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“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
― Warren Buffett
Though this book has examined international cases of revolutions and political violence, this chapter will reorient the analysis to the United States and analyze the social revolutions of the American left. The chapter afterward will examine the social revolutions of the American right. The U.S subject is unique because, unlike the case studies previously covered in this book, its social movements have taken place within a state featuring an advanced capitalist economic system and democratic polity in the Global North, and because the U.S is regarded by many as the global hegemon of the international system. As a result, the U.S exerts considerable influence on the international stage and has had a hand in many revolutionary outcomes in other countries through direct or indirect involvement in foreign politics. As political philosopher James DeFronzo notes, liberal movements are distinguished from their conservative counterparts by their unique aim to transform the political and economic order of a given society, rather than to preserve the status quo (Defronzo, 2015, p. 9). Given the political, economic, and military power of the United States, how do American citizens of the left push for liberal change within the state? To what extent have American leftist revolutionary movements been successful in their aims to bring about liberal change?
In this section, Chalmers’ Johnson’s equation for revolution and James DeFronzo’s five preconditions for a successful revolution will be applied to the Vietnam Antiwar protests, the Occupy Wallstreet Movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement to explain their respective causes and outcomes.
Vietnam Anti-War Movement
Following the policies being put in place by the American government and the disregard of American lives by the government, the Vietnam anti-war movement began. Although the Vietnam anti-war movement did not fully develop into revolutionary war, and somewhat produced a revolutionary outcome, anti-war groups put pressure on the government and action on the part of those involved with the movement that fall in line with the theories put forth by Chalmers Johnson and James DeFronzo.
The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which became the group largely responsible for the organization of the anti-war movement’s activities, originally established themselves as a group concerned with “societal and university reform” (Berry, 2018: p. 31) based on college campuses and communities in the United States. The SDS as well as other anti-war groups shifted their focus to Vietnam particularly when Lyndon B. Johnson became president after Kennedy’s assassination, and the number of drafted men increased accompanying the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The location of apparent North Vietnamese contact with U.S. naval forces, The Gulf of Tonkin, prompted Johnson to ask for Congressional approval to begin official warfare in the region (“The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the Limits of Presidential Power”, 2020). This sparked the large numbers of men being drafted, which only increased as Johnson’s presidency continued. The United States’ involvement, to many, seemed like men got shipped off to die in a war the United States had no chance to win. This feeling in particular heightened with the news of the Tet Offensive, one of the bloodiest battles, if not the bloodiest battle, of the entire Vietnam War (Bowman, 2018). Domestically, seemed to show the American efforts in Vietnam as successful and tactful. The Tet Offensive showed the American people that quite the opposite of success was playing out in Vietnam. This exacerbated the feeling that men would be shipped to Vietnam just to die.
To combat the draft, demonstrations from anti-war groups and individuals involved the burning of their draft cards (Berry, 2018: p. 36). In addition, people found creative ways to dodge the draft in the form of running away to Canada, joining the national guard, or going to college (Berry, 2018: p. 36). Going to college turned into a popular way to get out of being drafted, and a large portion of the anti-war leaders were college students. This contributed to the idea that the draft targeted low income and African American citizens in the United States because the options others took to avoid the draft could not present themselves as opportunities for these populations. Disdain and fear of being drafted took over the minds of American citizens, especially as numbers of men being drafted increased significantly over the course of Johnson’s term.
