Think of the Children

There's a troubling narrative I've seen specifically being trotted out about any demonstrations that block traffic around the holidays that needs some social justice bard deconstruction.

It's basically a variant of "WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!"

Here's how it works: people protest, and if that protest can be said to affect anyone financially....at all.....even a little bit....especially around the holidays....then someone says "I don't approve of any protest that would hurt children."

Then everyone who supports the protests is supposed to feel bad because little Timmy won't get a Christmas or maybe will get the knock off Power Ranger without the kung fu grip or something. Or in the more extreme examples because little Billy's breadwinner can't get to work and little Billy will go hungry.

There couldn't BE a more emblematic symbol of how the moderates would prefer stability to justice or equality than to create some fictional child whose entitlement to a rocking Christmas is threatened financially if people have to drive around a protest and is clearly more important than whatever is being protested. Justice is fine and well, but let's not hit anybody's bottom line.

Ironically in many of the folks advancing this narrative are ignoring the very non-hypothetical travesties of justice that have lead to non-hypothetical death...some of whom are children.