Dear Ms. Squier:

I have read and considered your response to the rally and march. I understand your point and concede you made it capably. Your suggestions are sound and your motivations admirable. However, history shows that simply working “within the system”, as you suggest, rarely facilitates lasting change. Only increasing the visibility of a cause can do that. A few examples:

-In the Reformation period following the Civil War, freedmen held the vote and were active in government. However, this did not prevent racist politicians with greater influence from oppressing them and eventually disenfranchising them completely. Leaders like Booker T. Washington advocated quiet acceptance of the status quo and gradual infiltration of society via the workforce, but this only led to further subjugation. Almost a hundred years later, when Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contemporaries dared to stand against racist public policy by nonviolent demonstration, the issue was raised to public consciousness and the Civil Rights Movement began.

-During the Industrial Revolution, the naturalized immigrants who worked in America’s factories were allowed to vote, but the politicians representing them continued to support business interests rather than their electorate, allowing them to suffer at the hands of their employers. Only when these workers went on strike and showed the nation the misery of their abject poverty as well as the dangers of their unregulated workplaces did movement to regulate business commence.

-The Vietnam War dragged on for over ten years despite public outcry. Many remained committed to the effort for fear of Vietnam’s inevitable political collapse should we leave, but others recognized our efforts to be in vain, perpetuating a bloody stalemate. It took the rise of an entirely new culture, dedicated to peace and willing to risk violence against themselves for it, to contest prevailing political wisdom and end our commitment to the war.

Yes, by all means, let us mail our legislators, let us call their offices, let us exercise our right to vote. These actions are all good and right. But by themselves, they are not enough. Our communities and our country must realize that, yes, we are discontent with the world that has been thrust upon us. They must see there are enough of us to legitimately demand change, but they must also realize we need their help to effect it. A phone call or a letter can be ignored or destroyed. A thousand people standing together as one to declare “this is not right” cannot. We must make a stand. We must demand attention by any means necessary. Silence and passivity will get us nowhere.

Try to view the Day of Action with some perspective. One day of class missed is hardly a heavy price to pay for the support we need. Surely, you have missed the same for much less. Have you never cut class for a party, or stayed home because you were unwell? Has this ever had any lasting impact on your education as a whole? Assuredly, it has not. One day- contrast this with the extra two or more years many are forced to commit to education thanks to higher tuition and decreased class availability. Measure the loss of one day’s schoolwork against the livelihoods destroyed by layoffs and budget cuts.

Perhaps you view our measures as “too extreme” and claim they alienate outsiders from our cause. You may have a point, but consider this: we who participated in the march have participated in other, milder protests. We desired only sympathetic listeners, and we were repeatedly ignored or ridiculed. It became obvious that moderate, unobtrusive action would garner neither attention nor support. At times, extreme measures are called for. This is one of those times. When silence or moderation lead to further abuse, the time has come to be quiet no longer.

In other words, we have no other choice. I implore you, as a rational, thinking young person, to join us and not criticize us. This is a time for unity, not petty bickering. Only by standing together can we create a world that assures “youth a future and old age a security.”

Respectfully,

Elizabeth Harper

CTVA/TESL