Protests, Votes, and Social Change

Today a few stories are running on a theme that the pro-immigrant protests are not translating into more registered Latino voters. Here’s one from AP, for example:

Immigration proteststhat drew hundreds of thousands of flag-waving demonstrators to thenation’s streets last spring promised a potent political legacy — asurge of new Latino voters.

“Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote,” they proclaimed.

But an Associated Press review of voter-registration figures fromSan Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Atlantaand other major urban areas that had large rallies found no sign of anew voter boom that could sway elections. There was a rise in LosAngeles, where 500,000 protested in March, but it was more of a tricklethan a torrent. Click here.

But is voter registration necessarily the key ingredient to achieving social change?

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