I believe there is a very strong opposition to the government at this point. Violence is never pretty and alternatives to violence are not obvious. A generally agreed-upon vision for how to make forceful opposition work in this country has not emerged at this point--neither has a grass-roots organization of people who can articulate even a half-assed version of such a vision." (1) Essentially students still have powerful, emotional commitments to issues they have clear opinions about, but they just do not know how to make those opinions clear to everyone else. The sixties and seventies are represented by youth activism and change, but the methods incorporated into that activism and change is not used today as result of laws and regulations and declining necessity. Students today no longer need to go out and make loud, perhaps even violent, statements. The student voice is no longer ignored as it was in the sixties. Those students earned a voice and we take full advantage of their successes, sharing our opinions in new ways.
One evident change in the way students today demonstrate the issues they are passionate about is not through marching. Marches were common ways of education and publicity from the sixties until as late as the nineties but are becoming less frequent and even less influential. Christina Larson wrote an article about this trend, arguing that, “While in the past a march was judged successful if it affected a political outcome; today's protests are judged on how they affect a protester's sense of self” (2). I think protesters are motivated by the drive to something, anything, to help the cause they are passionate about. As professor Knox explained, not very many people aware of how to make an opposition heard. People may use marches not as a forceful means of opposition, education, or aid, but more as a tactic to be able to say I did something. Also, the social value of protest marches is increasing as fast as the ineffectivity rate.
Silent, artistic demonstrations are gaining popularity, media coverage, and influence. People do not have to be present at these demonstrations to articulate the anonymous political standpoint. This is the second year that the University of Oregon had the anti-Iraq War flag demonstration on campus as pictured above. Each of the white flags represented six Iraqi people killed in war, each of the red represtned one American killed. The flags, even representing more than one person, still covered a huge portion of the campus grass. It was not publicized who posted these flags and sings, but the silent message was sent loud and clear. The scene was really rather tragically beautiful and impossible to ignore. Google searches for information and pictures of the demonstration yield hundreds of sites and articles, showing that the message is being carried further than the University campus. The issue is more important than the protesters in these types of demonstrations.

(1) Carolyn Knox, University of Oregon, interview
(2) Christina Larson, “Postmodern Protests: Why marches matter only to those who march”