|
|
|---|
|
American Politics Journal Atrios Barry Crimmins Betty Bowers Buzzflash Consortium News Daily Howler Daily Kos Democatic Underground Disinfotainment Today Evil GOP Bastards Faux News Channel Greg Palast The Hollywood Liberal Internet Weekly Jesus General Joe Conason Josh Marshall Liberal Oasis Make Them Accountable Mark Morford Mike Malloy Political Humor - About.com Political Wire Randi Rhodes Rude Pundit Smirking Chimp Take Back the Media Whitehouse.org More Links |
Subject: Kent State May 4, 1970 Forty Years Ago Today
4 killed, nine wounded including several who were
paralyzed.
Except for a civil suit, not one Guardsman was
ever charged – with anything criminal.
71 Guardsman, only 28 actually fired.
******************************
Jackson State, 10 days later, a black college:
State Troopers fired 200 rounds into a women’s dorm because someone threw
a bottle.
**********************************
Orangeburg almost seemed to be Jackson State:
state troopers firing on unarmed people who were protesting.
Again, because it was a black college, it did
not seem to have the same impact on the majority.
I was in 10th grade when this occurred and change was in the air even in Jacksonville, Florida.
When I heard this and saw this on the TV. I assumed
they would come for all the longhairs and anybody who was dissenting.
10 days later Jackson State occurred and, since
they were black students, it made less of an impact – for some.
For myself it only reinforced my horror at the
divisions in American life and led to a life-long questioning of how
the news portrayed anything, the actions of the
government (and it’s inaction), and the legitimacy of authority in general.
I was shocked at the viciousness of the comments
of my elders, blaming the victims, saying 'they asked for it,' a charge
I would later hear in cases of rape.
The events at Jackson State appeared as deliberate
murder while Kent State seemed to be equal parts confusion, frustration
and anger.
If the US would kill it's own citizens who were
merely protesting a war (what I have come to view as a vicious assault
on a small country for no real reason except
to impose our leaders will in an area to show the world our power), then
what
were we doing around the globe? As I have
aged (54) I have become more divergent from the mainstream, not less, due
to my constant source reading of the roots of
our country. We started out as a nation founded on personal conscience,
basic human rights. I'd like to see us there
again.
runotsure
Read more about the Kent State shooting
Excerpt:
Some of the students who were shot had been protesting
against the American invasion of Cambodia, which Nixon
announced on April 30. Other students who were
shot had been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.[