The draft became an especially pertinent issue as Johnson approached the end of his presidential term and as Nixon was preparing to move into the presidential role. Anti-war protestors hoped that Nixon would try to bring an end to the war and withdraw troops from Vietnam. However, the release of the Pentagon Papers during Nixon’s presidency yet again accelerated anti-war sentiments. The Pentagon Papers, while they did not cover the time Nixon was in office, gave more fuel to the anti-war movement because it seemed as though this war was far from over (Moran, 2018). Nixon also viewed the leaking of these documents as treasonous, despite the information presented in them having no relation to his presidency and policies regarding Vietnam (Moran, 2018). Anti-war groups, seeing Nixon’s reaction and having the realization that the war would not necessarily end as soon as they had hoped. Nixon was perpetuating the situation that anti-war individuals had been working tirelessly to end. The culmination of these frustrations and the inability of the government to respond in an efficient and effective way came into full view during the Kent State Shootings in 1970. Student demonstrators gathered on the Kent State campus to protest against Nixon’s decision to allow the United States to invade Cambodia, going against his initial promise of finishing the war (Lewis & Hensley). The Ohio National Guard was called in to town because of this and fears that rioting would occur, but the National Guard was called to the campus because an ROTC building was lit on fire, making the campus situation worse (Lewis & Hensley). May 4th, 1970, the National Guard fired their weapons into a crowd of protestors, killing 4 people (Lewis & Hensley). This caused uproar from the anti-war community because the shootings happened after a demonstration promoting anti-war ideals. In addition, Nixon released a statement that insinuated that the tragedy at hand was incited by the protestors in the first place, and that protests should stray away from violence in order to avoid another Kent State (Guerrieri, 2020). Nixon’s disregard for even the lives of American’s domestically further agitated the anti-war movement, one of many blunders for Nixon regarding the war. Nixon’s actions exposed a plan to not leave the war the way he had said at the beginning of his presidency.
Anti-war protests dedicated to actual demonstrations like the one at Kent State composed a large portion of overall demonstration tactics. The anti-war movement had a reliance on visibility by state and national governments in order to garner support for their cause and put pressure on politicians. The protests at times would also erupt into unrest, which caused pressure domestically to appease the American people when it came to the United States’ involvement in Vietnam.
Application of Chalmers Johnson
Chalmers Johnson’s theory is made up of a combination of multiple dysfunction, an intransigent elite, and an x factor that “sparks” a revolution and ultimately results in some kind of revolutionary outcome (Johnson, pp. 188-191). The Vietnam anti-war movement has all of these components but does not end in revolutionary war. The multiple dysfunction in this case can be considered as the United States’ involvement in Vietnam in the first place. There was no chance of the United States winning the war, and involvement in the first place was frustrating a mass amount of the population. The government also induced a mass draft which angered anti-war groups, especially because it targeted low income and African American citizens. The intransigent elite can be considered the college students and demonstrators who took to the streets to put pressure on government officials and called for change domestically. They were not drafted into the war themselves, because they had the ability to go to college, but were the voices of those who went overseas and who were drafted. The “x factor” could be considered as a variety of things. This includes the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Tet Offensive, the leaking of the Pentagon Papers, and the Kent State shootings. All of these events set off waves of revolutionary situations in the United States, however, a full revolutionary war did not start. The anti-war movement gained motivation to fight for their beliefs in various forms of protest after these events occurred. The Vietnam anti-war movement did not necessarily evolve into full blown revolution though, and that may be because the feature of multiple dysfunction did not get dire enough to push the United States into a domestic civil war. There were protests and change did occur after an extended period of time in Vietnam but did not fully erupt into a revolution. This could be attributed to the resignation of Nixon and the gradual end of the war as Nixon’s presidency came to an end as well, because the events went somewhat hand in hand with one another. The gradual decline of the Nixon administration helped bring a quicker end to the war, and with that the reason for protesting was lost. Although the situation did not bring about total revolutionary war, the end of the war could be considered a successful revolutionary outcome for the anti-war protesters.
