Allow Me A Moment...

Like a lot of folks who grew up in the 60's and 70's my psyche was shaped by events of the time. Now, I know this sounds like drama but, we grew up in the most violent decade on our soil since the Civil War. The list is long: Vietnam, John F. Kennedy, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Kennedy, '68 Democratic Convention, Desegregation, Jackson State and Kent State to name just a few. This week is the anniversary of Kent State and next week the always forgotten Jackson State. Forgotten! It's true, black students were killed doing the same thing as the white students at Kent State. Exercising their constitutional rights to organize. Our country open fired on students because they were "throwing rocks." No one responsible for the order to shoot has ever really explained why or apologized for it. It wasn't just the violence that shaped me, it was the condescending and seemingly ignorant justification for it.

Even though we were young in my neighborhood we weren't oblivious to the events going on in our world. My neighbor went to Vietnam and returned home in a bag. Another came home from the war AWOL and when the Feds came looking for him some parents in the neighborhood (including my mom) helped him evade capture for a couple of days before they sent him back to the war. I can still see him sprinting through my backyard as the Feds tried to catch him. We watched the news in silence as the fallen were taken off of military planes, we all wore POW bracelets hoping our guys were set free. We were conscious. As a result many of the violent images from that time, like this Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by John Filo of Mary Ann Vecchio who was 14 years old at the time (a couple of years older than me) have been forever seared into my consciousness.

From the University Libraries Kent State

May 4, 1970

By noon May 4, two thousand people had gathered in the vicinity of the commons. Many knew that the rally had been banned. Others, especially commuters, did not know of this prohibition. Chants, curses and rocks answered an order to disperse. Shortly after noon, tear gas canisters were fired. The gas, blowing in the wind, had little effect. The guard moved forward with fixed bayonets, forcing demonstrators to retreat. Reaching the crest of the hill by Taylor Hall, the guard moved the demonstrators even further to a nearby athletic practice field. Once on the practice field, the guard recognized that the crowd had not dispersed and, further, that the field was fenced on three sides. Tear gas was traded for more rocks and verbal abuse.

The guardsmen then retraced their line of march. Some demonstrators followed as close as 20 yards, but most were between 60 and 75 yards behind the guard. Near the crest of Blanket Hill, theå guard turned and 28 guardsmen fired between 61 and 67 shots in 13 seconds toward the parking lot. Four persons lay dying and nine wounded. The closest casualty was 20 yards and the farthest was almost 250 yards away. All 13 were students at Kent State University. The four students who were killed were Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder and Sandra Scheuer. The nine wounded students were Joseph Lewis, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Alan Canfora, Dean Kahler, Douglas Wrentmore, James Russell, Robert Stamps, and Donald MacKenzie. Dean Kahler was permanently paralyzed from his injury.

Disbelief, fright and attempts at first aid gave way quickly to anger. A group of two hundred to three hundred demonstrators gathered on a slope nearby and were ordered to move. Faculty members were able to convince the group to disperse.

A University ambulance moved through the campus making the following announcement over a public address system: "By order of President White, the University is closed. Students should pack their things and leave the campus as quickly as possible." Late that afternoon, the county prosecutor obtained an injunction closing the University indefinitely. Normal campus activities did not resume until the summer session.