11 August 2008
Dissent Takes Many Forms in United States
Activists favor nonviolent, constructive action
Washington -- On any day in the nation’s capital, one group or another may be seen expressing either dissent or agreement with U.S. government policies. The forms of expression vary, and organizations dedicated to guiding dissent help activists channel their energies constructively through education and outreach.
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is one such organization, which focuses on “grassroots lobbying” of elected representatives, according to communications officer Jim Cason. Members also participate in public protests and distribute a well-known peace poster depicting a dove, an olive branch and the slogan “War is not the answer.”
Cason says the FCNL helps people “better engage with government” by organizing at the community level and effectively contacting politicians.
“We believe it is important to be respectful, to recognize that legislators play a role, to thank them for their service to government, but at the same time to say that they ought to consider other points of view,” Cason said.
The FCNL, a nonpartisan organization, offers tips on how to meet elected representatives and write letters. The lobby was founded by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, a pacifist religious group since its inception in the 17th century.
The American Friends Service Committee likewise engages in pacifist and public service activities that are meant to replace military service for Quakers and other “conscientious objectors” to war and military service.
The FCNL encourages people to articulate their views in public, “but also figure out ways in which you can engage in the political process, because if dissidents disengage from the political process, then they are not part of that debate,” Cason told America.gov.
FCNL also supports “fairly mainstream stuff,” like increasing the number of diplomats. “We sometimes end up lobbying on the side of the Pentagon, with the State Department, if we think they are doing something that is likely to prevent war.”
He said a recent success was the reaffirmation of a congressional prohibition on establishing permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.
Advocacy group Peace Action also lobbied against permanent bases in Iraq and a potential naval blockade of Iran. Spokeswoman Barbara Bearden described three tactics for dissent. The first is the legislative way, which is “dissenting through normal channels: going to your representative.” The second is dissemination of information. “If someone [in a position of power] is lying, we feel it’s our duty to do rigorous research on that topic and get that information out to as many people as possible so that they can make informed decisions,” she said.
The third tactic is public protest, which may be a mass rally or direct action. The latter “is much more coordinated and requires a good bit of training,” Bearden said, both for personal safety and “for the conciseness of your message.” A sit-in is an example of direct action -- where protesters nonviolently occupy a place to draw attention to a situation they want to change.
Nonviolent protest is a cornerstone of Peace Action and other leading dissident groups in the United States. So in addition to training in sign making -- “to maximize your visual impact” -- Peace Action schools participants in safety and “the number one thing … to de-escalate the situation rather than antagonize a police officer.”
“Protest is about showing the public appeal of your opinion” in a constructive rather than negative way, she said.
“I think that dissent is the ultimate expression of patriotism. Our country was founded by a group of people who looked at a tyrannical leader and said ‘no.’”
“The independent spirit of America is central here in the peace movement and Peace Action and our grassroots network,” Bearden said. Nonpartisanship is important. “We criticize and applaud issues, not a candidate.”
Judith LeBlanc is organizing coordinator for United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), an umbrella organization that helped orchestrate and train participants in the March 19th protests against the war in Iraq. “We are doing many different types of voter engagement work,” she said. UFPJ, like the other groups, encourages citizens to build relationships with sympathetic legislators, to oppose those who are not and influence those who might swing either way.
The 1400 UPJ member groups come from “across the political spectrum. We have Iraq vets, we have military families, we have people who voted for George Bush,” to people on the left, “kind of a snapshot of the body of politics in the country.”
“There is a broad cross-section of people in motion who are utilizing many different kind of tactics, from resolutions, to congressional pressure to mass demonstrations to nonviolent direct action, but the sum total is, we have a very invigorated electorate,” LeBlanc said.
“No policy of the government has ever been changed without a combination of tactics that included marching in the streets, pressuring public officials, galvanizing public opinion” through community groups, she said.
“It’s the way democracy works. That’s what democracy looks like.”