Application of James DeFronzo
James DeFronzo’s theory features the components of Mass Frustration, Dissident Elite, Unifying Motivations, Severe Political Crisis, and a Permissive/Tolerant World Context (DeFronzo, 2015: pp. 12-13). This applicable to the Vietnam anti-war movement in various aspects of how the movement changed and shifted focus over time, as well as how the movement responded to the various actions of the government that it did not agree with. Mass frustration can be shown through the protests of the draft, whether that was draft avoidance or the demonstration of burning draft cards. Many anti-war groups opposed the draft and how it singled out certain populations in the United States to serve in a deadly war. The dissident elite in the Vietnam anti-war movement were the college students and young people on the front lines of protests and draft card burnings. These were the groups that did not necessarily get drafted but were the “intelligentsia” of the anti-war effort. These people were students and teachers that were against the war in Vietnam and educated various people on why the anti-war movement was one the public should support. This was highlighted through “teach-ins” hosted on college campuses, which was where students and members of the public could learn about the war and ways, they could get involved in protesting or advocating against it (Berry, 2018: p. 34). The unifying motivation in this case ties back into mass frustration at the time. Many people did not want their family members, friends, or even themselves to be drafted into what many people thought was a war you would not come home from. The severe political crises could be tied back into what the x-factor of Johnson’s theory was, which were the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Tet Offensive, the leaking of the Pentagon Papers, and the Kent State shootings. All of these events sent the anti-war movement into overdrive when it came to rallying against the war in Vietnam. When it comes to the permissive or tolerant world context, there really was only domestic push back against the anti-war movement. The Vietnam War, even under the conditions put forth by DeFronzo, did not result in a full-blown revolution. The war ultimately ended, and Nixon resigned, and the anti-war movement died down with that. The government, although they were not proponents of the anti-war movement, were more concerned with keeping domestic uprisings at bay, especially considering how devastating the war abroad already was. This in itself could be considered a revolutionary outcome, despite there being no revolutionary war, because the anti-war protests did achieve their goals in pushing for the end of the draft and the war.
Occupy Wall street
Occupy Wall Street encompasses a modern identity of revolutionary action. Started in 2011 at Zuccotti Park on Wall Street, spurred by the mass discrepancy between most Americans and the top 1% of the U.S. economically. Through analyzing the organization and movement as a whole through both Chalmers Johnson and James DeFronzo’s condition of revolution, it can be understood why Occupy was successful as a protest but a failure as a revolution.
The rising tensions between minoritized communities and cops and between wealthy hedge fund managers and minimum wage earners became kindling lighting the fire of Occupy Wall Street. Starting in September with just the occupation of Zuccotti Park, Occupy had spread to almost every major metropolitan in the U.S. by the end of October. (We are the 99%, 2011) As people became angrier with the current economic and social situation in America, there were thousands stepping out to exercise their democratic right, calling out systematic oppression and corruption perfectly encapsulated in the Wall Street culture. The movement was, in part, catalyzed by the Arab Spring, where protests began in Egypt earlier that same year surrounding public discontent and high levels of unemployment. Unlike Egypt, there was no revolutionary outcome, just an awakened and heightened public sense of discontent with major corporations. (Graeber, 2011) The main requests of protestors are better wealth distribution, democratic representation, and a political change in the prioritization of corporations. Occupy stretched from East Coast to West and even across the world and lived past the physical protest themselves. Time Magazine even named the Person of the Year 2011 as The Protester, (Times, 2011) and the original blog continues on with updated protest and ally information. (We are the 99%, 2011) The movement was considered radical because of the anarchism beliefs that it was rooted from (Graeber, 2011) The large media presence became a fast-burning method of communication and information, encouraging city after city to have their own protests. The conditions for a revolution were present; economic disparity mixed in with racialized injustice made obvious by the fallout of a harrowing economic awakening in the 2008 Stock Market Crash. The protests were broadcasted and organized through social media, specifically through a blog titled ‘We are the 99%’, coordinated with the belief that the top 1% of the wealthiest population left everyone else, or the 99% fighting over crumbs for survival. The protesters lined the streets of major cities across the U.S. while thousands of New Yorkers continued to protest and occupy, even across the Brooklyn Bridge. The main source of frustration is the disposability of the everyday American to large corporations and in the grand capitalist scheme. The protest was a sign of the failure of trickle-down economics and an outcry for the U.S. to pay more attention to the civil rights and economic issues at hand instead of investing as much as possible into the military. (King, 2011)
Why Did Occupy Fail?
