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UCSC March4 SlideShow
The UCSC Admin reports protestors had "clubs and knives." Judge for yourself.
For more information:
http://www.TeachTheBudget.org
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What happened to the photos of the protesters that were wearing bandanas to conceal their identities while they committed felony vandalism to three vehicles? One rear window was smashed out with something similar to a metal pipe. Where is that photo? Where is the photo of the protester that punched a student in the face?
I am a student who was thre on March 4th to fight for my education. I too witnessed masked protesters surrounding cars and breaking a window. The protesters claimed the driver tried to run them over but that wasn't the case. Several of my friends and I left that area and went to the base of campus to meet up with the more legitimate crowds. Those other protesters ARE scary.
As a signer of this faculty letter I want to say we looked into the one case of a broken car window we knew about and it seems that the protesters were not at fault, and the police who were there implicitly agreed with this conclusion for they made no arrests. If there were other cases of violence where protesters were at fault I personally deplore them. As I deplore any physical violence individual protesters might have committed, such as the possibility that a student was hit in the face by a protester. But this remains an unconfirmed report. We do know that the claims the UCSC administration spread through the media that students were armed was an outright lie and I am amazed the administration has still not apologized for this irresponsible attempt to "spin" the media coverage.
Even if there were individual acts of violence committed by a few of the several thousand protesters involved during the day of action those acts were against the policies of the students, faculty and staff who organized the protest and certainly were not supported by the overwhelming majority of the people who took part or the many more who supported it. It is common in such protests for a few individuals to use the cover of masses of more disciplined protesters to work out issues (personal and/or political) of their own. Usually they are young males with something to prove but sometimes they are opponents of the protest (or even police) trying to discredit it. People who sieze on these few incidents to discredit the actions of thousands are intellectually dishonest or incredibly naive, or both.
To the protesters who saw a confrontation they felt was wrong I commend you for continuing to protest and urge you that, perhaps, next time you confront the people you saw who seemed to be violent. This is often as difficult and unpleasant and even dangerous as confronting the authorities but just because someone says they are "on our side" does not mean it is really true and it is certainly not a licence to commit actions that any fool can see hurt the movement in the long run. And, while I understand that some students wore masks fearing administration reprisals I would encourage you to show your faces and confront the whole undemocratic process that is destroying our university. You might pay a price and go to jail or face administration sanctions but the masks do not help in the long run. Try not to be afraid of the consequences of your principles.
And if there were any idiots who actually were violent under cover of this mass nonviolent action I say: This isn't Oaxaca. If you want to street fight "man up" (note the ironic quotes) and go somewhere it might make sense. Or better yet, join the Marines and learn how to use violence effectively and then decide if the kind of revolution you want needs a Marine Corp to make it. My revolution certainly does not.
Chris Hables Gray, Lecturer, Crown College, UCSC
Even if there were individual acts of violence committed by a few of the several thousand protesters involved during the day of action those acts were against the policies of the students, faculty and staff who organized the protest and certainly were not supported by the overwhelming majority of the people who took part or the many more who supported it. It is common in such protests for a few individuals to use the cover of masses of more disciplined protesters to work out issues (personal and/or political) of their own. Usually they are young males with something to prove but sometimes they are opponents of the protest (or even police) trying to discredit it. People who sieze on these few incidents to discredit the actions of thousands are intellectually dishonest or incredibly naive, or both.
To the protesters who saw a confrontation they felt was wrong I commend you for continuing to protest and urge you that, perhaps, next time you confront the people you saw who seemed to be violent. This is often as difficult and unpleasant and even dangerous as confronting the authorities but just because someone says they are "on our side" does not mean it is really true and it is certainly not a licence to commit actions that any fool can see hurt the movement in the long run. And, while I understand that some students wore masks fearing administration reprisals I would encourage you to show your faces and confront the whole undemocratic process that is destroying our university. You might pay a price and go to jail or face administration sanctions but the masks do not help in the long run. Try not to be afraid of the consequences of your principles.
And if there were any idiots who actually were violent under cover of this mass nonviolent action I say: This isn't Oaxaca. If you want to street fight "man up" (note the ironic quotes) and go somewhere it might make sense. Or better yet, join the Marines and learn how to use violence effectively and then decide if the kind of revolution you want needs a Marine Corp to make it. My revolution certainly does not.
