An array of issues brought tens of thousands of protesters to
With their message amplified not just by their numbers, but by the response of overwhelmed police who fired tear gas and plastic bullets, the protesters delayed the WTO’s conference and raised awareness of the international trading system and its implications for the environment, labor standards and human rights.
While many of the problems they identified are unsolved two decades later, some still credit the protest with restoring a sense that mass demonstrations and civil disobedience can effect change.
Demonstrators’ criticisms of economic inequality, rapacious capitalism, environmental degradation and worker exploitation are at home in the platforms of progressive Democratic presidential candidates such as
“There was a real feeling among students in the ’90s that it doesn’t matter, that nothing we do is going to change anything,” said Dodson, a longtime teacher and labor organizer. “The WTO protests changed that.”
Officials from 135 nations gathered in
During more than a year of planning, the city failed to heed signs of a massive disruption, neglecting to ensure it had enough police to handle the influx of protesters.
A
The day before the conference, Mayor
As the conference opened on
Tens of thousands of drumming and chanting steelworkers, machinists, teachers and other union members marched. Many of the union members’ jobs depended on trade, but they worried reducing trade barriers without requiring labor standards would allow companies to ship their jobs to developing countries.
To the dismay of many activists, a small number of black-clad anarchists rampaged, breaking windows, vandalizing stores with graffiti and looting a Starbucks. The start of the conference was delayed, leaving the assembled nations less time to reach agreement on key issues.
Understaffed police stood by at first, but by midmorning began using tear gas to try to disperse the protesters. With then-President
The next day, police began making mass arrests. Nearly 600 people were arrested, some of whom had nothing to do with the protests. A federal jury later ruled the city was liable for arresting protesters without probable cause, and the city settled lawsuits.
Dodson first became concerned about the
She remembers walking with her 11-year-old daughter after a
“It radicalized her,” Dodson said. “What were they thinking when they leaned out and pepper-sprayed this little girl and her mom as they were walking down the street?”
For Haque, who worked in
She laid down in an intersection on a rainy morning, while others dressed as butterflies drew attention to
Haque was overwhelmed by tear gas, but she returned the next morning and blocked a sidewalk. She was arrested and spent five days in jail.
“We were anti-exploitation,” she said. “Twenty years later, I think more people are aware of the effects of the way capitalism is working, the way it’s destroying the planet and exploiting people.”
Among the most enduring images from the protest were demonstrators in sea-turtle costumes. The
The
“Our number one goal was the sea turtle issue. We helped bring that to the forefront,” said Wathne, who lives in the
Such misperceptions about the organization were common, said
After four days, the trade talks collapsed.
Afterward, the
“A lot of important things happened as a result of
In
The legacy of the
“The electrifying images and stories built excitement among labor people and environmentalists and activists of every kind,” he said. “Had there not been that kind of clash and publicity, we wouldn’t be talking about Seattle.”
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