A Ridge Too Far

While the mainstream news reports of the day involve yesterday's 1st anniversary of the death of Osama Bin Laden; John Edwards' continuing trial; celebrities in bikinis and yoga pants, and Mitt Romney's out-of-touchness with the American populace, another bit of news is hiding on sidebars, if mentioned at all beyond a weak headline: the 42nd Anniversary of the Kent State University National Guard Massacre.

We should care about the events of May 4, 1970, for the simple reason that on an American college campus, 4 students were killed, at least 13 were wounded, and the beginning of the end of the Nixon Administration had begun.

We should care because a campus had been invaded by 1,000 armed National Guardsmen who were so afraid of being hit by rocks and the rebelliousness of angry anti-war students that the only solution to stop the protests was violence in the form of shooting bullets into a crowd of unarmed people...beginning from the top of a small ridge on the grounds.

Yeah, it's something that has gone on in other countries. It happens. So, am I being another American Whiner because such an atrocity happened on my soil? Not at all. It is utterly inhumane for any group of armed soldiers/guardsman or citizens anywhere to use deadly force against those who have nothing with which to equally protect themselves.

Just as with the Trayvon Martin case. One armed individual against another unarmed individual is just as appalling.

Kent State remains the symbol of a senseless slaughter of protesters, but few recall the Jackson State Missouri killings days later, on May 14-15, also by the National Guard, and also claiming four lives. But that's because it was a racial protest and involved slain African-Americans.

I'm focusing on Kent State for two reasons: I have a very close friend who was almost hit by one of the bullets at Kent that day. He also watched one of his closest friends, Allison Krause, be shot and killed in front of his eyes while he and his girlfriend ducked for cover as they were leaving Prentice Hall to go to the parking lot - where Allison was shot. She had not been involved in the protests.

And does it matter whether or not those who were killed or injured were protesting? No.

Today we have far more peaceful protests despite the tear-gassing of Occupy Anything. Regardless of the heavy-handedness of the police in many of the Occupy locations, one thing our government learned from the bloody past is not to shoot into a crowd.

Another reason why our college campus' and other areas of protest seem calm in comparison to the violence of the "old days" is that most of the kids don't really give a damn about the wars we have been fighting, or the financial inequality of our country - as well as the very genuine War On Women. Most would rather text about new shoes or where to meet for a fun night out.

Perhaps such apathy can be seen as "positive" so that violence will not prevail - again. Contrarily, if more young adults don't look up from their iPhones, Androids, and other gadgets, one day they might find the sound of boots stomping their way to confiscate not only their forms of communication, but, for women in particular, their purses' contents thrown to the ground and their birth control pills nowhere to be found.

For a fair examination of what happened and why at Kent State, Click Here
Details regarding Jackson State: Click Here
Image via: Associated Press Archives