Whether or not one agrees with the protestors occupying the site of a proposed CVS in Carrboro Saturday, it seems clear the group’s approach is neither endearing nor realistic.
There are legitimate reasons to oppose the CVS, like a potential threat to local businesses, more traffic or even simple ideological opposition.
Furthermore, actions like these do nothing to encourage constructive dialogue.
In fact, the opposite is true. At best, they stifle conversation by drowning out reasonable voices. But more often, they create an environment full of nothing but inflammatory, dead-end arguments that only escalate tension.
If a person or group wants to actually stop the pharmacy from moving in, trespassing and threatening to plant a garden on the site is one of the least effective ways to do so.
This group, which styles itself the Carrboro Commune, has the organization and numbers — about 50 people showed up Saturday — to run a solid campaign. But in order to persuade officials, the protestors have to work within the system, or on somewhat similar terms.
Local officials probably don’t care about the protestors’ ill-defined goals, like “building some kind of community or social center.”
But they might respond if they saw evidence that many of their constituents don’t support the CVS, or that it could be bad for business or for the progressive, community-oriented spirit of Carrboro.
Protestors could research the impact of similar stores in similar communities, survey people who live by the proposed CVS site, engage in discussion at planning meetings, challenge the site’s zoning or use any number of other tried-and-true strategies.
