A panel of activists, journalists and scholars discussed the nature of protesting in the age of social media during the “Resistance in the Digital Age: Exercising or Abusing First Amendment Rights” panel Thursday in the Holliday Forum of the LSU Journalism Building.
University alumni professor Cecil Eubanks spoke on behalf of former University associate professor Dustin Howes. Howes died from Lou Gehrig’s disease in January, Eubanks said, and the panel was dedicated in his honor.
The panel included WAFB assistant news director Chris Slaughter; civil rights activist and host of “Pod Save the People” DeRay Mckesson; alumnus and Vox writer Sean Illing; East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Casey Rayborn Hicks; and American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Bruce Hamilton.
Panelists discussed the common threads driving protests, and how protestors continue to find new ways to address points of contention.
In regard to the First Amendment and how it applied to the discussion of resistance, Hamilton discussed a photo taken during the protests of Alton Sterling, who was shot and killed by two Baton Rouge Police Department officers in the summer of 2016. The protests depict a girl in the middle of the street, wearing a sundress, being confronted by cops who were wearing riot gear.
“I want to focus on that image because symbolic speech is powerful speech,” Hamilton said. “When you think about burning a draft card, or wearing a black arm band or just raising a first or a middle finger, these are very powerful gestures and they’re meaningful and they’re protected by the First Amendment.”
Both Slaughter and Mckesson said they were arrested during the protests after the death of Sterling.
Slaughter gave an anecdote about his arrest during the Sterling protests, as it was broadcast across a Facebook Live stream. Not only did many of his friends across the nation see it happen, but his daughter, who lives 100 miles from him, watched it happen live and let his wife know within minutes of the arrest.
Discussing the way people view protests, Hicks agreed with other panelists that there are many advantages to social media, like giving voices to the voiceless. The disadvantages, Hicks said, stem from the ability to spread misinformation. She said when news outlets do not cover peaceful protests, it can lead to protesters acting outrageously.
“Traditional media, they typically operate within certain ethical and professional parameters,” Hicks said. “With this news cycle and social media, anybody can essentially be a journalist.”
While Illing and Slaughter both said many people live within their own bubbles and create the news they want to see, Mckesson argued that technology is not the cause for any of what is happening.
“The thing that’s dividing people, like racism and homophobia, those are the divisive things,” Mckesson said. “Technology might be the facilitator that makes you finding people who believe those ideas easier … but technology didn’t make you racist.”
Bart R. Swanson Endowed Memorial professor Jinx Broussard, who moderated the panel, posed a question regarding whether disruptive protests can still be peaceful.
Mckesson said the violent people in protests are the police themselves.
“I’ve never understood this question about whether or not protests [are] disruptive,” Illing said. “Protests are disruptive by definition. That’s what it is. It’s about making people uncomfortable.”
