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Campuses across the United States of America are abuzz with student protests against Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Tensions peaked when students at the University of Texas at Austin marched to the main lawn with intentions to establish an encampment.

Retaliation was swift as police in riot gear arrested approximately 50 protestors. In total, 100 arrests were made at the University of Southern California.

Students erecting encampments at Harvard University and Brown University in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza have been cautioned about potential police intervention. Protests are occurring on at least 30 campuses, including Stanford, Yale, MIT, and Princeton.

The United States has a history of student protests, one of the most notable being the breakout on February 1, 1960, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Interestingly, it began over a meal and drew inspiration from Indian principles.

Four black teenagers, influenced in part by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent protest techniques, entered a whites-only lunch counter at a café and refused to leave. Their protest method sparked similar demonstrations in 50 cities across the southern United States, leading to sit-in protests.

These protests were fueled by black frustration and challenged Greensboro’s racist policies. Even modestly progressive legislation was vehemently opposed.

The culmination of these protests was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, for the first time, outlawed racial segregation in public places. However, it’s important not to overlook the preceding widespread protests. During the Vietnam War, America faced significant internal dissent, with young Americans protesting against what they perceived as an unjust conflict. Many of these protestors were eligible for military draft, putting them at risk of being conscripted while actively demonstrating.

In contrast to the Greensboro protests, where the repercussions were less severe, the American government took a harsher stance during this period. The tragic event of May 4, 1970, at Kent State University, where four unarmed students were killed and nine injured by the Ohio National Guard, stands as a stark example. Nearly a decade after the Greensboro protests, around 450 college campuses participated in strikes, significantly influencing public opinion on the Vietnam War.

Protests against the apartheid regime in South Africa also gained momentum on American campuses. In addition to traditional forms of protest such as blockades and disruptions of speeches by South African politicians, students erected shantytowns as symbolic reminders of the living conditions of impoverished South African blacks. These protests wielded significant economic influence, prompting the withdrawal of billions of dollars in investments from companies linked to South Africa.

In the mid-2010s, campuses witnessed the emergence of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. In Washington DC, student demonstrations led to the renaming of two buildings named after college presidents who had owned slaves.

Student protests are a recurrent phenomenon, as they confront issues that resonate with their conscience, even if they are not directly affected. Students often lead the charge in social radicalism, armed with youthful dynamism, a disregard for authority, buoyant optimism, and a spirit of adventure, challenging established powers on seemingly lost causes that often prove otherwise.