The Statue of Liberty Protest as a Pseudo Event

The Statue of Liberty protest was all about optics, not disruption.The people whose vacations were disrupted were random tourists from all over the world, not Trump policy makers or even his supporters. Disruption as part of a political protest works best if the entities being disrupted matter. 

Occupying a representative's office is disruptive. Marching en masse down Pennsylvania Avenue is disruptive. Blocking a major highway is disruptive. Boycotting a company to protest their political stance is disruptive. Working to make sure everyone eligible to vote CAN vote is disruptive. Showing up November 6 and voting the bastards out is disruptive.



In The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America Daniel J. Boorstin wrote about the nature of pseudo events. Boorstin defined a pseudo-event as an ambiguous truth that appeals to people’s desire to be informed. He argued that being in the media spotlight was a strong incentive for public figures to stage artificial events, which became real and important once validated by media coverage.

Shutting down a national monument is an optics generating pseudo event. Not dismissing it's effectiveness as a one day pseudo event, just disputing it as disruption or as effective in bringing about real change. For Federal officials on scene it was par for the course. They train for just this kind of thing. For families whose vacations were affected, it was disruptive. Is that who we should be targeting? 

It's not a question whether disrupting a family’s vacation is trivial. It's a question of effective protest affecting the parties responsible for an issue. 

At this point we don't really need optic events to raise awareness about what's happening at the border. All of America is aware. We need actions that stop the Trump administration from carrying out their racist policies. Inconveniencing Stature of Liberty tourists does nothing to accomplish this. I don't doubt Therese Okoumou's sincerity. I just question her tactics. 

There have been 700+ marches against Trump's border policies in just the last two weeks. More attention-getting actions aren't necessary. 

Ms. Okoumou's type of "protest", scaling a national monument's base (not to the top mind you, just the base), is really a sign of impotence. Terrorists follow the same logic. "I can't really attack the powers causing the problem, so I'll attack innocents to raise awareness." 

One difference between Ms. Okoumou and terrorists is she didn't put anyone in actual danger except herself (and the police who had to "rescue" her). Another is that there actually are other actions that directly affect Trump and his lackeys she could have attempted: 

1. Work with those people and organizations trying to identify separated family members. 

2. Document ICE's movement of children in and out of the Bronx facility and other places with 24/7 surveillance.

3. Contribute time to staff the pro bono attorneys who are working to reunite the families in court.

4. Work with local political organizations to ensure Democrats take back Federal and State governments in November.


I'm sure other more creative, knowledgeable people than me could come up with other possibilities.
Perhaps none of these suggestions would have been as attention-grabbing as climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty. Perhaps it was actually a valid "Kodak Moment". But perhaps they would have accomplished more.


Due to her grandstanding, Ms. Okoumou will be spending a lot of time in court and perhaps in jail. That time could be better spent.