Though Beto O’Rourke, former Democratic Congressman from the state of Texas, currently has no formal power or authority, he does have influence. He caused quite a stir yesterday when in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, he interrupted a press conference held by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. (O’Rourke is Abbott’s challenger in this year’s gubernatorial election.)
While the militantly pro-gun governor was center stage along with a string of his allies, O’Rourke stood up in front of the auditorium and interrupted the proceedings. The killings of 19 children in Uvalde and 2 adults were the “totally predictable” results of lax or even non-existent gun laws, he shouted, obviously gearing up to shout some more.
No question O’Rourke was being disruptive. But judging from the response he got, you’d have thought he was the one who pulled a gun. Within seconds one official told him to “shut up.” Another said he was an “embarrassment.” And yes, a third charged he was “a sick son of a bitch.” Without missing another beat security guards either pushed or pulled O’Rourke out of the room, though not before he could yell for everyone to hear, “Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state, or they will be killed.”
By a very large margin the American people want more laws controlling more guns. It’s been this way for years – on this issue as on others a small minority controlling the large majority.
What is to be done? Given the systemic problems – problems such as two senators from every state, no matter the size of the population; and the electoral college; and lifetime tenure for supreme court justices; and a constitution we treat like holy scripture – that bedevil 21st century America the answer seems more elusive than ever.
But… history teaches that when a small minority oppresses a large majority, and when it continues to do so for years, despite polite resistance, time might be right for resistance that is less polite. For resistance that is disruptive. Truth is disruption is sometimes the only way to shake up a system so deeply entrenched it is otherwise impervious to change.
Before Nelson Mandela was sent to prison for 27 years, he was given permission to speak in the courtroom. What he did, he said, was not impetuous. He did it only after “calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites.”
I do not suggest the United States in 2022 is South Africa in 1964. Or that Beto O’Rourke is Nelson Mandela. What I do suggest is that when the will of the minority continues indefinitely to defy the will of the majority the time for polite chit-chat might be over. For all its virtues, civil discourse has its limitations. There are times when what is called for is disruption of politics as usual.