Civics Lesson

This is a tale of two demonstrations. One is a Good demonstration. The other is a Bad demonstration. It is important for you to understand which is which.

Demonstration I. The people are demonstrating against government restrictions that prevent them from going wherever they want to and doing whatever they want to during a pandemic. The stated reasons for the restrictions are to slow the spread of the pandemic and save lives. The demonstrators are heavily armed with automatic weapons. The demonstrators are white.

Demonstration II. The people are demonstrating against the slaughter of unarmed people of color by the police. The demonstrators are not armed. The demonstrators are predominantly black and brown.

Which demonstration is Good, which demonstration is Bad, what do you call the demonstrators in each case, and what is the difference?

Demonstration I is the Good demonstration, and we call the demonstrators "great people" or "patriots." They are exercising not only their First Amendment rights, but also their Second Amendment rights. They are protesting what is called "Gummint Overreach."

Demonstration II is the Bad demonstration. We call those demonstrators "thugs." They are rioting against the Public Good and slandering our heroic police.

The difference between Good and Bad is the color of the demonstrators. That is the easy and reliable way to tell. If you said the difference between the demonstrators was whether they were armed or not, you get partial credit. The armed demonstrators were Second Amendment patriots. But be careful! Bearing arms does not make thugs (remember?) Good. It makes them terrorists!

Extra credit: Demonstration III. Certain players in the National Football League kneel during the National Anthem. They say they are protesting the murder of people of color by the police. The protesting players are black. Is this a Good demonstration or a Bad demonstration?

If you said, "Bad," you are correct! Don't be fooled because the demonstrators are professional football players! They are still ... black. And what do we call such demonstrators? Correct! Thugs!