Hey Geraldo, Protesters Aren’t Here to Make You Happy

So, this:

Anti-police protestors have to find a way to demonstrate outrage without causing outrage in innocent civilians they grossly inconvenience

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) December 10, 2014

He’s not alone. Both the Michael Brown and Eric Garner protests were critiqued for antagonizing the people they were supposedly soliciting:

Protesters in NYC need a crash course in how not to piss people off. "No justice, no tree" at Rock Center doesn't make friends.

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) December 4, 2014

Geraldo’s was bitching, Mandel’s was serious, but both tweets display a basic categorical confusion. Protesters aren’t a political party trying to earn your vote or an organization trying to recruit your membership. Their goal is to not be ignored, and shutting down highways, ruining your bourgeois Christmas tree lighting, and making it impossible to watch TV in your SoHo loft are good means of accomplishing that. There’s no way for Geraldo to carp about his inconvenience without invoking the ghost of Eric Garner, at which point his complaint about traffic shrivels in comparison to the injustice of the Garner decision.

If “disruption” had not become the plastic sword of the tech world, it would be a fine way to describe the aims of protesters. They’re not here to make you on time for work.

[Image via screengrab]

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>> Follow Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) on Twitter

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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