The news of the week is the student protest at the University of Missouri that has resulted in the resignation of the university president and a chancellor.
We are aware there is much hand wringing to and fro about the situation on the ground in Missouri and there should be. Racism is an uncomfortable thing and a citizen’s protest, to be effective, should be uncomfortable.
As Howard Bryant noted for ESPN this week, a convenient, comfortable protest is usually unsuccessful.
Given our circumstances as residents of one of the most homogeneous states in the nation, we prefer to leave the racial commentary to others. We do know, just as we oppose racism in whatever form, we also support the right of people to protest peacefully.
It is somewhat ironic that a student protest has sparked a national conversation about protesting, just in time for Veterans Day. In a very real sense this is in fact what our veterans have served for.
Americans like to say our rights are given by God, but in fact they are preserved by the men and women in our armed services.
To this respect, we hail the protesters for exercising their American right to assemble and make their voices heard. That’s what the first amendment looks like in the wild.
Everybody loves mom and apple pie and babies. Those things are easy. As some of the protesters are finding out themselves, now the national spotlight is on them, free speech is a wonderful thing when you like what’s being said.
It’s harder to embrace when some variation of those cursed, gay-lovin’, Jesus-hatin’ liberals; or corporate-personhood-supporting, climate-change-denying conservatives want to exercise those same rights, but embrace it we must.
We assert actually exercising your rights is a better use of those rights than simply acknowledging you have them.
