Dear Students For Ending the War in Iraq,
Really good demonstration on Friday afternoon – I was happy to be there. I wanted to wait until after the protest to bring up a concern I had with one of the ways in which SEWI advertised the protest, through the Nov. 3 Wespeak entitled, “Wes, you’re not really anti-war.” I was initially only going to bring this up with Erik, but then I saw the correction in the November 7th Argus, stating that the Wespeak should have been attributed to all of SEWI and not just Erik, so I figure I should address all of SEWI.
I found the Wespeak not only to contain a supercilious tone, but also to be insulting and hostile, none of which are very conducive to attracting people to your cause. The reason I came to the protest anyway is because I understood what you guys were trying to say (and I support the cause), but I think that you really turned away some people who may have supported the cause but didn’t understand what you were trying to say in the Wespeak and just felt insulted and turned off by it. Your postscript qualifier, including “please refrain from being alienated by this article,” is really ironic in light of the fact that you DID alienate people, and you probably realized you were doing that, or else you wouldn’t have had to mention it at all.
Certainly, our whole generation needs to be galvanized and awakened to the reality that if we’re not speaking out against something and actively protesting it, then we’re not really against it – the casual “anti-war” sentiments so prevalent today being just one example of this modern apathy and complacency. However, I think you guys could have made this point in a much less aggressive way. “FUCK YOU” is no way to gain supporters, and what’s even more: it’s not peaceful. For an anti-war advocacy message, I found the Wespeak to be very violent.
Let’s try to think of ways to promote peace not only as it relates to our congresswoman and government, but also as it can be manifest in our everyday lives and written pieces.
I welcome discussion or comments back if anyone has a different viewpoint.
Thanks for reading,
Ashley Casale
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