As a decentralized movement with newly gained momentum, the Occupy Wall Street movement failed in a couple of aspects. As a nationwide and ever global movement mostly informed on social media, there were complications surrounding the decentralization. The message was the same, but the immediate demands of the movement would vary by location, giving slight differences in outcome. For example, Oakland’s Occupy worked differently than Chicago’s, both had the same goal but different levels of disparity and community awareness. (King, 2011) Not having a short term demands to be met lost the movement ‘s momentum, as the occupation barely lasted six months, with issues mostly contended as a congressional level. (Astor, 2011) Another issue pointed out is that the movement appeals in a large part to the police forces handling the protests and arresting people. In the case that there was an appeal to that specific line of blue-collar work, then the momentum could have been utilized to shut down this system reliant on cops as a mechanism of protection. (Astor, 2011) There was no revolutionary outcome due to the decentralized nature of this movement, the loss of momentum and failure to appeal to everyone encompassed in the 99%.
Chalmers Johnson Application
As mentioned earlier in the chapter, Chalmers Johnson’s trio of conditions can be applied. There is multiple dysfunction represented by the criminalization of citizens of color, the struggle to bring the economy back after a major event, a disconnect between corporations and communities as well as an invalidation of worker’s worth. The decline of economic safety after the 2008 recession still affected the majority of America 3 years later, while large companies and the top 1% went back to prospering. The intransigent elite were the original protestors in New York, along with mass media gatherings behind the movement. The ‘x factor’ could be considered the initial occupation of Zuccotti Park, the march on Brooklyn Bridge, and the blog ‘We are the 99%’ and the televised effects of the Arab Spring. Since this movement did not end in a revolution, it holds true in Chalmer’s belief that decentralization only creates reform as opposed to a full-blown revolution. The situation in the United States was not bad enough to enact a reaction to multiple dysfunctions, which could also lead to a reason within the theory of why Occupy never became a revolution. As changes at a smaller level occurred and the movement was addressed by Obama, there was no real large-scale solution.
James DeFronzo Application
As for James DeFronzo’s five conditions for revolution, (Mass Frustration in Society, Dissident Elite, Unifying Motivation, Severe Political Crisis, Permissive or Tolerant World Context) each presents itself in a way, but not to the degree needed for a full-fledged revolution. Mass frustration is shown just in the sheer number of protestors and how widespread the movement became in such a short time. The signs from all around the world depicting the slogan “We are the 99%” prove the message hit home far and wide. Dissident elite can be applied to the avid social media correspondence placing the demonstrations and protests as accessible information without necessarily doing much more than posting on Facebook. As the movement did not have a figurehead, the media aspect proved to organize and engage as many groups as possible while remaining relatively anonymous. The unifying motivation came from how the previous year’s economic spiral affected the entire population, creating an easy hook for the majority of Americans struggling financially. Severe political crises did not apply as heavily for Occupy. While the protest was political in nature, there was not as dire of political incidents as the Gulf of Tonkin, but arrests did happen, and there was major civil upheaval at the disappointment in a nation that puts its guns before its people. Occupy did take on a global stance as it appealed to a world context. Occupy did not meet the conditions for revolution and does not qualify as a revolution under DeFronzo’s theory. The campaign ended within six months of its beginning, and while it has continued to be relevant, it still did not incite drastic change into the American economic inequalities.
Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is the most widespread contemporary social movement of the American left in the modern day. Following the George Floyd protests of summer 2020, it may also represent the largest U.S social movement to date (Buchanan, Bui, & Patel, 2020). The Black Lives Matter hashtag was founded in 2013 by three Black women named Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patricia Cullors, who coined the term on Twitter following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an African American teen in Florida (Knox & Herbert, 2020). Nearly 7 years after its founding, what began as a radical refrain for the Black community which reflected the inherent, human worth of Black life in the face of racial injustice has become a multiethnic, national social movement opposing widespread police brutality against the Black community.
