Draft Beer, not boys! Hell no, we won’t go! No Justice, no peace! We Shall Overcome! Protests in the 60s were personal. The Pro-Palestinian protests, as justified as they may be, have become a business. Tied to it are election ramifications, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism. Reports are that professional protesters are coopting the movement to the point that chants of ‘Death to America’ are escaping the lips of our kids daily. I am sure the protests are a personal display of moral clarity for many of the kids, but that is not enough. Sure, one might argue that the fate of Biden’s election is political business and will be tied to the outcome of Netanyahu’s action in Gaza. The difference in the Vietnam War was that the literal classmates, uncles, brothers, and sons of Americans were dying in alarming numbers, and that made it personal, not business.
I was friends with some of the men who served in Vietnam and knew the ramifications for black men who were sent to the front lines in disproportionate numbers as cannon fodder. White kids on college campuses began to realize the war was meaningless, although they were being shielded from service because they could afford a higher education. The deaths of six kids on the campuses of Kent State and Jackson State Universities in 1970 galvanized the students and parents. Famously news anchor and the country’s most trusted voice, Walter Cronkite, told us:
Mr. Cronkite downplayed his role in upping the pressure on Lyndon Johnson to get out of Southeast Asia, but the movie Full Metal Jacket immortalized Cronkite. Lt. Lockhart tells Joker at a Stars and Stripes military publication staff meeting, “In strategic terms, Charlie’s cut the country in half… the civilian press are about to wet their pants, and we’ve heard even Cronkite’s going to say the war is now unwinnable. In other words, it’s a huge s*** sandwich, and we’re all gonna have to take a bite.”
The students’ bravery is admirable, but I fear they are being led astray by their leadership’s lack of information and education. Calling Joe Biden ‘Genocide Joe’ is so far from the truth it is laughable, but Biden is an easy target for a new generation that is not his or mine. When I marched, I knew where Vietnam was on a map; I was appalled to hear a young woman seem dumbfounded when asked about the meaning of the chant she recited, “from the river to the sea.”
Unfortunately, the young woman became a part of an obvious trap by Fox News to achieve the goal of exposing the protesters as anti-Semitic no-nothings. She was a young, passionate student protester, as I was at one point in my life, and that is when the most guidance is needed because that is when one is most vulnerable. Not having all the answers is no crime; not caring to find out is. Ironically, this is a ‘teaching moment.’ A few days ago, I wrote about my bouts with my ignorance as a fifteen-year-old protester. Hopefully, the unrest narrows its focus and directs its ire toward Benjamin Netanyahu’s lopsided response to the heinous attack by the terror group Hamas on Israel on October 7th. The death of America is not the answer, just like when I chanted Baby Killers, the quickest way to kill the meaning of your protest is to step on your message.
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