Chris Hables Gray, Lecturer, Crown College, UCSC
For more information:
http://www.chrishablesgray.org
Chris writes:
"...I am amazed the administration has still not apologized for this irresponsible..."
and then Chris writes:
"...if there were any idiots who actually were violent under cover of this mass nonviolent action I say: This isn't Oaxaca."
What does that mean, Chris? Please explain why you are inserting Oaxaca into this. You clearly have a lot to learn from, and about, Oaxaca. I suggest you retract your ignorant and offensive comment about Oaxaca.
Quinta MegaMarcha SlideShow: Por un Oaxaca Mejor
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/07/18306649.php
Oaxaca City SlideShow: Un Pueblo Unido Avanza Sin Partidos
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/31/18305143.php
http://bradleystuart.net
http://elenemigocomun.net
"...I am amazed the administration has still not apologized for this irresponsible..."
and then Chris writes:
"...if there were any idiots who actually were violent under cover of this mass nonviolent action I say: This isn't Oaxaca."
What does that mean, Chris? Please explain why you are inserting Oaxaca into this. You clearly have a lot to learn from, and about, Oaxaca. I suggest you retract your ignorant and offensive comment about Oaxaca.
Quinta MegaMarcha SlideShow: Por un Oaxaca Mejor
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/07/18306649.php
Oaxaca City SlideShow: Un Pueblo Unido Avanza Sin Partidos
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/31/18305143.php
http://bradleystuart.net
http://elenemigocomun.net
I don't think the carefully selected and edited collection of stills that comprise this piece are much proof of anything.
The claim of knives and clubs seemed overblown, unless someone was counting the sticks used to hold signs. Of course, those sticks could be used in other ways than to hold signs. It's been known to happen on other protests, other picket lines.
I do notice the pics of the crowd rushing the Volvo at High and Western seem to have vanished. I suspect the cop who witnessed that supposedly hit people and then saw it's windows broken didn't arrest anyone because he was greatly outnumbered by the mob, and because the driver, who was known, didn't hit anyone.
The claim of knives and clubs seemed overblown, unless someone was counting the sticks used to hold signs. Of course, those sticks could be used in other ways than to hold signs. It's been known to happen on other protests, other picket lines.
I do notice the pics of the crowd rushing the Volvo at High and Western seem to have vanished. I suspect the cop who witnessed that supposedly hit people and then saw it's windows broken didn't arrest anyone because he was greatly outnumbered by the mob, and because the driver, who was known, didn't hit anyone.
The photo did not "vanish." Your suspicion is baseless.
For more information:
http://occupyca.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/m...
I thought the Volvo photos had also been posted on Indybay; perhaps I was wrong. In jumping on that, poster"--" goes of on a tangent irrelevant to the rest of my post. It's a "tired observation" only because my post isn't one of your cheerleaders.
Bradley, I think you misunderstood my comment. I very much support the struggle in Oaxaca and think the people have behaved with discipline and quite correctly in resisting the incredibly corrupt government repression. But while it makes sense to struggle in a specific way in Oaxaca, and Chiapas, that does not mean it makes sense here. I am not a pacifist but do believe that the means we use shape our ends. How could it be otherwise? Sorry I didn't write more clearly. crystal
No, the picture was here, that story has just moved off the front page. It was very clear, and showed people being knocked all over the place by the car.
You conveniently explain away any responsibility by the protesters for a few bad apples in their midst. You sympathize with them by acknowledging that it can be both difficult and frightening to identify the bad apples, confront them, or get rid of them.
So lets look back in time to March 1 and the protest march regarding racist graffiti on campus. Should not the student body and the administration both be given the same free pass? After all, it was only one bad apple, one moron, scrawling one racist piece of drivel?
....I thought not. The situational use of ethics, forgiveness for error, and accountability which create what I consider a glaring double standard by "activists" in Santa Cruz is apalling, in my opinion.
Another case in point?: All the anarchists protesting for anarchy then turning around and demanding their rights when the cops or administration show up and repercussions begin to be meted out. Pitiful hypocrisy.
So lets look back in time to March 1 and the protest march regarding racist graffiti on campus. Should not the student body and the administration both be given the same free pass? After all, it was only one bad apple, one moron, scrawling one racist piece of drivel?
....I thought not. The situational use of ethics, forgiveness for error, and accountability which create what I consider a glaring double standard by "activists" in Santa Cruz is apalling, in my opinion.
Another case in point?: All the anarchists protesting for anarchy then turning around and demanding their rights when the cops or administration show up and repercussions begin to be meted out. Pitiful hypocrisy.
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