The Days Of Rage

The Days of Rage

Civil rights are rights that every person should have. These rights should apply to anyone no matter color, race, religion, or class. In 1969, many people began fighting for these rights. Although most thought violence was the only way to fix these problems, they were wrong. The Weathermen fought against the Vietnam War and racism. Although this was a big part in American history, it has been somewhat forgotten. This time was known as the Days of Rage.

The Days of Rage demonstrations took place in October 1969. The whole demonstration took a course of four days. It was organized by The Weathermen. This was a faction of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). It was composed of the national office

They wrecked parked cars and smashed store windows. This is known as “The Days of Rage”, The first demonstration of the Weathermen, or as many people know now as The Weather Underground. (Chicagotribune.com). There were over 250 people arrested and about 34 injured. (The New York Times). In a single eighteen-month period, during 1971-1972, the FBI counted 2,500 bombs set off on American soil. If the mathis done, that’s about five a day. Very few of these bombs actually caused serious injuries. They were mostly set off at night or in government building bathrooms. The deadliest underground attack caused only the deaths of 4 people. This was the bombing of the Wall Street Restaurant. (PBS.org). The group's goal was to overthrow conservative and capitalist systems. They also tried to end the Vietnam war by creating mass

They wanted a revolution. Although, these demonstrations did partially work, they could have been more effective had they been peaceful .(Chicagotribune.com). Take Martin Luther King Jr.’s protests for example. These were all peaceful yet extremely effective. Whenever violence is used the high moral ground is lost. The major goal of The Days of Rage was to stop the Vietnam War. They thought that the way to do this was to create mass action. They wanted to end the violence of the war with more violence. Instead of ending the war they just created a lot of damage to the city and got arrested. “Whether or not the working class came to Chicago in 1969 in the Days of Rage is not a measure of their commitment to stopping the war or to seeing life in certain way. There were very few of us who were there, and those of us that were had an illusion about ourselves.” -Bill Ayers.