Major Protest Movements: Are They Worth It?

 

Recent protests around the world have brought renewed attention to demonstrations¹ as a form of expression and call for change.

The year 2019 saw protests in Lebanon, Gaza, France, Venezuela and other places. Worldwide, protesting slowed in early 2020 because of the spread of the new coronavirus.

That changed after the death of George Floyd.

Demonstrations around the world were held in support of Americans protesting the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.

In cities across the U.S., some protests turned violent, as people expressed their anger over the incident and their strong desire for change.

Historically, however, huge demonstrations rarely bring about results expected by those who take part in them.

The Associated Press recently looked back at some important protests from the past.

American civil rights

People involved in Black Lives Matter say their movement is largely leaderless. Recent protests have invited comparison to the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march of 250,000 people to Washington, D.C. King and activist² Malcolm X represented two different plans for protests. One supported large, peaceful demonstrations. The other wanted to get results "by any means necessary."

During that period, major civil rights acts and the Voting Rights Act were passed under the administration of President Lyndon Johnson. But protests against social injustice³ and the Vietnam War continued into the 1970s, often becoming destructive and violent.

Democratic Party lawmakers this month proposed new measures to control local police departments in the United States. But the Democratic Party's presidential nominee⁴, Joe Biden, has not supported recent calls by protesters across the country to "defund the police."

President Donald Trump⁵ and his Republican allies have strongly criticized calls for defunding police departments.

The fall of the Soviet⁶ Union

In 1989 in Eastern Europe, protests were increasingly against rule by the Communist Party. One by one, countries like the former East Germany and Poland cut off influence of the former Soviet Union. The final Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, permitted the change to take place. The end of one-party rule in East Germany and Poland was largely peaceful.

The time period also included the "Velvet⁷ Revolution" which brought the end of Soviet influence in the former Czechoslovakia. The change took place about 20 years after similar protests against the Soviet Union in 1968 were crushed by hundreds of thousands of Soviet-led troops.

The Arab spring of 2011

More than 20 years later, a major wave of political protests overtook the Middle East and North Africa. The demonstrations were captured on social media. The movement, known as the Arab Spring, gave voice to people who demanded change in their governments.

In Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Tunisia, long-time rulers fell in 2011. But only in Tunisia has democracy lasted.

Since 2011, Egypt's authoritarian⁸ rule has increased. Yemen and Libya continue to be involved in civil wars that have created humanitarian⁹ crises. Syria was also influenced by the Arab spring movement. But the civil war that soon followed continues today, with an estimated 500,000 dead and millions displaced.

More recently, protests in Lebanon and Iraq started last October against leaders considered corrupt¹⁰ and ineffective. But Lebanon has not been able to solve its political problems and faces a severe financial crisis.

In Iraq, many protesters have been killed and the country's health care system remains¹¹ unable to deal with the effects of the new coronavirus. In addition, money from the sale of oil has fallen sharply because of low oil prices.

2019 and 2020

Last year, huge protests against the rule of longtime Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir led to his ouster by the army in April 2019. Bashir now faces charges of genocide and war crimes. He has been replaced by a joint¹² civilian-military "sovereign council." But civilians¹³ struggle to assert control over important government ministries¹⁴.

I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

authoritarian –adj. a form of government marked by not permitting personal freedoms

assert –v. to demand that other people accept something

harsh –adj. severe, having a harmful effect because of too much force

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

8 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

14 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。