A few years ago, my wife and I went to a Chinese restaurant that we had been to often, but this time, her sister came with us. The restaurant owner, who spoke very little English, came to our table, looked at the two women, and said, “Same!”
I know what she meant, but it was the wrong word. My wife and sister-in-law are not twins. Naturally, however, they share some family characteristics.
So it is with the current college campus unrest and what it is being compared to. Some pundits have gone as far as to say it reminds them of January 6th. That’s way too much of a stretch, even though some windows got broken during both events.
But because colleges are involved, comparisons are also being made to the days when students demonstrated against the Vietnam War – not the same either.
The demonstrations all those decades ago were much longer-lasting and considerably more violent. The Columbia University chaos back then went on for weeks, fueled in part by the school’s investment in war-related research. The most serious campus incident was at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970, however, when the National Guard shot four students to death during an anti-war protest.
But the biggest difference was that Vietnam was OUR war, and it seemed unnecessary to many Americans. Young men were being drafted and sent off to Southeast Asia to fight. While some Viet Cong flags could be seen at demonstrations, it was American flags that were being burned. And, of course, There was no Internet nor social media then.
These days, there is understandable sympathy for the plight of Gaza Palestinians because of the Israeli response to the Hamas attack last October, but what seems different is all the Hamas sloganeering that’s been happening. I am among those who are wondering why there wasn’t quite the same level of organized outrage on campuses over the suffering of Ukrainians after the unprovoked Russian invasion.
Maybe the weather has something to do with it - it’s spring. Would all this have been going on in January? Hey, when we Boomers were demonstrating, I think we preferred the warmer months too.
The universities have been right to crack down on what’s
been happening. It has not only been disruptive, but expensive. Talking it out is
much less so, but I guess that’s a skill that some of us have to learn, or
relearn.