BLM remains decentralized in character. The most coherent structure of the BLM movement may be the national Black Lives Matter 501c3, which was started by Garza, Tometi, and Cullors after the BLM hashtag went viral. Still, the regional chapters maintain their political autonomy, and do not always coordinate their political actions. While most supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement would agree that racially motivated police brutality exists in America, each political faction advocates different means for how to address the issue. While those on the far left of the Black Lives Matter movement call to defund and abolish the police, moderate BLM subscribers advocate for police reforms such as revised antiracism and de-escalation trainings and redefining the role of police in society (Chisholm, 2020). The Black Lives Matter movement–while invariably centering the experiences of Black citizens and maintaining a leftist political gravity–has supporter across the lines of race, class, gender, religion, and even party affiliation.
Though BLM has been growing for just shy of a decade, the movement has never acted in such a concert until early summer 2020. On May 26th, 2020, Americans on lockdown everywhere due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic were shocked and outraged to see a viral video depicting the particularly gruesome murder of George Floyd–a Black man from Minneapolois–by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who arrested Floyd and knelt on the back of his neck even as Floyd repeatedly gasped “I can’t breathe.” Onlookers watched as three other police officers did not intervene and prevented bystanders from intervening. In the days and weeks that followed, nearly 140 cities across the United States staged protests in George Floyd’s name, and the National Guard was deployed in 21 states to restore law and order (Taylor, 2020). While many protests were peaceful, protests in major cities were marked by looting and vandalism, as well as fringe instances of violence.
Though the BLM movement is still ongoing, the powerful force of the BLM protests from this past summer begs the question: why now? Further, will the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement lead to a radical reckoning with racist policing in society? The catalyzing force of social media in the United States has been documented in the previous section on the Occupy Wallstreet movement, and as well as from an international perspective in the chapter on the Arab Spring. As with the previously illustrated cases of American leftist revolutionary movements, Defronzo’s and Johnson’s works remain relevant to explain the converging political, economic, and social contexts in which the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement emerged, and to predict what revolutionary outcomes it may lead to.
Chalmers Johnson Application
Johnson’s equation of multiple dysfunction, an intransigent elite, and an X factor resulting in a revolutionary outcome can be applied to the Black Lives Matter case to describe the causes of the May 2020 protests, and to explain their revolutionary outcomes.
Of Johnson’s first criteria for assessing a revolutionary situation, there is the phenomenon of multiple dysfunction, which describes the extent to which the values of a society become incompatible with the institutions of that society. If there is substantial discord between the two, system disequilibrium can result (Johnson, p. 189). In the case of BLM, there is a growing feeling among lefitst Americans that the policing system in the United States has failed to ensure the rights and civil liberties of Black Americans. Under the U.S Constitution, police officers are sworn to abide by the American ideals of justice. These ideals are expressed through the exercise of certain rights, including the right of all Americans convicted of a crime to a speedy and fair trial, to be tried by a jury of their peers, to be guaranteed protection from unlawful search and seizure, and to be guaranteed protection from cruel or unusual punishment. After viewing ceaseless hashtags bearing the names of the many Black victims of police brutality since Trayvon Martin’s death in 2013, there is an overwhelming sense that the police system has failed to serve and protect Black Americans, and that police officers in the United States often abuse their power through unjust practices such as racial profiling. Because of this, Americans from across the political spectrum have become increasingly disenchanted with the justice system. Though they disagree about how police brutality should be ameliorated, Black Lives Matter supporters overwhelmingly agree that the current system does not work, and that change must take place to correct this discrepancy. The political and economic backdrop of America was also grim in late May 2020, as Americans had been on lockdown under COVID for about 2 months, and 40.8 million unemployment claims were filed, the highest record in history (Domm, 2020). Americans everywhere were beginning to feel uncertain about their safety, and polarized messages from Republicans and Democrats intensified the moment.
