Gregory Rodriguez: Maybe the May Day Protests Weren't the Best Idea
"BARELY TWO WEEKS after the May 1 melee at MacArthur Park, immigrant
rights activists are already planning another demonstration, this one in Hollywood in late June. They should quit while they're ahead. Mass street demonstrations are a high-risk political strategy that quickly reaches the point of diminishing returns. Organizers should ask themselves whether they're really trying to appeal to the goodwill of the general public — and Congress, as it debates immigration reform — or simply grandstanding," says LA Times columnist Gregory Rodriguez. "But let's be honest [he continues], this year's May Day demonstrations in Los Angeles -- which brought out about 35,000 marchers compared to last year's 650,000 -- were a dud in terms of political punch -- until the LAPD gave them new meaning. Consequently, they barely registered in the nation's capital, at least on the issues that mattered to the marchers," he says.
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