Title: Student Activism in the 1960sDominant Themes
1Student Activism in the 1960sDominant Themes
- Campus Unrest, Vietnam, and the Counter Culture
- Alia M. Pustorino
2Youth, of course, has always been a topic of
indefatigable fascination to what was once
regarded as its elders and betters. But todays
young people are the most intensely discussed and
dissected generation in history.Time
MagazineJanuary 7, 1967
3Dominant Themes Manifest in Chapter
- Passionate activism of college aged population
- Political climate of United States in 1960s
through 1970s - Media coverage and sensationalism of events
- Best example of all themes coming together is the
Kent State Riots
4Todays youth appears more deeply committed to
the fundamental Western ethosdecency, tolerance,
brotherhoodthan almost any generation since the
age of chivalry. If they have an ideology, it is
idealism if they have one ideal, it is
pragmatism.
5So, Who Were These Youth?
- Time Magazine names the 1966 Man
- of the Year the generation of those
- 25 and under.
- Statistics support that this generation
- already outnumber their elders in US,
- Canada, and Russia.
- They are labeled the new kind of
generationwhy?
6What We Historically Know About Them
- Prolonged Peace.
- Intellectual Pursuits.
- Passionateabout everythingeven if that is being
passionate about nothing. - Raised in a society where they gathered their
information from television. - Socially and politically free.
- Increase in socially deviant behavior
7- You know, you see these bums, you know, blowin'
up the campuses. Listen, the boys that are on the
college campuses today are the luckiest people in
the world, going to the greatest universities,
and here they are, burnin' up the books, I mean,
stormin' around about this issue, I mean, you
name it get rid of the war, there'll be another
one. -
- -- Richard Nixon, New York Times, May 2, 1970
8The Silent Majority Speech
- President Richard Nixon spoke on November 3, 1969
to the American nation on television about the
following points related to Vietnam - How and why did we become involved in Vietnam?
- Obligation of the nation to respond to violence
in Vietnam - Confidence in American leadership
- Disclosure of initiatives for both peace and
warfare - A nation of self reliance
- Right of free society
9Political Concerns
- Morale Destroyed. As Time articulates on May
18, 1970 the nation faced antiwar fever and
President Richard Nixon was unable to abate. - Nixons had not fulfilled his promise of forward
together to the nation and as military concerns
in Cambodia became more pressing, the nation and
its political climate became more charged. - Nixons administration was under stress as
members in internal opposition to his decisions
were becoming more public in nature - Nixon made the comment when dissent turns to
violence, it invites tragedy after Kent State
which resulted in further separation of the youth
from his political agenda - Kent State student visit with the President,
afterwards he names Alexander Heard (Vanderbilt
U) special advisor on student affairs
10Political Concerns
- Nixon allows students to protest in Washington DC
over violence on campuses and meets with many of
them making the proclamation I know you think
we are a bunch of so and sosI know you want to
get the war over. Sure you came here to
demonstrate and shout your slogans on the
ellipse. Thats all right. Just keep it
peaceful. Have a good time in Washington, and
dont go away bitter. - Operation Talk. The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee attempted to get legislation passed to
get the troops out of Cambodia by July 1st.
11Changes in Higher Education
- The student has become the most powerful
invisible force in the reform of educationand,
indirectly, in the form of American society.
Harold Taylor, President of Sarah Lawrence
College - By the existential act of rejecting cogito, ergo
sum for sum, ergo sum, they have taken on,
willy-nilly, a vast commitment toward a kindlier,
more equitable society. Time Magazine, January
6, 1967 - There is a time when the operation of the
machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at
heart, that you cant take part you cant even
passively take part, and youve got to put your
bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon
the levers, upon all the apparatus, and youve
got to make it stop. And youve got to indicate
to the people who run it, to the people who own
it, that unless youre free, the machine will be
prevented from working at all. Mario Savio,
December 2, 1964
12- Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, were finally on
our own. This summer I hear the drumming, four
dead in Ohio. -
- Gotta get down to it, soldiers are gunning us
down, should have been done long ago. What if
you knew her and found her dead on the ground,
how can you run when you know? - OhioCrosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
13- Late City Edition of
- The New York Times
- Breaks the story on
- May 4, 1970 about the
- Kent State Riots and
- Shootings
- Subsequent writings
- will be published by all
- major American print
- forums such as Time
- Magazine
14Media Forum on Kent State
- Martyrdom That Shook the CountryTime magazine
in the May 18, 1970 edition notes that
paradoxically, the turn toward violence at Kent
State was not inspired by war or politics. The
first rocks thrown in anger were hurled through
the muggy Friday night of May 1 by beery students
who could not resist the urge to dance on a Kent
street. - Get Out. Time reports that students changed
one-two-three-four, we dont want your war! and
approximately 2,000 students began to riot after
being thrown out of bars while watching the
Knicks-Lakers game on television - Our Campus. Students apparently chanted this
is - our campus. Approximately 3,000 students
gathered on - the Commons.
