"To every college president, I say: Remove the encampments immediately, vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn."
Donald Trump, at a rally in Wisconsin this week.
I've seen this movie.
It's a coming-of-age story mixed with politics. The movie ends badly, with the election of Trump. But the students don't know that yet.
I feel lost in time travel back to my college years when I watch the news of campus unrest. Columbia University erupted in the spring of 1968, my freshman year of college. What happened at Columbia happened at Harvard the next two years, in the springs of 1969 and 1970. The universities went through a cycle of protests, police, and disruption. The political outcome apparent by the end of 1968 should have discouraged the anti-war protests of subsequent years, but it had the opposite effect. Young activists learned that the world paid attention to campus disruption and that it moved the scoreboard of public affairs
Alas, it scored points for the opposite team.
I was more an observer than a participant in the political turmoil. I loved my classes. I was there to learn things from books, not from observing direct political action and reaction. My mistake. I thought classmates who occupied the administration building were hurting the cause of ending the war because the people whose opinions mattered thought students at fancy schools were spoiled brats. I got that right.
I was usually "clean for Gene," with short hair and no beard. I recognized that "long hair hippie freaks" irritated old people over 30.
The demonstrations on university campuses today bring into focus the different perspectives of the generations. The holocaust shaped the view of people my age. European Jews were victims, so of course Israelis are fearful and bellicose. Young people grew up seeing a strong, modern, prosperous Israel with nuclear warheads and U.S. military and economic support. Jews in America hold positions of power, prestige, and wealth. They interpreted Israeli behavior toward Palestinians as some version of Jim Crow, with Israel the oppressor. That's what they saw, not the history I saw.
I am serene about university disruption. Young people supporting Palestine are sure they are fighting for justice and the good guys, so they organize protests. There is no surprise here. College students have the passions of young people. My hope is that college administrators can keep protesters from breaking things that cannot be repaired easily. They should try to keep the warring factions separated, but disagreement and strife is part of life.
Below are images from The Oregonian newspaper, from damage at Portland State University this week.
Students will see vandalism of their school and many of them will feel angry that their spaces have been invaded. They will learn in a way one doesn't learn from books or lectures how counterproductive some kinds of political messaging can be. People learn from the stupidity and misdeeds of others.
University administrators should try to chill out the rich alumni who are offended by what they see and hear. Assure them that they are seeing leadership getting training and experience, and that the students' views will change with time, experience, and world-weariness. Change is slow, and humans are a flawed experiment of nature. Tell those angry alumni that in 50 years some of these campus leaders will have founded great businesses and they will be the trustees and benefactors of the university. They are the future. Just wait. Meantime, realize that this is a memorable part of their college experience. They are paying for this, right along with their classes, the libraries, the sports teams, and the late-night bull sessions in their dorms.
I am not serene about the politics of campus disturbances, though. I saw what happened in 1968. The old school Democrat -- Hubert Humphrey and now Biden -- takes a middle path and urges people to make peace. That includes the parties at war and the people on campuses. They don't. Too many of the disputants think their side is just and the situation is dire. Biden cannot help but look irresolute and helpless because he will be unable to bring peace and order. If the Middle East were solvable it would have been solved. It will be an open seeping wound in world affairs, and students will observe it and protest. The Republican -- Nixon and now Trump -- says he would restore order with tough, no-nonsense police power and military force. He said he sides four-square with the powerful side in the war. Trump, like Nixon, says that he will bring an end to the war. The public, tired of the disorder, elects the Republican. If Democrats cannot bring peace and order, then let a strong man bring order through victory. Meanwhile it will give an overdue spanking to those coddled student troublemakers.
The parts are cast. A script is written. It could go something like that, again. This movie may be a remake.
There is some flawed memory at work in this message and the responses to it. Protests began on college campuses in early 1965 in response to the intensified bombing of North Vietnam. I joined SDS in early 1966 after attending what we called a "teach-in." It was June of 1967 that Muhammad Ali refused induction to go fight that Neo-colonial war, and I was first arrested for occupying the admin building at Long Beach State. By November of 1967, there were almost 500,000 US troops in Vietnam; casualties then exceeded 15,000 and casualties were close to 110,000. In October of 1967, more than 100,000 people demonstrated at the Lincoln Memorial (took a lot of groundwork to generate that large of a protest) -- 30,000 of them marched on the Pentagon that night and were confronted by The Man (as we called law and order forces). Don't you remember one of those arrested was Norman Mailer ... and that was the basis for his book, "Armies of the Night.'
Even Martin Luther King was protesting the war in 1967. After the Tet Offensive in January of 1968, only 35% of all Americans supported the war. And it was March of 1968 that LBJ announced he would not seek re-election.
My point in this chronicle is that the student-led protests WERE successful and did spread across all segments of society. Sure conservatives were appalled -- no more then than they are now. They also called for a massive and physical police response, as they are doing now. Ronald Reagan even predicted (encouraged) blood in the streets.
Was all of this the reason Hubert Humphrey was not elected. In part. He represented the same point of view against which students and anti-war sentiment were rebelling. But do not forget that, behind the scenes, LBJ was working with the North Vietnamese to draft a cease fire and an end to hostilities. He was on the verge of success when the Nixon campaign went behind his back and made deals with the North Vietnamese to put off a settlement until AFTER the election (much as Reagan did with Ayatollah and the Iranian hostages a few years later). This act of treason resulted in a collapse of the peace talks, and was as much responsible for Nixon's victory as any reaction to the anti-war movement (which continued to grow until even Nixon had to call off the dogs of war)
First, I do not believe Trump uses words like "vanquish" I am of Peter's generation, also a clean for Gene person though I didn't shave my legs. I did participate in a sit-in of the president's office at University of Nebraska (where I was not a student - I attended Nebraska Wesleyan) Being well behaved midwestern kids, our sit-in consisted of, well, sitting...on the floor and I am sure we sang a song or two. And then we left. Point being we thought we were brave and would change the world and at least in this way, we didn't. But that's what we call learning. I don't condone the property damage that happens more these days but the expression of dissent for a different season and different reasons is kind of normal. Also agree with Peter that it helps Trump.