The ever-changing scope of political activism

| Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch profiled the Wash U College Republicans and included a short interview with Washington University graduate student Thomas Hildebrand, who was quoted saying that Wash. U. is “not a very politically active campus.” As a student at Wash. U., I consider myself to only be moderately involved in politics—and I’m fairly involved in politics. So, sorry, but I’ve got to disagree.

I find it ironic that this article comes out on the same day as a political protest at the Underpass led by the Liberation Coalition. This group unified in a dissatisfaction for the complacency of the University when it comes to the systemic oppression of marginalized individuals. They will be marching in protest of the upcoming debate, and on Wednesday, they displayed a banner at the Underpass reading, “Your tuition funds systemic violence.”

Was this the political activism you see our campus lacking? Or is it the content you don’t like?

The liberalization of college campuses comes with the liberalization of college politics. An idiom from feminist theory, “The personal is political,” exemplifies this change. Gone are the days where sexual assault, racialized violence and LGBTQIA* rights were personal issues, expected to be dealt with individually. Now, individuals recognize that their lived experiences are shared by many and often results of policies put in place by administrations and governments. The Black Lives Matter movement organized to combat systemic oppression of black individuals. It calls out the policies and institutions that hold up this corrupt system. Less obviously, when people spoke out against the prison sentence of Brock Turner, they acted politically. By highlighting the issues surrounding sexual assault and racism, activists called on officials—national and local—to do better. They asked them to put in place better policies to keep this from happening again.

Maybe you’re fine with the content of political activism, but you just don’t see it anymore. Well, as the scope of politics broaden, so does the scope of political activism. There are better ways now for voices to be heard. The massive social media responses to events around the world that affect of us show that. The people who were outraged by the loss of black lives at the hands of police, the people who wrote against the travesty of Turner’s laughable sentence and unapologetic demeanor, the people who mourned the loss of LGBTQIA* lives in the Orlando, Fla. massacre—they weren’t posting their grievances for no reason, but were using social media as a platform to affect change. They used their voices to bring attention to political issues they cared about.

The scope of political activism on college campuses is expanding. People are taking their stances more to Facebook, where it will reach more people, and saving real-life appearances for when they are needed most.

If you’re looking for hoards of students banding together to discuss the ins and outs of the economy or foreign policy, you’re simply not going to find that in the numbers you’re looking for. As what defines politics changes, so does the way in which political views are expressed. If you don’t see political activism on campus, you’re missing something. Whether you disagree on whether something is political or not, or disagree on whether something constitutes activism or not, this campus is nonetheless very politically active. It just might not be the kind you want to see.

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