Consequence of Pepper Spray

The Occupy movements across the country have instilled new feelings of unity amongst certain individuals. The population of this country has a history of being affected by various social labels that lead to gaping divisions.  This case has never been more evident than in the Incident at the University of California Davis, on Friday November 18, 2011.  A group of students held a peaceful protest in the quad on the grounds of their campus, when police came in to force the students out by spraying the students with pepper spray. The occupy movements have been able to unite many different people, but this incident went on to do so much more, it highlighting concepts of Socioeconomic status, demonstrated the power of peaceful protests, and reflected social structures of inequality.

Videos taken of the incident recorded by students nearby show a demonstration being held by roughly 50 students, surrounded by 200 bystanders and a crowd of about 35 police officers. (Cherkis, 2011) The video went on to show the group of students takes part in a peaceful sit-in surrounded by officers in riot gear, the students continued to chant while officers approached them in an attempt to negotiate. When the police saw that the students would not move they huddled up, finally one of the officers turns around with a can of pepper-spray. “Don’t do it!” yelled out the students watching the incident, while one student yelled out to the protestors telling them “Protect yourselves!” The police officer leaned over and began to spray the students, almost immediately the crowd began to echo with sounds of disapproval. Many students were hurt badly; the video showed extremely aggressive behavior by the police and some even had to go to the hospital to be treated for chemical burns. The video was reminiscent of various recordings before it, showing police brutality in the face of the perceived lower end citizens.

The police were in the authoritative position here and showed a reaction to peaceful protest that the majority of the students at the school did not agree with. Although the police heard the screaming and chants from the crowd of 200 students they continued to spray and even arrest a few of them. In our lecture for lesson nine we spoke about the students during the civil rights movement sitting in at lunch counters, at the time there was such hatred for African-Americans that many police officers resorted to violent tactics in order to respond to these sit-ins. At that time it was to assert White supremacy over the African American activists, but now one can argue it is to maintain authoritative supremacy in the United States, where the few with power or represented authority maintain the social hierarchy. It is a clear hierarchal belief of authority and socioeconomic class. The majority of the police officers saw the students in a negative light, where they were classified as lower end citizens. It didn’t become a question of race but of class and social power. Chancellor Linda Katehi later said that the officers were not authorized to use pepper spray and were not supposed to keep the students from having their rally, this speaks volumes of the incident. (Associated, 2011) The police acted on their own accord creating a situation where their socioeconomic status was in a higher standing giving them the perceived right to act however they pleased.  These situations destroy racial barriers and put up barriers of socioeconomic class in their place. The students that rallied were a mixture of different races but were all together without social power and of lower end socioeconomic standing, they used strategic essentialism to rally together under their socioeconomic standing creating a sort of Multicultural coalition unifying under the power of the protest.

The 1960 sit-in protests proved to be a powerful tool in the fight for civil rights. They began the heavy involvement of students who wanted to be more open with their confrontation, according to our lecture it went on to begin multicultural student coalitions and voter registration in the south. It gave the civil rights movement a great help just as today these peaceful protests are proving to do the same for the Occupy protesters. Occupy protests have spread from New York all the way to Los Angeles as the most recent up bringing. And the majority of these protests are met with police presence. In some cases there have been more police brutality incidents arising from these peaceful protests causing some to fight back. (Hampson, 2011) These protests intern begin to lose much of the power that demonstrations like walkouts and sit-ins usually have because it gives them a negative reputation in the media. These protest have the potential to be bigger and more prominent than the Tucson walkouts, and the walkouts from the LA schools because this protest is not about racial inequality it is about the trouble and strife of the average American fighting to not be part of the invisible poor. These protests are in place to instill peaceful motivation in the rest of the populace that is affected by the current economic situation, whether they are students or recently laid off workers. The protests have potential to be much bigger than they are now but the occupiers are having a difficulty dealing with the police. It has been almost a secure telling in history that peaceful protest are met with some sort of violence, but as we saw in our lessons it is through the use of peaceful protest that much of the opposition is unsure of how to respond. In the Sit-ins of the 1960’s they were given instructions to sit down and look forward with no response to anyone else, it is this type of discipline that would benefit the Occupiers well.

The social structure of inequality most prominent in this incident is that social standing. It is at a point where it is difficult to say if the students were believed to be at a lower social standing because they are students and have very little social power or because of the mere fact that the police officers had the power of authority on their side. To say that a police officer might have had a power trip might seem childish and petty but the reality of the situation is that it really does happen. There are many situation recorded in history where police officers have been caught on video harassing, even beating, someone who had little social power illustrating the protection they might feel behind an authoritative label. The most prominent case in my mind would be the shooting of an unarmed man in New York in 2006 on the day of his wedding, their were a total of 50 bullets shot. (Borger, 2006) These cases are every in the news but are buried by more people who may feel it is important to keep a sort of social hierarchy in play. It is important to note that many the officers in question of the UC Davis incident were not authorized to use pepper spray or force (Associated, 2011.) This means that the officers took it upon themselves to use this force and felt they were in the right to do so. In the video it is plain to see that there is no violence from the students what so ever, the police took it upon themselves to judge the situation and override their previous orders. After the police had sprayed the students the surrounding crowd of 200 onlookers began to yell out at the officers and telling them to leave, eventually the crowd formed around the officers causing them to retreat. The students took back the power in that moment showing the Officers that they did have a social standing and that they refused to be treated as anything less.

The occupy movements have been able to unite many different people, but this incident went on to do so much more, it highlighting concepts of Socioeconomic status, demonstrated the power of peaceful protests, and reflected social structures of inequality. The students of the UC Davis campus have begun a journey to socioeconomic equality and have shown that they will not settle for less than that. The media will continue to cover the situation, as it is still a developing story. It is evident from the video of the incident that the police crossed a line but also that the students made sure to assert their beliefs in standing their ground and pushing the officers off of it.

Bibliography

Associated, P. (2011, November 22). Uc davis students erect new encampment, continue protesting police use of pepper spray. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/higher-education/uc-davis-students-erect-new-encampment-continue-protesting-police-use-of-pepper-spray/2011/11/22/gIQA9u0IkN_story.html

Borger, J. (2006, November 26). New york on edge as police kill unarmed man in hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day. The Gaurdian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/nov/27/usa.julianborger

Cherkis, J. (2011, November 19). Uc davis police pepper-spray seated students in occupy dispute. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/19/uc-davis-police-pepper-spray-students_n_1102728.html

Hampson, R. (2011, November 14). ‘occup’y movement faces challenge from violent fringe. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-11-13/occupy-movement-violent-fringe/51188258/1