Opinion: When we reflect on the past, we can plan for the future

As our board looks at the future of student activism in the coming year, we are inevitably drawn to the past. And when we dive into the archives of student activism at UNC, it’s downright easy to yearn for another era — to think that gone are the days of student activism in unity, of the protests that wove together students from across campus and from diverse backgrounds in support of common ideals.

The iconic defiance of the Speaker Ban in the 1960s; the effective demonstrations in the 1980s for UNC to disinvest in apartheid-era South Africa. It’s tempting to think that the student body is divided between inaction (or apathy) and small but intense protest, with little large-scale mobilization.

Of course, the reality is far more complicated and no history is as simple as it may seem. But we must acknowledge that the state of student activism in 2016 stands fractured.

Some barriers are merely the practical nature of constraints on student activists; at the start of the year, activism suffers a predictable crisis. Old leaders graduate; new ones face unfamiliar challenges. New students contemplate their role in activism. Alternatively, some ready their snide remarks.

But some barriers are ideological, and these we must confront head-first. As effective as many well-executed recent protests on common issues have been, the reality remains that a “call-out” culture can alienate sympathetic students.

Activism focused on the specific experience of marginalized peoples, known as identity politics, dominates activist communities in the form of Black Lives Matter and related movements.

Concurrently, intersectional politics’ emphasis on the overlapping violence experienced by those with multiple oppressed identities has increased exposure of underserved communities.

Identity politics’ triumphs lie in its ability to spotlight struggles against oppressive power structures, such as anti-blackness and anti-queerness. The days of comrades uniting in a collective struggle have passed, replaced with a fractured community agitating for very specific redress. Activists must contemplate the tension between specified identity and broad solidarity.

Moreover, activists experience increased scrutiny. In today’s media environment, content and appearance are inseparable. Protests and marches become important outside of the message they convey as visual records of public dissent. Too often, however, they slip into the archives of timelines and Twitter feeds.

Activists must therefore strive not just for the spectacle, but for the creation of networks and communities to enact change. The march against HB2 last spring was important in showing opposition to the state government, but demonstrations must be sustained, posing a constant source of disruption and a constant threat to the ideologically bankrupt order.

While acknowledging the powerful work that has recently been done, we’d like to zero in on what student activism can be at its best.

And if we (including our board) want to temper, or to radicalize, or to unite the tone of activism on campus, we ourselves must be willing to volunteer. Whatever our goal, we can’t be critics until we raise our hand and join these discussions.