In response to the popular narratives that construct folks in the militant “Get Off The Fence March” at the G20 as white, middle-class, cis-gendered men, here is a photo that speaks for itself. Leading the march is No One Is Illegal, in which women of colour stand at the front. Yes, POC are more likely to be victims of racial profiling if they are detained by the police*, however, I think that in many cases, because POC are greater targets for institutional, systemic, and even more specifically, police repression, some POC (and gasp, women of colour!) may want to participate in more militant marches. So maybe check yourself before you make assumptions about the subject positions of those who respond militantly. As I said before, sometimes being able to respond “peacefully” is a privilege. When folks are harassed by police on a daily basis, when folks are the ones who suffer from the most violence at hands of global capitalism, and when every day life is violent in itself, then sometimes those folks are a little less inclined to walk in designated “free speech” zones.
*Therefore, I acknowledge, that it is a privilege to be able to place oneself in an arrestable position.
Note: I’m not trying to condemn peaceful protest and marches; I attend many of them. I’m just trying to dispell some of the myths surrounding what are considered to be “militant” protests, and try to explain why some people engage with other forms of dissent. I think it’s really harmful to assume that those who participate in militant marches are white, middle-class vandals who just enjoy violence for the hell of being macho. I think we need to have a more nuanced understanding of these marches, and go beyond our construction of these marches as “senseless violence.” What lies behind them can be very telling of unremarked power structures and responses to them.
