Odds are, you have encountered Bruce Springteen's ode to the battle of Minnesota. After all, it's been written up even in the New York Times. But here it is, anyway:
... There were bloody footprints where mercy should have stood ... we'll take our stand for this land and the stranger in our midst ...we'll remember the names of those who died on the streets of Minneapolis ...The song put me in mind of another season when the American state murdered its own. In May of 1970, National Guard soldiers killed four on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio followed shortly after by the killing of two protesting Black students at Jackson State in Mississippi.
A significant difference between our current moment and that time: in 1970, state and national polls found that majorities of citizens thought the students got what they deserved.
Polls today, now that nearly everyone has seen the videos of Alex Pritti's execution, run strong against the Trump/Miller occupation of Minneapolis. We've learned a thing or two over the last 55 years.
The popular touring folk singer Holly Near provided a ballad of the Kent and Jackson State era: It's refrain seems highly applicable to our moment:
. Seems right. I hope this is not what is demanded of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment