The Role of the Peaceful Protest in American History

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I reviewed the bonus march because I wanted to know more, specifically what the bonus marchers did to incite the response and what result they had. What I learned was both a surprise and not a surprise. The only thing the bonus marchers did was to refuse to go away and die. They were then murdered, treated with contempt and overwhelming force, and then slandered from the highest office in the land. Their march accomplished nothing. Their service, loyalty and the justice of their cause meant nothing to our government.

The only thing that made a difference was that FDR won by an overwhelming margin and the fact that they needed soldiers for the next war. Had the margin not been overwhelming, FDR would likely not have won because as we know, in general, and on the margin many of our states do not have free and fair elections. Had the war not happened, probably nothing would have been done for the men, in fact, I am still not clear on whether or not anything was actually done for the veterans of that war.

Therefore, those who want change should know that a peaceful protest will only generate contempt on the part of the government. If they expect change, it can either happen through an election if you believe you have fair elections, or violence.

Bush/Gore, Clinton/Trump, the Republican voter purge atrocities, and the right wing supreme court failure to address gerrymandering proves we do not have fair elections.

What does that leave?