4th MAY 1970

On this day in 1970, members of the American National Guard fired a number of shots at student protestors at the Kent State University, Ohio. An estimated 2000 students were protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia. The guardsmen fired a total of 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds. As a result four were killed and another 10 injured, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. The guards started shooting when the protest group would not disperse from the campus grounds. Several attempts before the shootings were made to move the students away including using tear gas.

Following this event there was a significant national response. Hundreds of universities, colleges and high schools closed across the United States due to a student strike of approximately four million students. The event further affected the public opinion in regards to the role of the United States in the Vietnam War, at a time when society was already contentious.

Student protests are always interesting to read about, not because they're good stories but because the influence they simultaneously have on the public is quite extensive. I mean almost four million students didn't show up! The influence that students have on civil rights movements is amazing. In fact the influence that students have on any sort of movement is incredible! This is how the world is changed. An event happens and some people (students, members of the public, anybody really) talk about it and they don't like it and suddenly it's a world issue.

It's amazing the influence that students, as a medium of opinions, have on the world.


Go us.










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