Doesn extreme activism give the AR movement a bad name?
This is a significant argument that must be thoughtfully considered. In essence, the argument says that if your actions can be characterized as extremist, then you are besmirching the actions of those who are moderate, and you are creating a backlash that can negate the advances made by more moderate voices. The appeal to the “backlash” has historical precedent. Martin Luther King heard such warnings when he organized civil-disobedience protests against segregation. Had Dr. King yielded to this appeal, would the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts have been passed? Dave Foreman, writing in “Confessions of an Eco-Warrior”, points out that radicals in the anti-Vietnam War movement were blamed for prolonging the war and for damaging the “respectable” opposition. Yet the fear of increasingly militant demonstrations kept President Nixon from escalating the war effort, and the stridency eventually wore down the pro-war establishment. The backlash argument is a standard one that will always b
