From Vietnam to Palestine - Echoes of Protest on College Campuses

Retro Review: Newsletter #2 - 5/13/2024

Over the past few months, college campuses have become hotbeds for political activism, much as they were during the Vietnam War. The ongoing protests in support of Palestine are reminiscent of the Vietnam War era demonstrations, where students rallied against military actions abroad and demanded change at home.

Having just finished teaching a course on the Cold War, where we spent several lectures discussing the Vietnam War and the protests against it, I felt a cold chill go down my spine when I watched heavily armed policy and U.S. Marshalls marching onto campuses to arrest protestors.

I’d seen this before.

I wasn’t there, but I’ve seen the photos and listened to interviews with people there that day at Kent State.

My parents were both alive when the Kent State Massacre took place; my dad had been drafted by that time* and watching news coverage, both of my parents saw the similarities.

Late last month, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called on Joe Biden to demand that the president send the National Guard to Columbia University to shut down the protests there, without a hint that he understood the history those chilling words called up.

And the comparisons don’t end there. Watching news coverage of the arrests on college campuses, I see time after time again the same language used to demonize protestors in America throughout history. Anarchists and outside agitators say the same thing they’ve said about civil rights protestors and labor strikers since the 19th century.

I’ll leave you with this:

They say October 7th was Israel’s 9/11, but I fully believe that Israel’s invasion of Gaza will be remembered as their My Lai Massacre, their Agent Orange. And I can only hope more people are held accountable for it than were ever held accountable for the war crimes committed by America in Vietnam.

I’d rather be arrested for being on the right side of history than be on the side trying to justify the slaughtering of innocents. But what do I know? I’m just a history professor.

*well, I say drafted, but the story is more complicated. Come back in June for the Father’s Day episode of the podcast, where my dad will be on the show for more information on that whole story…