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November 08, 2005
Students demonstrate on anniversary: Walkout protest rallies against the war in Iraq
Marking the one-year anniversary of Bush’s re-election, high school students from across the metro met with signs and hand drums at the University of Minnesota in a mass anti-war protest last Wednesday afternoon.
Students participating in the rally had walked out of their schools earlier in the day in order to be at the U’s
Coffman Plaza by noon. There, the students and other individuals attending the event listened to speakers for an hour before marching to a nearby military recruitment station to continue the protest. An afternoon of socialist seminars followed later that day on campus.
The protest was organized by Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR) and focused on three main themes: getting military recruiters out of schools, putting money spent on the Iraq War into employment and education, and ending the war as soon as possible.
Others, however, had personal motives of their own for attending the rally. Marisa Carr, a Turtle Mountain Ojibwa and Dustin Johnson, a Red Lake Ojibwa, had walked out of their classes at the U earlier that day.
“American Indians have a higher rate of joining the military than other groups- as well as being the lowest group on the socio-economic scale,” Carr stated. “They’re sending us to Iraq to do the same thing to Iraqis that the U.S. did to us.”
Several other local college students attended the rally. In the crowd with them were people of all ages, from the very young to the old. Most participants, however, were from high schools. For many of them, it was their first politically-motivated event.
“It’s really cool; there are so many people,” one student from Clara Barton Open School commented. He and several others were surprised at the turnout the event received. When asked if they would attend other walkouts in the future, he and classmates responded with a confident “Yes. Definitely.”
The energy shared within the crowd created some small outbursts. When a car of U of M students was stuck in a crowd of marchers, some of the young protesters began to lightly hit the windows and sides of the vehicle. The behavior was quickly stopped by an adult moderator of the event, who told marchers they were not to touch any cars or cause any vandalism. Her annoyance shifted to the car, however, after it tapped her with its bumper.
Tensions also rose when a small verbal dispute erupted between anti-war protesters and a handful of pro-war supporters who had gathered outside the recruitment station. Once again, a moderator stepped in.
“Just don’t talk to them,” a member of the Anti-War Organizing League (AWOL) directed. “If they think the war is easy, let them go fight it. You kids did a good job today, and it’s time to head back.”
Despite these minor conflicts, the protest was non-violent and wasn’t met with much public opposition. Molly, a South High student, said “I like to think it did some good. It can’t change things on its own, but it gets a message across.”
Amelia, a speaker at the event, summed up the message of the protest.
“We love our country and we are the future,” she stated. “We want that future to be a bright and peaceful one.”
Posted by msveum at November 8, 2005 11:51 AM
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