A Protest in Triplicate: Reflections on the Tank Man Photographs
When an opinion diverging from a standard paradigm stirs up a community, people demonstrate. Going to protest, from the earliest of days, has been likened to going to war. With heightened distrust of police and protesters, riot suppressors may open fire and activists may destroy property. The goal, then, is to have protests where no one gets hurt, where the demonstrators behave themselves and the police do not kill anyone. Though these constructive protests rarely happen, when they occur, they resonate with the entire world.
In the late 1980s, student protesters in China gathered in major cities to protest the inflexible communist government which had dominated their political scene for decades. They hoped that the imminent fall of the Soviet Union, combined with their own protests, would compel leaders in Beijing to lessen the grip of communism on China and consider democracy. The Party leaders would not have it. On June 4, 1989, they sent military troops and tanks into Tiananmen Square, where a large gathering of student protesters had assembled, and opened fire. 10,000 people were arrested, and several hundred people were killed. The world mourned for the protesters, but the incident would have soon been forgotten had it not been for one image.
He is literally a nobody. No one knows his name, how old he is, or even if he was arrested after the event. But in the photograph, he blocks a row of tanks from barreling down the street all by himself. He even climbs up on a tank to talk to its commander. In the West, the image is a representation of bravery and selflessness, of the power of one man to stand up to the corruption of an entire government. In China, the image is still heavily censored. There are few images of the massacre, and even fewer of Tank Man. The images that do surface, however, taken by photographers in different locations, affirm the singularity of Tank Man’s actions. Every angle of the scene emphasizes his civil disobedience and his courage to defy an oppressive regime.
Another image, taken from farther away by photographer Stuart Franklin, is a wider shot which gives a little more context to the scene. There is a charred bus on the photo’s left, and toward the top a line of protesters parts for the war machines to move through. And part they should, because the image shows a line of nearly twenty tanks filing down the avenue. Tank Man peacefully stands in the middle of the street, waiting for the tanks to arrive at the intersection. The protesters at the farther intersection are scared for their lives; they are outnumbered and easily scatter at the reminder of oppression. Tank Man holds a one-man protest at his intersection and shows no fear visible in a photograph.The first image, taken by photojournalist Jeff Widener, is the most well-known. In it, the Unknown Protester stands in the middle of a crosswalk, blocking the path of four tanks. He is dressed in a white shirt and slacks, and is carrying two bags. In the image, the man is dwarfed by the tanks weighing several tons. The tanks, so close to each other that they are almost on top of each other, display the brutality of the regime which has just mowed down hundreds of civilians. It is evident in the picture that he could be crushed under the wheels of the war machines at any moment, and that the goodwill of the tank drivers is the only thing keeping him alive. Nevertheless, he stands calmly.
The last image, taken by Terril Jones, differs still from the other photographs. While all the other journalists shot their photos from the balconies and terraces of Beijing hotels, Jones was on the ground when Tank Man strode to the middle of the intersection. His picture reveals three more people who were present during the incident. They, however, are not as concerned with Tank Man’s antics. Two men in the foreground are running from gunfire coming from the tanks. Crouching and ducking, they cannot see the Unknown Protester, but they do understand that they are being given the chance to flee. By blocking the tanks with his own body, Tank Man provides a distraction for them.
Tank Man did not end the oppressive governance in China. He didn’t stop the tanks from crushing activists under their tracks. Whether he was shot by a firing squad, or is still living in mainland China, he probably does not even know the fame he has achieved in the years following his one-man blockade. China censors the image so heavily that it has been all but forgotten in recent memory. In these ways, his protest was a failure. However, the rest of the world has access to his image, and it, touted as one of the greatest scenes ever caught on film, reminds those who have seen it of the danger of a governing body gaining too much power. In this way, it is a wild success.
Someday you may be in a demonstration where the police are called in. Rather than return death with more death, nonviolence may make a more meaningful difference in the tone of the protest and how effective it is. You will not stop the police with your nonviolence. You may not even change the mind of your opposition. You may, however, send a message to those watching on the sidelines that though your effort seems futile, it is worth noticing. Your absence of violence may even carve a path to safety from speeding bullets for those standing near you.