Opinion: Why March for our lives will lead to nothing
Jazmyne Boozer, Assistant Editor
Photo Courtesy: Corley Wood, Graphic artist
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of The Vision NGU or North Greenville University.
On Saturday, March 24, 2018, thousands of high school-aged students marched the streets of Washington, D.C. and other cities in support of gun control. After the Parkland shooting, Emma Gonzalez, a senior who attends Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, emerged as one of the faces of the gun control movement.
She helped orchestrate the march and gave a powerful speech in Washington D.C. Every state within the United States participated in the march for our lives protests. Greenville, S.C. also saw some action with more than 1,000 people participating in the march as well.
America’s history has its roots in civil disobedience and protesting. Our founding fathers came to America and broke away from Great Britain in protest through the Declaration of Independence. Women gained the right to vote through protesting in the streets while their men were at work. African Americans gained the right to vote through peaceful demonstrations and civil outcry.
Even recently, gay marriage is recognized by the United States after decades of mentions in media and eventually…protesting. From the destruction of monopolies, to the demolition of child labor; America loves a good protest.
The American spirit thrives on protesting and conflict. It could almost be argued that every major conflict would not be solved today without someone speaking out against it. In fact, this could be argued for every major conflict in the world. The march for our lives protests are no different.
However, with all of the press and media, this movement runs risk in becoming just another protest that comes and goes without ever provoking any type of change. This is due to one word that we hardly ever see anymore: unity.
Every protest and every protester seemed to have a different outlook on how to fix the problem. In Greenville alone, spectators and protestors alike seemed confused and conflicted. While some toted signs opposing guns altogether, others insisted the fight was against arming teachers with guns. Still, some were vouching for a minor increase in gun control.
“Some had signs [saying] ‘Get Trump out of office’ and some students had signs that said, ‘Am I next?’ I felt like they were protesting a lot of different things,” said Nicole Shannon, a spectator of the protests.
Flor de Liz, another student who went to watch the protesting stated, “I couldn’t tell what they were protesting against. There were so many ideas.”
How is it possible to criticize our congressman for not solving the problem, when we the people do not have solid answer for the problem either? If Congress is supposed to represent the masses, it is easy to see why they are having such a hard time finding a simple solution to the problem.
We as American citizens do not have a full-proof solution to this problem either. The reason why the march for our lives protests have fallen flat is because they are disorganized and not in unity as to how to solve the problem.
During the civil right movement, the answer was stated clear and concise: Get rid of segregation. For women’s suffrage the answer was clearly stated: Let women vote. For gay rights the answer was simply: Let gay men and women marry. For gun control, the answer is not there. We are used to seeing disparity between Republican and Democrats; but even within the same political parties, there is not unity. Without it, this will go unsolved.
