SLC protesters voice disapproval about Bush’s inauguration
As George W. Bush settled into his first few hours as the new U.S. president, about 150 people gathered in Salt Lake City to protest his inauguration.
Democrats, Green Party members, independents, anarchists, college professors, members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and several Utah State University students were in the crowd on the front steps of the Utah Capitol Saturday morning protesting Bush’s inauguration. The protest, organized by the Citizens’ Coalition for Fairness and Democracy with help from the Student Green Party of Utah and the Salt Lake chapter of the NAACP, included several speakers who voiced their disapproval, for one reason or another, of Bush’s inauguration as it was going on in Washington, D.C.
Green Party member Amy Hines told the crowd she is frustrated with the entire system that prevented Green Party candidate Ralph Nader from joining the presidential debates and allegedly disfranchised large numbers of black voters in Florida, a state that became the determining factor in final Electoral College vote counts.
“If you’re on the ballot, you should be in the debate,” Hines told the crowd.
And she said it should be easier for candidates to get on the ballot.
These were part of what she called a proposed voters’ bill of rights. The hypothetical bill also included nonpartisanship in presidential administrations, statehood for the District of Columbia and sweeping campaign-finance reform.
“[Corporations] pay their money [to candidates], and they know what it buys – allegiance to corporations rather than to constituents,” she said. Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake chapter of the NAACP, told the crowd Salt Lake City’s protest was just one of many across the nation, including one organized by the NAACP in Washington, D.C.
She said she was concerned by allegations that Florida’s election officials may have illegally prevented a number of blacks from voting.
“We will not allow such things that went on in Florida to ever happen again,” she told the crowd. “Every citizen should have his or her vote counted. We must never allow any American to feel disenfranchised.”
Others at the rally had different concerns about Bush’s election. In fact, at Saturday’s protest, supporters of Democrat Al Gore were cheering things said by Nader supporters, and the range of topics covered by speakers and protest signs indicated that this protest was multifaceted. Several protesters and speakers contrasted their show of unity despite differences in political party or viewpoint to Bush’s claims that he will be a unifying president. One said she didn’t think this kind of unity was what Bush had in mind.
Some protesters expressed concern about policies they expect from the Bush administration, especially concerning abortion rights, foreign policy, environmental issues and alleged pandering to corporations. Other protesters were frustrated by what they feel was massive disfranchisement of black voters in Florida. Still others lamented that in essence the U.S. Supreme Court, which voted to block manual recounts of Florida’s contested votes, decided the presidential election.
Protesters carried hand-made signs covering the spectrum of issues. Among them were signs that read “Protect Mother Earth against Bush whackers,” “Indict Florida’s guilty officials,” “It’s a hell of a way to run a democracy,” “Bubba, W., DWI,” “Who$e pre$ident?” and “Abolish Electoral College.”
After the speakers wrapped up, protesters began a march that wound through the streets of downtown and ended at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, 125 S. State.
The marchers carried their signs and chanted things like, “Count every vote” or “This is what democracy looks like.” They were greeted by supportive honks and thumbs-up by some drivers, angry shouts and chants of “George Bush” by others.
At the Federal Building, protesters gathered to listen to each other speak at an open-mic session, followed by a satirical reenactment of the Supreme Court decision and other elements of the election.