American Fascist Protestors:
More Ignorance Alienates the World

In a city famous for social and political voices, adolescent ego and self-righteous ignorance prevented the Olympic torch ritual and launched a message like a missile to China: Americans don’t accept you as a world citizen. What should have been a valid political protest degenerated into cultural discrimination by a simplistic mob mentality. The Journey of Harmony became the Journey of Shame.

Any government will attempt to leverage the Olympic Games for some public relations advantage, but should that diminish the value to the citizens of a hosting country? In fact, it should never prevent the world’s citizens from embracing even a fleeting moment of human endeavor and accomplishment beyond the web of politics.

Nevertheless, thousands of San Franciscans decided to drown out all other voices and activity with their fascistic actions that changed the scheduled torch run, stopped the Chinese performers from conveying 5,000 years of cultural tradition, and disappointed thousands of Embarcadero spectators who sought to see the Olympic legacy that has outlasted all governments and political institutions.

The actions of most protesters last Wednesday afternoon were a callous and painful insult to the Chinese people. The Dali Lama warned against this result. His fear was realized. I saw it in the faces of the dismayed performers stranded on the sidelines and frustrated bystanders. A distraught Chinese man walked by pleading to anyone who would listen, “No politics, just the games.”

A twetysomthing woman in designer business attire, apparently on a lunch break, interrupted the man by shouting, “Yeah, just a big advertisement for Coke!” (It’s a major sponsor for the games.) I turned and pointedly said, “You realize Coke is an American company, right?”

I tried to apologize for the protestors to some of the Chinese performers, but they didn’t speak English and they recoiled from me even when I was making a conciliatory gesture with the tone of my voice.

Without question, China’s oppression of Tibet should be protested as well as their role in Darfur. However, the Olympic Games should be championed as a cultural event, something embraced by the world’s citizens. The Chinese embassy – a political institution – would’ve been an appropriate place to protest, as well as the sidelines of the torch race, but not in the middle of the street forcing closure.

A far more effective communication strategy would’ve been to line the route with the Tibetan message as the torch was carried by the Chinese runner. Spectators and the media would see the contrast and the irony would’ve been profound. Instead, a mob prevailed and it galvanized the Chinese contingent. The protest provoked a defensive posture by the Chinese participants. As protestors continued their domination of the street, more and more large Chinese flags streamed through the crowd. However, Wednesday’s protesters seemed far more interested in immediate gratification and less interested in an actual strategy to help Tibet.

A bit past noon, I saw the protesting crowd flood around the police on the Embarcadero. The crowd was peaceful but ignored the repeated and polite requests by the police to remain on the sidewalk. The protesters were like typical schoolyard bullies who believed their attitude to be the only one of importance.

Exiled Tibetans have every right to exercise their freedom of speech in our democracy. Americans know they have that right, a right not enjoyed by Chinese citizens who don’t have the right to effectively protest their government’s foreign policies. If we know they don’t have this power, why insult them by blocking the torch run like thugs under the guise of righteous indignation?

Even with our unprecedented democratic freedoms and power, American citizens failed to stop the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld trio from their treasonous deception, unwarranted invasion, and ruthless destruction of Iraq, not to mention atrocities on Iraqi citizens and over 6,000 suicides by American soldiers returning from that nightmare. What about our exported violence to Afghanistan civilians? What about the unknown number of innocent civilians held and tortured by our military and “intelligence” organizations around the world? If we examine the past 50 years, how many countries have experienced our oppressive policies through political, economic, or military aggression?

Given our imperialist history since WWII, how many of the San Francisco protesters have blocked the Super Bowl or World Series or Final Four during any one of our well-documented oppressions worldwide?

The informed citizens of the world know how the USA enforced a policy of genocide against native Americans and waged war to steal land from Mexico. A Chinese citizen must bitterly resent American hypocrisy when we punish their culture by disrespecting a legendary athletic endeavor meant to transcend politics, and meant to help usher China into the 21st Century. The Chinese have no illusions about their past or present, but they know they will be a global force with our without our acceptance.

Politics and culture are naturally woven into a national fabric, but it’s essential to separate political protest from cultural discrimination. Of course citizens are accountable to the extent that they have power, but we have more power and we still elected Bush to two terms.

In order to avoid alienating the very citizens who hold the future promise of changing their government’s policies, we should not insult the Chinese. They represent the next dominant power with the largest potential middle class and manufacturing industry on the planet. Is it wise to alienate them when they have the power to create the largest
democracy on the planet?

I believe that the Chinese people will, in time, forgot our bad manners and arrogance on Wednesday in San Francisco. The Chinese will, however, remember Jin Jing clutching the extinguished torch from her wheelchair in Paris. Jing is already a heroic figure. Do we really want to be the demon in the Olympic scenario?

It’s wise to understand that the Chinese are entitled to their pride in spite of their government’s bad policies, in spite of our armchair judgment, and in spite of brash protests around the world. It’s wise – and right – to earn the respect of the Chinese people with the same vigor with which we attack their government.