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Real meaning of civil disobedience, protest lost on Hash Bash participants

By Greg Parker
Daily Arts Writer

Ah, good old Hash Bash. Back in my high school days, I longed to venture into Ann Arbor the first Saturday of every April and relish in the air of civil disobedience. In high school, I thought it was cool to go onto the Diag and just be at Hash Bash. I never was rebellious enough to really take part in the event, if you know what I mean, but I still loved the atmosphere.

Now, I loathe Hash Bash. I consider Ann Arbor my home-away-from-home, and I consider Hash Bash to be a direct assault on my surrogate home. I hate all the smelly people in the Diag, and I hate all the drum-line-bongo-playing-stick-twirling-Frisbee-throwing-Deadheads. I hate the leftover '60s radicals with no cause left to rally for, and I hate the trash left behind by all these "socially conscious" individuals.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I like the original idea of Hash Bash. I support legalizing all drugs, and I think we should start with pot. So in this sense, Hash Bash as a protest to legalize pot is fine with me. Of course, this is not the case, and what I estimate to be 95 percent of all Hash Bash attendees use the day simply as an excuse to get high.

I like to party, and parties are fine with me. Hell, you can go smoke down if you want, but what was once a serious protest of the criminalization of marijuana has been made into a mockery. Can anyone take a thousand Deadheads sparking up for the hell of it seriously? Sure, this is an effective way to enact change. I can see it now: Watching the evening news clips of thousands of hippie-esque kids and '60s leftovers frolicking on the Diag, Bob Dole will long for his days of counterculture, leading him to place the legalization of pot high on the GOP platform. If I haven't made myself clear, no one worth convincing takes this event seriously.

I will say, however, that if you haven't been to a Hash Bash before, you should check it out. What's interesting is that there are not many University students involved. Sure, there might be a significant amount, but I estimate that 75 percent or more of all Hash Bashers are not University students, but rather people from surrounding communities (and most certainly, from other states and other countries). This creates an interesting dynamic: Most locals and many students stay as far away from the Diag as possible on this dreadful day. Traffic is horrendous, and the sidewalks are clogged. Without anywhere to park the Volvo, many townies stay in.

I'll make another plug for experiencing at least one Hash Bash -- the people- watching is really, really fun. I mentioned the hippies and Deadheads earlier; there are myriad other groups to look for as well. The Libertarians are sure to be there, as are the organizers (of NORML fame) that dress up in Revolutionary War costumes in a display of Jerry Rubin-esque guerrilla theater. There will be many cops, and they will probably be pissed off, but they usually don't mess with anyone, because there are more potheads than there are cops, and you don't have to be Napoleon to figure the odds of an ensuing battle. You also might see serious protesters, but they are few and far between. And last but unfortunately not least, how could we forget the dirty-white-hat contingent -- could any Diag event be complete without them?

Any student of social movements knows that a movement is made up of a core group of individuals surrounded by a much larger group of peripheral supporters. Looking at Hash Bash as part of a social movement, the core group of leaders is the actual protesters, while the peripheral supporters are ... well, rather peripheral. They delegitimize the protest itself, creating a party atmosphere during what should be a serious protest. Legalization of marijuana and other drugs is a serious civil rights issue. It is ironic that those who would presumably benefit the most from hemp legalization (the smokers themselves) hinder the process the most.

Because I support the legalization of drugs, I am calling upon everyone that is planing on participating in Hash Bash to treat it as a serious protest. Smoke down as an example of civil disobedience, but put away the hackey-sacks and Frisbees and carry a sign or start a chant or distribute a pamphlet and actually actively participate in the protest. If you truly support the movement, then act accordingly. Make it so the first thing people think when they hear the words "Hash Bash" is that it is a massive protest to legalize pot rather than a Dead concert minus the band. Until then, I'll stay at home.