The Ethics of Protesting

You have a right to voice your dissent. Just make sure you do it the right way, which means with fairness and respect uppermost in mind

By Bruce Weinstein, PhD

The fear that as many as 30,000 protestors will disrupt the 2008 Democratic National Convention (which runs Aug. 25-28) has led to preparations for an unprecedented turnout by federal and local authorities, according to The New York Times. The city of Denver has spent more than $2 million on protection equipment for police officers, and millions more from the federal government will be tagged for Secret Service, FBI agents, and others charged with maintaining law and order. It's possible that protests planned for the Republican National Convention, to be held in Minneapolis-St. Paul from Sept. 1-4, will be even larger and more intense.

With such a hefty price tag for keeping the peace and the logistical nightmare of doing so, wouldn't it be better if the protesters just kept their mouths shut? Isn't it unpatriotic to voice dissent about political matters? What good does protest do, anyway?

The correct answers are no, no, and a lot.

A History of Protest

Our country was founded on the twin platforms of dissent and protest. Dissent is thinking or feeling differently about something, and protest is taking action based on dissent. It's easy to dismiss protests as the undertakings of zealots and kooks, but the history of the U.S. is largely one of protest: the Boston Tea Party, the Revolutionary War, and the Declaration of Independence are quintessential examples of protest and the reasons why we have the freedoms we do.

"What does this have to do with me?" you might ask. "I've never protested anything in my life." This isn't true, at least if you've ever voted. Voting is the most powerful way you can make your voice heard, and it is often done as a form of protest. Don't believe it? How often have you said, or heard someone else say, &qquot;I'm voting for candidate X not because I like him or her, but because I like the other candidate even less?" Not only is there nothing wrong with using your vote this way, but it would be wrong if you were truly bothered by what a candidate represented and did nothing about it.

A Code of Ethics for Protesting

Yes, we have a responsibility to speak up when we are upset by what's going on in the world, but there are better and worse ways to do it, from both ethical and practical perspectives. The goal of any protest is a moral one: to make things better (BusinessWeek.com, 1/18/07). However, this concern must be balanced against the ethical obligations to do no harm (BusinessWeek.com, 1/11/07), respect others (BusinessWeek.com, 1/31/07), and be fair (BusinessWeek.com, 2/15/07). With these concerns in mind, I propose the following code of ethics for those on either side of the forthcoming protests:

1. Obey the law, or be willing to accept the consequences. Civil disobedience has an important role in democracy, but those who break the law, even in the name of a higher moral good, may have to pay a significant personal price. Rosa Parks rightly protested the Jim Crow laws of the segregated South but was arrested, went to jail, and received death threats. Those who take issue with any aspect of either convention should keep the law in mind at all times and recognize that the failure to do so may lead to civil or criminal penalties, or both.

2. Be tolerant. It is great to be passionate about your point of view. It's also great to recognize that others may not share it or even be passionately opposed to it. Yes, let others know what you think and feel, but remember Newton's third law of motion: "For every action, there is an equal, but opposite, reaction." Tolerance is a necessary condition for respectful protest. We should embrace diversity, not wish it away.

3. Being respectful increases the chances that you'll get you what you want.