In an atmosphere of fervent flag-waving, announcing a preference for peace is like standing up at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: It's done quietly among a small group of people who know where you're coming from. There's no need for last names. But as the shock of the Sept. 11 attacks starts to wear off and the nation's "war" against terrorism proceeds, more people are starting to stand up and say publicly, "I'm an American and I don't think war is the answer." On Oct. 14, People United for Peace sponsored a Peace Picnic at Northshore Park in St. Petersburg, and last week the Progressive Coalition at the University of South Florida sponsored the Peace, Unity, Awareness Lock-In. Resist to Exist at Eckerd College has held small marches and launched a poster campaign, and the Coalition for Peace and Social Justice, an offshoot of the National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, has held rallies for peace as well. In Sarasota, the Ringling School of Art staged an exhibit of anti-war art.
These events may be patriotism in its truest form because people are exercising one of the fundamental rights provided by our forefathers — the right to criticize our government.
At the Peace Picnic, more than 150 people gathered on a gray Sunday to engage in a dialogue about peace. There wasn't any chanting or marching going on, just discussion about what the alternatives to war might be. The event brought together people who don't necessarily consider themselves pacifists but don't want to see innocent people killed, said facilitator Eric Rubin. Rubin is a member of the Tampa Bay Action Group and represents just one faction of the diverse group that is People United for Peace.
"The majority of Americans do not want to kill innocent people. The majority of Americans will not accept terrorism by individuals or countries abroad or our own," he said. "The methodology of how to do that is the question that's up for debate right now."
Those attending the picnic were given the opportunity to offer alternatives to the war on terrorism, or to admit that they didn't know the answer but knew that war wasn't it.
Pat Yochim told the crowd that she didn't vote for George Bush and she doesn't agree with his response to the terrorist attacks. "I'm here because I'm horrified that my country is waging war in my name. I think we should have come beyond that. My heart aches for my grandchildren and all of the other children."
Rubin agreed. "Most people at the picnic saw the Sept. 11 events as a mass crime against humanity and felt it should be treated as a crime and not as an act of war," he said. If it's an act of war, then the response is war; if it's a crime against humanity then it's a question of bringing the criminals to justice."
The difference, he said, would mean that no nation would be targeted for war. "If it's a murderer, you go after the murderer and you bring that person to justice; you don't go after the country where the murderer lives and annihilate innocent people." Not everyone at the picnic was on the anti-war bandwagon; some were just interested in what others had to say. Saul Bergman from St. Pete Beach said he's not opposed to the bombing of Afghanistan if it will bring about justice. He came to the rally to hear about alternatives with an open mind, but he wasn't optimistic. "I don't know," he said. "I don't think there are any. I don't think that just talking about peace is going to bring those guys to justice. I'm looking for alternatives; I just don't see any." Bergman, 84, was drafted into World War II and said he was glad to go. "I thought it was a just war," he said.
The killing of civilians in Afghanistan disturbs him, he said, but he suspects that the war against terrorism may be a just war too.
Talk at the picnic also included issues closer to home as people tried to connect the global to the local. "The way we have to deal with international human rights is to set the example for human rights here," said Rubin. "That means no child goes hungry, that no one goes without health care, no one is homeless."
The idea of peace crosses over to other social issues like building better communities, fostering better education, and erasing racial and economic disparities, said Rubin.
"People work towards that all the time in their daily lives, through their church, through their civic groups or what have you," he said. "This movement perhaps can give connectivity to those individual acts and show that social movements can create a very powerful change."
There was also some discussion of the potential erosion of domestic civil liberties. People should seriously consider whether new laws aimed at catching terrorists are truly in the best interest of the American people, said Rubin.
"Are we giving our civil liberties and our rights up to the same people who have perpetuated the crime of driving while black?" he asked. "Who are we allowing to determine who the bad guys are ?"
Although it wasn't intended to be an anti-war rally, the Peace, Unity, Awareness Lock-In at USF took on the same patriotic tone. For many students, loving your country and demanding that it change are not mutually exclusive. Students of all races and religions lined up on the stage in the Student Events Center, waiting for their two minutes at the microphone. Organizer Anthony Brooks said the event had actually been planned prior to the Sept. 11 attack as a forum for students to speak about what concerns them. After the attacks, the event took on a different tenor. Though the St. Petersburg Times stated that just 100 students attended, Brooks said the number was closer to 300. Many didn't stay long and they weren't intended to, he said. The idea was to have a revolving door for people to lend an ear or speak their minds before heading off to other campus activities.
Braulio Colon is one of the students who stayed. He's a member of the Coalition and of the Africana Studies Club. Colon spoke to fellow students about the need to stand together at all times and not just in times of crisis. "I cannot understand why it takes an event like that of Sept. 11 to unite a country called the United States of America," he said.
He went on to speculate that perhaps the sense of unity the nation is reportedly experiencing is a cover for larger issues that are going unaddressed. "Ignorance is real, especially in this country," he said. "Attacking our fellow innocent Arab-Americans after the attacks (of Sept. 11) is real."
Science major Stacy Tessier had an antidote for ignorance. She urged her fellow students to find alternative sources for their news. "Corporations own the media, the mainstream media, so if you really want to get an unbiased view, why don't you check out some independent newspapers?" She rattled off Web sites like Indymedia.org and Zmag.org, and said that many other sources could be found on the Internet.
With the media comparing the emerging peace movement to the peace movement of the 1960s and scoffing at the small numbers that are participating, it's easy to see why Tessier and others might want to look elsewhere. The movement against the Vietnam War didn't start with Woodstock-like crowds. It likely started out with people who came together in small groups. It just didn't stay that way.
For now, the peace movement seems to be as much about listening as it is about lecturing. It's time to share and sit down and listen to others speak, Colon said.
Perhaps that's when real unity will begin to take shape.
Contact Staff Writer Rochelle Renford at rochelle.renford@weeklyplanet.com or at 813-248-8888, ext. 163.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2001.