I wasn't sure it was the right choice at first, but I now realize it was brilliant.
Originally Posted By u/hook3m13 At 2025-06-15 07:50:05 PM | Source
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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Has (co-located) counter protesting ever been generally useful?
Yes. In the rather famous case of the American Nazi party (like, the OGs before the GOP took over that status) in the 1970s when they wanted to hold a really in Skokie, a Jewish neighborhood of Chicago, were denied a permit on the basis of obvious harm, sued about it, and they ended up being represented by the ACLU on principle of free demonstration up to the Supreme Court where they won (and in turn the ACLU nearly collapsed from the popular fury at their willingness to do that). The case gained significant national attention and the people of Chicago organized a massive counterprotest to what ended up being a minimal Nazi turnout where they were unequivocally shamed and entirely unable to intimidate the Jewish locals they hated so much.
In short, counterprotests can be an act of solidarity against hatred. They have their time and place.
I think this is true, in general, for protests that are based in promoting prejudice. Counter-protesting bigots shows them that their hateful, closed-minded views are unpopular and unacceptable.
Locally, there was a big pushback against teaching inclusivity in schools (2SLGBTQ+ families being represented at all, basically), and a protest was organized. And across the street from them were literally 10× as many people counter protesting to support 2SLGBTQ+ rights. There hasn't been a single anti-tans bigots protest locally since.
"No tolerance for intolerance" is a powerful counter-protest message.