Former DSA member Maurice Isserman and fellow author Peter Dreier have expressed concern over the Coalition to March on the DNC and our plans to protest the Democratic National Convention this month, by drawing on the bloody history of the 1968 convention. The authors condemn people protesting Israel’s genocide on Gaza at the DNC, condemn members of the Coalition for being too “fringe”, and exhort readers to vote for Democrats rather than protesting them. As the co-chair of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America, here’s why I believe the editorial badly misses the mark as we anticipate the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Less than a year after Dr. King’s 1963 march, 74 percent Americans stated that the  mass demonstrations had harmed the civil rights cause. In fact, as they were happening, nearly 60 percent of Americans viewed them negatively. With this history in the rearview, we now know that these mass demonstrations were critical to winning the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Had people not decided to engage in mass action to defeat Jim Crow we may be living in a completely different political environment. 

Mass demonstrations for Palestine are not new, but Israel is facing unprecedented criticism for their campaign of violence against Palestinians. Demonstrations have swelled in numbers as many previously disengaged people have seen horrific footage out of Gaza, or have heard Israeli officials actively encourage genocide in the media. Alongside the marches have been tens of thousands of phone calls and emails to representatives demanding a ceasefire, and a grassroots electoral campaign that elected 30 Uncommitted delegates to the DNC. There has been a clear shift towards Israel from Democrats: half of the Democratic Congressional delegation skipped Netanyahu ‘s address to Congress, and almost 100 Congressional Democrats signed onto demands for a ceasefire. The era where Democrats are reflexively supportive of Israel is over due to this groundswell of grassroots activism.

Dismissing people demanding an end to genocide as out of touch, fringe, or radical is a colossal misreading of the room, and contributes to right wing attacks on the basic rights of free speech. 

The Democratic Party is on the backheel this election cycle, having been forced to recognize that Joe Biden was an electoral liability and push the president to end his campaign and endorse Kamala Harris. To be admonished from making political demands — at the exact moment where any savvy political actors would identify this moment as the perfect one to do so, in exchange for electoral support — is a tacit way of telling people to never ask for anything at all. Kamala Harris has less than 100 days to make her case to American voters and failing to commit to ending genocide will cost her votes that she needs to win. 

Trump losing the election is key, and to accuse leftists — often the first on the fascist list of enemies — of not understanding this is, at the very least, condescending. If the Democrats truly believe in democracy, and believe defending it is more important than anything else this election, then they will listen to the millions of Americans demanding a ceasefire and earn their votes.  As socialists, we are acutely aware of the threat of Project 2025. We want Trump to lose, and to lose badly. 

Every election cycle is an existential crisis because we have a weak democracy — Republicans don’t win popular votes, they win an electoral college and heavily gerrymandered congressional districts. An un-elected Supreme Court expands the power of the right and the capitalist class while eroding our democratic and civil rights. The Senate, by design, stops the people’s house from actually serving the people. Instead of fighting to expand democracy, Democrats scold the electorate. The fact that our lame duck President has finally proposed bare minimum reforms on the Supreme Court is a demonstration of Democrats’ decades of political failure and inertia.

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and the United States Palestinian Community Network – two of the groups leading the Coalition to March on the DNC – have consistently organized peaceful mass protests that have named the Israeli government and military as responsible for the occupation and genocide of Palestinians. Every March has focused on political targets such as the Israeli Consulate or the Chicago AIPAC office. Marshals have worked to keep protesters safe from police and outside agitators. For this, the local Palestinian community has been attacked and smeared relentlessly by the right wing. 

As a 501(c)4 organization, DSA does not condone or endorse unlawful activity, and we support the March on the DNC because of the Coalition’s efforts to ensure a peaceful and family friendly atmosphere. The Coalition sued the City of Chicago in order to get a permit to march within sight and sound of the DNC, so that the march will have a public impact with less of a risk of violence by police or right wing agitators. Isserman and Dreier have opted to ignore these efforts in their analysis of mass protests at the DNC. 

Protests aren’t to blame for the erosion of democracy to the point of crisis in 2024. So join your fellow Americans to peacefully protest, to exercise your democratic and inalienable right to free speech, to end a genocide on our dollar, and insist on a Democratic party that  will actually be responsive to the working people of this country. If our leaders had listened to protestors sooner we’d be in a stronger position to not just defend, but expand, democracy in the U.S.

We invite everyone on the side of justice to march with us during the DNC and sign up at tinyurl.com/CrashTheDNC