DUELING COLUMN: Protests aren’t making the change we need

Conor Moore | Assistant Opinion Director

Following the failure of “Ceasefire Now!” and the arrest of a student, it’s time to look at protests and ask if they’re really worth it, for now and in the future.

While I’m not against the concept of the protests and mass demonstrative movements, in recent memory they have proved unable to actuate change and only seem to cause more division and partisanship.

Black Lives Matter had several protests in Florida which were met with mostly muted or even hostile responses from the governor. The movement itself has lost a considerable amount of support and the actual legislative results of the movement have been slim-to-none in most cities.

Same-sex marriage managed to succeed against all odds, but I would argue the success of LGBTQ+ movements in the past has been the result of a growing cultural acceptance and normalization of queer relationships in addition to continued protests.

At FIU, protests haven’t fared much better. The initial announcement of the removal of DEI was met with a strong response from students who made their voices heard yet DEI’s downfall was unaffected. 

Protests regarding Israel-Palestine have also become an almost common occurrence on campus now, but they fall on deaf ears.

Solidarity and awareness are nice, but in the long term, they don’t mean anything if nothing gets done.

That’s not to say that the people aren’t entitled to speak their voices — there have been successful movements in the past.

The recent Free Palestine protests on campus haven’t accomplished much besides putting Students for Justice in Palestine’s name in the headlines.

And as someone who has seen several of the walk-outs and marches for Palestine since the very beginning of the conflict last fall, I’ve noticed them getting smaller and smaller.

It seems that beyond the core group who come out and protest, the student interest in speaking out for what they believe in has dwindled.

What has been the result of all of the protests? At this point, with “Ceasefire Now!” being a failure and the elimination of DEI, protests are the equivalent of yelling at a brick wall. 

FIU is a state school and is subject to whatever the state does, and it’s apparent Florida’s government is unwilling to listen or hear out any demands made by perceived “woke activists”.

Making your voice heard is important, but that doesn’t mean anything when it’s been proven time and time again that it’s not enough. 

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The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.