Students to join DNC protesters

At least 50 UNC-CH students will join an estimated 10,000 protesters at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

The convention convenes from Sept. 4-6 in the city that has been dubbed by protesters as the “Wall Street of the South.” Charlotte is a major banking hub, with companies such as Bank of America headquartered in the city.

Three protest events have been planned by the Coalition to March on Wall Street South, a collection of 85 different groups. Local groups attending the protests include Occupy Chapel Hill and UNC’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.

The events include a Liberation Fest that will focus on immigrant rights on Saturday, a march for several causes on Sunday and a workers’ rights rally on Monday.

Matt Hickson, a senior at UNC, will protest at the DNC with the University’s SDS chapter.

He said the demonstration’s top causes will include college affordability, LGBT rights and environmental justice.

Zaina Alsous, a UNC senior and organizer with the coalition, said the main goal of the event is to create a movement for people of all causes in the South.

“If a political party sees a mass group of people meeting together, they are far more likely to listen,” Alsous said.

Hodding Carter, a public policy professor at UNC, said he has noticed that protests’ successes ebb and flow depending on circumstances.

“Protests are about as American as apple pie — some people like apple pie and some don’t,” he said.

The civil rights protests at the 1964 DNC were effective and a positive force, Carter said.

“But they still irritated the hell out of Lyndon Johnson and convention attendees,” he said.

There is speculation that demonstrations planned in Charlotte could be similar to other violent protests, such as at the 2008 DNC in Denver.

Part of a protest’s success depends on protesters’ messages and their conduct, Carter said, adding that the protesters at the 1972 Republican National Convention were less successful because of violence.

“Their idea of a conversation was to scream ‘You pig, you pig,’ at police,” he said.

Charlotte is preparing for violent protests, City Council member Michael Barnes said in a July interview.

Robert Tufano, spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, said the number of policemen and their strategy for dealing with unlawful protesters, will not be revealed for security reasons.

Alsous said the coalition aims to have a safe, family-friendly protest on Sunday.

“People need to be aware of who perpetrates violence at protests,” she said. “Most of the time it isn’t protesters, it’s overzealous cops.”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.