Free Speech, Job Searches, Politics

The Biggest Protest That Ultimately Got It Wrong

It failed to address the big issue facing so many Americans (including lawyers): the difficulty of finding good jobs.

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(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Last Saturday’s Women’s March was said to be the largest demonstration gathering in U.S. history. It was an amazing sight to see hundreds of thousands of people in cities all over the world marching for gender equality and immigrants’ rights. It sent a strong message to President Trump that any attempt to oppress minorities will not be tolerated, and it was a powerful exercise of First Amendment freedoms.

But putting the festive mood and feelings of empowerment aside for a moment, the march’s message did not address the main reason why Trump was elected: The difficulty of finding good jobs. This is a reality that many law school graduates and young lawyers know all too well, although it is not limited to the legal community.

While the unemployment rate is lower than it was eight years ago, back then it had nowhere else to go but up. And for those who were fortunate enough to get jobs, a lot of them were temporary, exploitative or dead-end jobs with little chance at advancement (such as many contract-attorney gigs). Not only that, they couldn’t work more than 30 hours per week or else, under the Affordable Care Act, their employers would have to pay for their health insurance.

But instead of addressing these and other problems, the march instead focused on progressive social values that may be threatened under the Trump administration.

When I hear people accusing red state voters of being racist, sexist or homophobic, I wonder if they know anything about these people other than what they heard from Jeff Foxworthy or the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Not every Trump voter is a closeted hillbilly white supremacist. It’s more complicated than that.

Speaking of complications, let me ask two questions.

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Has anyone ever wondered what the red state voters were thinking when they were watching the marches? A few may have wondered whether they voted for the right candidate. But I’m guessing that they quickly got tired of seeing the 1000th poster of Trump covered in cheetos or raw salmon.

And when they heard Madonna say that she seriously thought about blowing up the White House and watching some isolated incidents of violence, it confirmed every crazy stereotype about liberals they heard on talk radio. The march then became nothing more than an amusing distraction from their usual weekend entertainment of hunting, watching NASCAR, or line dancing to Garth Brooks.

Also, has anyone ever thought about how many of the marchers that were present voted for Trump? I am guessing that some of them did. Of course, they wisely left their “Make America Great Again” hats at home and changed the subject if they were asked who they voted for. But they came to support the march because they agreed with the message. Or for those who feel a little guilty about their vote, supporting the march can serve as a kind of penance.

I write this because if the Democrats and the secret Republican resistance are serious about making Trump a one-term president, they will have to address the jobs problem. And right now President Trump has a theoretically workable plan that can easily be sold to the public: impose stiff tariffs on companies that outsource labor, reduce illegal immigration, and possibly tighten H1-B visas. So the Democrats will have to come up with a comparably good job creation plan that also aligns with their progressive social values.

They won’t have it easy. Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress and control the White House. And even if Democrats are able to do something, they have to prevent the president from taking credit for it.

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Remember, job seekers are voters too. While a well-organized protest march can have an effect on government, it has to be targeted to the issues that matter. Otherwise, the momentum can be lost and all of the work will be forgotten (whatever happened to Occupy Wall Street?). Not only that, continuing to insult the opposition without dialogue will only strengthen their resolve and their future vote.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at sachimalbe@excite.com and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.

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