An intransigent elite is also needed to spark a revolution, according to Johnson. This term assesses the extent to which an elite class is committed to the revolutionary group and its ideals, and is heavily influenced by structural conduciveness, or the extent to which a government is responsive to challenges to its norms. The composition of an intransigent elite will determine the kind of social change occurring from system disequilibrium (Johnson, p. 189). While it can be argued that the United States is highly permissible of diverse political thought, Johnson does mention that the reliability of the system’s armed forces is a strong deterrent from a revolutionary change. Thus, though critique of the American justice system may be at peak levels, the raw power of the American military and its loyalty to the U.S government nearly eliminates the possibility of an armed campaign on behalf of the BLM movement. Where warfare capabilities are improbable, political discourse and popular culture become increasingly important tools of persuasion for political revolutions.
Intransigent elites of the Black Lives Matter movement include Black celebrities. In recent decades, research has noted that Black representation in pop culture such as film, TV, pop music, and art has increased, thus increasing the social capital and influence of the Black Community in American culture. Many Black celebrities have utilized their elevated social platforms to advocate against police brutality. For example, Colin Kaepernick–a Black former NFL player–became infamous in 2016 for taking a knee during the National Anthem to raise awareness about police brutality (Boren, 2020). In Kaepernick’s case, he has expressed his support for abolishing the police (Cancian, 2020). In many cases, Black American celebrities such as Kaepernick come from socio-economically disenfranchised backgrounds, or may have experienced police brutality themselves, which gives them a sustained interest in the resolution of the issue. Minoritized in academic institutions as well as government and economic positions, popular culture is one of the few places where Black Americans might exert greater political influence. For a movement whose name began as a rhetorical appeal in the social media machine, Black celebrity is a powerful catalyst which has helped promulgate Black Lives Matter ideology crafted by organizers on the ground to a much broader audience. Furthermore, Black celebrities have also been able to materially support these causes, by either donating funds themselves to support bail funds or by urging social media followers to donate to local organizers via social media. The widespread support of BLM has ensured its political sway and has reframed conversations about racism in law enforcement in media and politics. What remains to be seen is whether this political influence will be enough to ensure systemic change in a center-right, two-party system.
The final aspect of Chalmer’s Johnson theory involves an X factor, which sparks the revolutionary situation. The murder of George Floyd was the X factor of the Black Lives Matter movement which motivated community activists in Minneapolis to act and was spurred on by democratic collective will of the people. Further, the escalation of mass protests in Minneapolis into riots triggered a mimetic effect in other big cities as news about the escalation spread, and ultimately led to the mobilization of masses in cities like L.A and N.Y.C the night after the initial Minneapolis protests (Taylor, 2020). Indeed, it would be hard to imagine that the nationwide protests would have taken on their intense character if the events in Minneapolis did not escalate first.
James Defronzo Application
As stated previously, Defronzo outlines 5 conditions for the success of a revolution, including: Mass frustration in society, a dissident elite, a unifying motivation across class lines, a severe political crisis which paralyzes the administrative and coercive capabilities of the state, and a permissive or tolerant world context towards the domestic revolution (Defronzo, 2015, p.12-13). These factors can be applied to the Black Lives Matter case to explain its potential for success in the future in eradicating police brutality in the United States.
