it didn't stop at Kent State...
The show headed south to Jackson State.
There were two students killed and 12 wounded when 75 Local and State Police opened fire during a protest/riot on campus.
I've never been to college, but I would imagine that for an 18-19 year old the first few years are among the most tumultuous years that they will experience, and a time of change; perhaps the last major convulsion of childhood.
I doubt that there were ever changes of such magnitude as those faced by the students on campuses in the late 60's.
I mean, I felt in even in the 7th Grade.
My first reaction was like that of many Americans, even parents of kids that had been at Kent State....those Students had it coming.
They shouldn't have been protesting, but rather supporting our efforts in Southeast Asia.
It took a few months to sink in.
It took a few months to conclude that pissing in the Pond at the Mall. or sitting on the steps in front of a College and refusing to move shouldn't be cause for someone to shoot at you or beat you with a stick
And it took a few months to establish that sticking a flower down the barrel of a rifle, or verbal taunts, or even taking a giant shit on a statue of Thomas Jeffferson shouldn't be reason for someone to kill you.
It took no great leap from there to find that throwing rocks was not a good reason for Armed and Helmeted National Guardsmen to fire a volley from Assault Rifles into a crowd of Students.
Of course, the Niven Law might never have been abstracted were it not for all these things, the first of which is:
1) Never throw shit at an armed man.
1a) Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
MISSISSIPPI
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5 comments:
Why they felt it necessary to use "extreme prejudice" was always beyond me. I always felt so in the middle. May father was figting a war he thought just and was assisting another country maintain its autonomy. But, in America we have freedom of speech and a right to disagree with expression. The violence displayed by the Establishment sickened me and caused deep conflict. This is not what my father was risking his life for. I will repeat his most important statement he made to me at the tender age of 16. "I may not agree with what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it." He meant it and proved it. I was always fearful to express to him that I thought all this killing in the US and abroad was senseless, until he said that. I was free to disagree with his profession, but defend his decision of career choice. He thought he was doing the right thing-later he discovered the deceit that world powers put into play.
You have been tagged. Don't feel obligated if you hate memes, but I would look forward to seeing how you respond to this!
hEY oL' LADY- wHAT WERE THOSE LITTLE bARNACLE THINGS HE USED TO DECORATE? *OOPSIE* CAPS LOCK ALWAYS GETS ME!
oH BARB-tHAN (excuse me) Thank God I've been needing one of those Mems thingies....I meant to steal one from Grizzbabe a while back too...
No student ever deserves to die under any circumstances. I hope we have learned something from those senseless deaths. It's almost sad that those days of demonstrating seem to be past as the college students of today have better things than the draft to occupy their minds. It's mostly other people getting killed in faraway countries these days.
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