- Leaderless. 100 Guardsmen were identified by
Time as - frightened when they ran out of tear gas
and retreated - away from student protesters before
beginning to shoot.
15Media Forum on Kent State
- Like a Firing Squad. Journalism Professor
Charles Brill, an Army veteran was quoted by Time
as being certain that the Guardmen had not fired
randomly out of individual panic. They were
organized, he said. It was not scattered.
They all waited and they all pointed their rifles
at the same time. It looked like a firing
squad. - A still campus. Time reported that students
screamed my God, theyre killing us! Youth lay
bleeding and dead around the campus. - Flimsy Excuse. Time indicates that multiple
federal and state investigations were to be
launched in regard to violence as far worse
disorders have been controlled at other campuses
without fatalities. - Explanations were varied by witnesses and those
Guardsmen involved in the shootings. As Time
noted, fear might have simply bordered on panic
after General Canterbury of the Army National
Guard of Ohio asserted that the men of the Guard
felt their lives were in danger.
16The Students Who Died
- William Schroeder
- Time summarized that Bill was second ranking
student in ROTC unit, Eagle scout, image of
clean-cut academically conscientious Middle
American boy
- Jeffrey Glenn Miller
- Time summarized Jeff as a transfer student
who had long hair, wore bellbottoms, love beads
and rock music. He was a great believer in
love.
17The Students Who Died
- Allison Krause.
- Allison was noted to be a beauty who
preferred listening to talking. She was opposed
to the war and believed in protest but not
violence. It is theorized that Allison placed a
flower in a Guardsmens - rifle and said
- flowers are
- better than
- bullets.
- Sandra Scheuer
- Sandys best friend was quoted as saying
Sandy lived for what everyone else lived forto
find someone to love and someone who loved her.
She was not politically active, and viewed as -
gregarious, - and also
an - Honor
- student
by - Time.
18Faculty Response to Violence
- Geology Professor Glenn Frank was the most widely
circulated faculty commentator and advocate for
student dispersal rather than confrontation with
the National Guard - Frank is noted as saying to the students
- I dont care if youve never listened to
- anyone before in your life. I am begging
- you right now, if you dont disperse right
- now, theyre going to move in. It will
only - be a slaughter. Please, listen to me.
Jesus - Christ, I dont want to be part of this.
- Listen to me.
- Frank continued to maintain the actions of the
Guard - were unjustified and brutal throughout the
remainder - of his life
19A Survivor Remembers
- I do recallsome of those things are sort of
burned into my memory. I got up when the volley
had stopped to see what the heck had happened.
And I did see Jeff Miller at that timeandthats
when the photograph of me was taken by Jeff
Miller. Id never seen blood like that. Id
never seen anything like that. It was a complete
shock. I wanted to touch him. I remember
wanting to hold him, but I was afraid of the
blood. I did tough and hold his hand. I didnt
want him to feel alone. I figured how can
anybody live with this. Life is running down the
sidewalk. Running. Just kept flowing. And
there was nothing to be done, that I felt I could
do. - --Carol Mirman,
- April 1, 2000
-
20What Questions Should Be Investigated in Final
Phase of Study
- What are members of this generation doing who are
not necessarily those on the picket lines? - How might pop culture materials like music and
literature be read against the protest movement? - What was the government doing which might be
positively encouraging protests, activism of
youth, etc?
21References
- Kifner, John. (1970, May 4). 4 Kent State
students killed by troops. The New York - Times. Retrieved September 18, 2006,
from The New York Times Archives - http//www.nytimes.com/learning/general/on
thisday/big/0504.html - Lewis, J.M. Hensley, T.R. (1998). The May 4
shootings at Kent State University - The search for historical accuracy.
Retrieved September 18, 2006, from the - Kent State University, Sociology
Department Website - http//dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/LEWIHE
N.htm - Mirman, C. (2000). This is not what it sounds
like on tv Carol Mirman on the 1970 - Kent State shootings. Retrieved
September 20, 2006, from George Mason - University History Matters Website
http//www.historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6912/ - Nixon, Richard. (1969, November 3). Silent
Majority Speech. Retrieved on - September 20, 2006, from CNN Speech
Archives - http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episo
des/11/documents/nixon.speech/
22More References
- Time. (1967, January 6). The inheritor.
Retrieved September 20, 2006, - from Time Magazine archives at CNN
- httpwww.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9
171,843150,00.html - Time. (1970, May 18). At war with war.
Retrieved September, 20, 2006, - from Time Magazine archives at CNN
- httpcgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/
back.time/9605/20/ - Tuchman, G. (2000). Kent State shootings
remembered. Retrieved from - the CNN archives on Kent State
Shootings - http//archives.cnn.com/2000/US/05/04/k
ent.state.revisit/