Mass frustration was self-evident in the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020. The sheer scope and intensity of the BLM protests demonstrated the depth of anguish and disillusionment that many citizens were feeling with American police. That millions of protestors were willing to risk infection with the novel Coronavirus to attend the protests further underscores this point, and that so many Americans were on lockdown and facing grim employment opportunities and financial uncertainty contributed to a sense of disintegrating patience with the government. As mentioned earlier, a variety of leftist political groups representing socialist and anarchist strains also participated in the protests across the nation, weaving their own critiques of the U.S economic order into the discourse amidst the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The presence of mass looting and violence, as well as the use of force by police clad in riot gear to disperse protestors, were also independent catalysts which may have exacerbated the mass frustration that existed and may have extended the lifespan of the protests by weeks or months.
In terms of a dissident elite, this describes specifically the Black celebrities and social media influencers who played an integral role in popularizing BLM ideology and news from on-the-ground. As Defronzo notes, divisions among political elites, “if nothing else, [contribute] to confusion and disorganization in efforts to suppress a revolutionary movement” (Defronzo, 2015, p.15). However, these Black celebrities often do not fit the mold outlined by Defronzo as the well-to-do, upper class defectors and supporters of leftist revolutionary movements. (Defronzo, 2015, p.16). For many Black celebrities, commercial success represents an upwardly mobile trajectory in their careers from previous economic marginalization. As of yet, few have emerged as movement organizers themselves, however important their roles as influencers. In this way, the ideology and the leadership of the Black Lives Matter movement remains grassroots and Black-centered and does not reap the benefits of a dissident elite, which may undermine the movement in the long run.
Next, the unifying motivation will be assessed. Defronzo emphasizes the importance of broad-based support across class lines for a successful revolution (Defronzo, 2015, p.17). In this endeavor, the Black Lives Matter movement has fallen short, particularly the more leftist strains which led calls to defund the police in Minneapolis. While it is true that Black Lives Matter enjoys widespread support from across racial and class lines, this support from upper classes and white Americans dwindles when considering demands to defund and abolish the police. This is because, similar to American soldiers, police officers generally occupy a prized place in American consciousness and have been invaluable to protecting the interests of upper classes in the United States. Furthermore, a majority of the police force is white, meaning that white individuals with family members in the police force may be particularly disincentivized from supporting the more radical elements of BLM.
The severe political crisis was exemplified in the political and economic disequilibrium of the time was brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in tandem with the mimetic escalation of the George Floyd protests across U.S cities, which strained the ability of state and federal governments to establish order. However disruptive or otherwise long-winded the protests were, their effects were not overwhelming to the coercive capacities of the government, which still had a solid national guard and police force to disperse protestors, and to establish law and order in time. Finally, the factor referring to a permissive world context-or a lack of intervention from outside nations in a revolution (Defronzo, 2015, p.20)-was not applicable in the case of the George Floyd protests. While cities globally protested in George Floyd’s name and reckoned with their own legacies of anti-Black racism, the revolutionary situation in the United States did not escalate to the point of civil war, and therefore did not require outside intervention.
Conclusion
After applying Johnson’s trio of conditions and DeFronzo’s 5 conditions for a successful revolution to the cases of the antiwar Vietnam protests, the Occupy Wallstreet Movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement, it is evident that while the revolutions of the American left have been able to shape public discourse and policy to a point, most contemporary petitions for liberal change in U.S society have not succeeded in their endeavors to fundamentally transform the U.S political and economic system. The most successful of the revolutions analyzed includes the antiwar protests, which successfully petitioned for the end of the draft and the end of the Vietnam war. In the case of the Occupy Wallstreet movement, decentralization impeded it from graduating from a mere reformist movement to a truly revolutionary one. As for the fate of the Black Lives Matter movement, it is as of yet undecided; however, its presently decentralized character paired with political polarity on the question of police abolition among its base do not forebode sustainable, monumental transformation of U.S policing, but rather moderate police reform. As of yet, it appears that liberal change in the United States is still subject to the political will and involvement of U.S elites as in the case of the Vietnam war, and liberal change is still dependent on the permissiveness of the state’s coercive authorities to delimit the edges of its protests.
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“Black Lives Matter” by John Lucia is licensed under CC BY 2.0