Talk:List of protest marches on Washington, D.C.

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Funny how all the marches are for liberal causes. Thatcher131 15:34, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

"I think not," responds cafegroundzero, "unless you have not a clear definition of Liberal. May I direct your attention to the following discussion, the most pertinent part which i.m.h.o. is the very bottom entry of a greenspun.com discussion under the heading "San Francisco History", by attorney Rex Curry, at

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00018k

"I think the weak point in your argument is merely assuming, that by contrasting any group of protesters of a given status quo, you can apply the label "Liberal" to them. What of the Bolshevik and Marxist marches of the 19th and 20th centuries? Bolsheviks advocated forceful change, which is not an article of Liberal philosophy. Therefore, don't assume; go do your homework, rather than make sweeping generalizations. At the very least, you'll learn something substantial while not leading others astray(from a more accurate understanding of history).

Contents

[edit] Charles T. Kelly and the protest rides to Washington

Before I open a page dedicated to Kelly's Industrial March, I hope to do more research, and at least enough to provide a specific date for the departure from San Francisco. According to Susanne Bloomfield, who contributes to an online discussion under greenspun.com's San Francisco history, Elia Peattie, a nineteenth century journalist, authored an article on Kelly's army, telling of their passage through Omaha. This can be found in the April 22, 1894, issue of the 'Omaha World-Herald.' The article, 'Are They Anarchists,' is found on p.11. Writes, Ms. Bloomfield, "She basically lauds their high expectations and devoted leader. Interesting primary research for those interested in a citizen's point of view."

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00018k

[edit] Subdivide this list?

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to subdivide this list by date, but my quandary is that I'm not sure where to place the breaks. Thoughts? SchuminWeb (Talk) 20:18, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reporting bias

The article gives the impression that, in the 1980s and since, the predominant protests have been for pro-life causes. The reality is that literally hundreds of protests have taken place that are not reported here, some larger than the pro-life marches. This leads to an inaccurate portrayal of protest behavior due to many protests not being documented here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.252.60.60 (talk • contribs)

I agree with you that the many March for Life links skew it somewhat. My solution on how to un-skew things would be to consolidate the March for Life events onto one entry on the first occurrence, and note that the event is held annually. I think that this solution would work, considering that it's basically the same event being held every year, and since each instance points to the same article link. SchuminWeb (Talk) 07:48, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
I disagree! With the current format the March for Life seems very minor, when in reality it is the most populous annual march (hundreds of thousands of marchers). Other marches get first and second marches listed, whilst the March for Life (happening every year for now 33 years) is only given one entry per section....Andy120... 01:35, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Request for comment

I've opened a request for comment regarding this matter. For those of you arriving from RFC, welcome. SchuminWeb (Talk) 08:06, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

One more thing for those of you arriving from RFC: We're basically comparing this edit with the individual listings to this edit with a single listing. SchuminWeb (Talk) 08:10, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Comment:The trouble with the consolidated version is it dose not show that there were marches in the other years. But listing evry single one is overkill. So take each 'run' of marches and roll them in to one rather like this:

  • September 19, 1981, Solidarity Day march. AFL-CIO organized march to protest Reagan Administration labor and domestic policies. 260,000 march.
  • January 22, 1982 - March for Life
  • November 27, 1982 - Washington Anti-Klan protest 1982.
  • January 22, 1983 - March for Life (also: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987)
  • October 11, 1987 - Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The second march on Washington drew 500,000 gay men and women to protest for equal civil rights and to demand government action in the fight against AIDS.
  • January 22, 1988 - March for Life (also: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)
  • April 25, 1993 - March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Organizers estimated 1,000,000 attended the March, but the National Park Service estimated attendance at 300,000.

Would that work? As more marches are added these 'runs' could get split up so the "march for life" will be listed more often, only after all of the missing marches are added. futurebird 08:39, 18 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] A comment

The separate listing over every single instance of an annual march is unnecessary. Simply noting that the march has been held annuallly for 33 years suffices to inform readers of the facts. There's no reason to use 33 different lines of text to say what could be said in one line. Obviously, this would change if this article ever became an exhaustive Calendar of Events that lists every single march. But currently, it's just a "Best of" list, so there's no need to devote such a huge amount of space to one group. I've made the change to convey the facts in one line-- I have no preference for where list it falls: either at the bottom or in 1978. --Alecmconroy 10:14, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I believe that a list of every march is necessary. This is a list of protest marches, not a list of march topics or organizations. Every single march, which is populous enough to be notable, should be listed. Consolidating annual events into a single line is misleading as it seems that it has only occurred once....Andy120... 21:33, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
Further, if March against the Vietnam War has posts for every march, March for Life should be listed for every March as well. This is a list of individual marches and should portray that....Andy120... 22:42, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
What do you think of the compromise I proposed above? futurebird 08:29, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
The problem with that compromise is that does not seem to have much order to the way the marches are listed. I would like to hear some more opinions on this matter, as I do believe the current version is still inaccurate and does not follow a NPOV....Andy120... 20:51, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Another Request for Comment

This has been debated before, but with the addition of more Marches against the Iraq War sponsored by ANSWER Coalition for different dates, I believe this must be clarified finally. No solution was reached before, so I think outside comment is necessary. Should each march be listed individually or should each type of march be listed with the repeat dates? Or another solution? I just think it has to be consistent either way to be NPOV....Andy120... (talk) 19:31, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Are every one of the marches currently listed large? I'd say set a limit (perhaps 10,000 attendees? Anything will be arbitrary, and it would depend on who's figures you use...) and then include every one of these marches on the list, as notable marches. Mostlyharmless (talk) 01:13, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
Does "large" necessarily mean anything? The Georgetown march last October got news coverage and thus established notability (though no article currently exists on this topic), but it was far less than 10K. SchuminWeb (Talk) 01:28, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
Most of the pro-life marches have had 100,000+ in attendance each year...I believe this past year was about 400,000. Both ANSWER Coalition anti-war marches had between 10,000 and 100,000 in attendance. Therefore, this is not NPOV as it stands now with minor marches being listed individually and repeatedly but the larger pro-life marches are all grouped in once line. What can be done to fix this? ...Andy120... (talk) 02:15, 3 March 2008 (UTC)