When America Declared War on Americans:
Today marks the 39th anniversary of the murder of four students at Kent State University (May 4, 1970), fulfilling a wish by then President Richard Nixon, who wanted anti war protesters to be stopped, preferably by having someone shoot some of them. Ohio Governor Rhodes was pleased to set a series of events in motion that would satisfy the desires of his party's president.
For a worthwhile account, visit the Kent State University site where Jerry M. Lewis and Thomas R. Hensley describe the events and provide an excellent bibliography. Lewis and Hensley neither confirm nor reject my view of the events of that day.
It must be noted that isolating the events of that day does little justice to the historical period leading up to and following it, from the race issues, including the marches lead by Martin Luther King to the riots that set fire to American cities, from the free speech movement to the anti war movement that spread over a twenty-year period of time. It begins with the McCarthy Hearings and perhaps only ends now with the election of the first African American president.
Today marks the 39th anniversary of the murder of four students at Kent State University (May 4, 1970), fulfilling a wish by then President Richard Nixon, who wanted anti war protesters to be stopped, preferably by having someone shoot some of them. Ohio Governor Rhodes was pleased to set a series of events in motion that would satisfy the desires of his party's president.
For a worthwhile account, visit the Kent State University site where Jerry M. Lewis and Thomas R. Hensley describe the events and provide an excellent bibliography. Lewis and Hensley neither confirm nor reject my view of the events of that day.
It must be noted that isolating the events of that day does little justice to the historical period leading up to and following it, from the race issues, including the marches lead by Martin Luther King to the riots that set fire to American cities, from the free speech movement to the anti war movement that spread over a twenty-year period of time. It begins with the McCarthy Hearings and perhaps only ends now with the election of the first African American president.
Labels: History, Kent State
posted by Jim | 5:44 PM
2 Comments:
Jim, a great read about that turbulent period is "The Last Campaign." It's about RFK's presidential campaign. I read it last fall and sent my copy on to Monica's sister for her to read.
If you haven't already, read Bob Herbert's op-ed in today's NY Times. Says a lot about the state of today's media outlets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/opinion/12herbert.html?_r=1
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