As the Indian Law and Policy Center reports,
termination of Indian tribes as sovereign political entities is endemic
in the current presidential administration. Taken as a whole, the
agenda of key cabinet appointees and advisors is to finalize
assimilation of tribes into the American system of corporate
institutional dominance.
In essence, this agenda’s goal is the de facto abrogation of treaties
made between tribes and the United States. Indeed, remarks made by
Interior Secretary Zinke come right out of the CERA Anti-Indian playbook.
The Day the 60s Died,
a PBS documentary about “the turbulent spring of 1970,” recounts the
Kent State and Jackson State massacres of anti-war college students by
the Ohio National Guard and the Mississippi State Police.
In
1970, the year I graduated from high school, the anti-war movement in
the United States was practically all we talked about. Reading former Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger’s book The Burglary, I am reminded of what a crazy time it was.
In March 1970, California governor Ronald Reagan called for a bloodbath to silence anti-war protestors.
In April 1970, President Nixon announced the massive bombing of Vietnam would be expanded to Cambodia.
In May 1970, Ohio governor James Rhodes declared martial law at Kent State University, resulting in four students killed and nine injured by National Guard gunfire as students assembled in peaceful protest. Ten days after the Kent State massacre, local and state police in Mississippi fired 460 rounds at a student dormitory on the Jackson State University campus, killing two, wounding twelve.
The Friday after the Kent State shootings, as they sang at a peaceful noon vigil called for by Mayor John Lindsay to honor the slain Kent State students, scores of students in New York City were bludgeoned with crow bars by construction workers. Twenty-two of the workers who beat the students were honored weeks later by President Nixon at the White House.
In March 1970, California governor Ronald Reagan called for a bloodbath to silence anti-war protestors.
In April 1970, President Nixon announced the massive bombing of Vietnam would be expanded to Cambodia.
In May 1970, Ohio governor James Rhodes declared martial law at Kent State University, resulting in four students killed and nine injured by National Guard gunfire as students assembled in peaceful protest. Ten days after the Kent State massacre, local and state police in Mississippi fired 460 rounds at a student dormitory on the Jackson State University campus, killing two, wounding twelve.
The Friday after the Kent State shootings, as they sang at a peaceful noon vigil called for by Mayor John Lindsay to honor the slain Kent State students, scores of students in New York City were bludgeoned with crow bars by construction workers. Twenty-two of the workers who beat the students were honored weeks later by President Nixon at the White House.
The
revolutionary 1960s were challenging for us as American teenagers, and
bewildering for our parents. Feminism, racial equality, and rejection of
religion set us apart from their generation. Social phenomena that
unfolded during my high school years alone (1967–70) were astounding:
