A Brief History Of Kent State University Student Protest

Many protests against wars, civil rights, race, etc. have occurred throughout United States history. The way America and its government handle these situations and events shows a great deal of what America stands for. The Vietnam war was one that had many protestors and dangerous events like those that took place at Kent State University when America’s National Guards' way of handling the situation got out of hand and four college students were shot and killed. Events like this affect the U.S. because it shows how incapable of change America is; despite a murderous event happening, little to no change occurred because of America’s long-standing lack of empathy and focus on commercial products rather than a social society.
Protests are commonly

America’s History makes the claim that “Antiwar demonstrators numbered in tens or, at most, hundreds of thousands, a small fraction of American youth, but they were vocal, visible, and determined” (Henretta, et al 915). It was no surprise when protests started breaking out all over the country during the Vietnam War, but it’s how the authorities handled the situation that has a bigger effect. On May 4, 1970, Kent State University students were on campus protesting the war taking place in Vietnam as The National Guard was called onto campus. Where they opened fire on students from all the confusion, chaos, and fear growing, and where four students were shot and killed. As tension in Vietnam grew, so did the tension in the U.S. and on a Saturday afternoon, tension had boiled over when a fire broke out at the campus ROTC building. Firefighters who arrived to quell the blaze were met with jeers. Their hoses were cut. Though they returned quickly with heavy police protection, the building burned to the ground. And the following Monday at Kent State University the

Deborah Wiles tells the story of the event through many angles and voices in her novel Kent State, as exampled by the following “We stood up. We looked around us at the carnage. And almost without knowing it, we made a plan for the future. Because one thing we knew for sure; They did not have to die” (Wiles 107). Those who watched their fellow classmates shot and killed by the U.S. National Guard understood that there is no way to “peacefully” protest if the government is easily startled into shooting. But no matter how jumpy, U.S. government officials should never be at fault for taking the lives of college students protesting. Jerry Lembcke writes about the Kent State University shooting and other college students' reactions, he says “Within days, students at other colleges and universities responded with rage at the Kent State shootings. Many campuses closed temporarily in order to dampen the student anger, and some didn't reopen until the fall” (Lembcke 8). When the protesting students felt the need to throw rocks and bottles, never should the Guardsman feel the need to open fire on these students, taking the lives of four. Sadly these murderous and aggressive events are not uncommon and did not entirely shock the nation as we have seen our governments lack of change in more recent events like civil rights