Student Protests Can Backfire (Badly)
On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: solidarity?
College campuses across the country are grappling with protests and occupations in the name of a free Palestine. Many hundreds of students, faculty, and outside community members have been arrested in tense clashes with police — called onto campuses by the universities themselves.
Student protestors have shaped public discourse on matters like war and the environment for many decades. But without a clear, sympathetic goal, they can also lead to political backlash that far outlasts a four-year degree.
So are today’s student protestors instigating change in Gaza… or teeing up a crackdown on speech and protest here at home?
Prof. Steven Mintz of UT Austin joins us, and urges a cautionary look at the history books.
If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com
Podcast production by Maura Currie.
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