My College Days - Peaceful Protestor
@DeborahDiane (40053)
Laguna Woods, California
July 9, 2018 3:28pm CST
As a college student in 1970, there was almost no way we could avoid being caught up in the anti-war movement, especially after a group of students at Kent State were gunned down by the National Guard.
I was always a peaceful protestor, often simply sitting in our student quad, listening to speakers, including some who had been at Kent State when those students were killed.
I was reminiscing about those days this morning when my husband posted the above college photo of me on Facebook, emphasizing my peace symbol earrings.
My former college roommate and some of my very old friends commented with their memories of our student protests in those days and how we all almost got arrested. The police actually took a bus load of students to the jail, but returned them a few hours later after a judge told them that they could not arrest students simply for sitting on the lawn on their college campus.
"Those were the days, my friends. Those were the days!"
(Words from an old Russian folk song which was popularized in 1968, in English, by Mary Hopkins and produced by Paul McCartney)
21 people like this
20 responses
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
9 Jul 18
I belong to the same age group. I took part in manifestations against the war in Vietnam and the deployment of Pershing missiles in Germany.
(Wikipedia) "The deployment of Pershing II and GLCM missiles was a cause of significant protests in Europe and the US, many organized by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament."
In October 1981, 300,000 protesters assembled in Bonn. I went there, too, together with people from all over the country.
I have no photo from those years.
7 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jul 18
@MALUSE - Good for you! I remember those protests in Europe, too. Since that was before the days of the internet, we were dependent on what was shown on the evening news, but I remember hearing a little about what was going on there.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@marlina - Yes, I was active then. I remained pretty dormant until the past year. So 50 years separated by periods of activism. I guess I better get it out of my system, because I won't be around in another 50 years.
@LeaPea2417 (36431)
• Toccoa, Georgia
10 Jul 18
@marlina I have heard that song. I always liked it.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@much2say - I actually enjoy seeing a little college activism. It encourages students to get involved. As long as it is peaceful, I'm all for it!
1 person likes this
@much2say (53960)
• Los Angeles, California
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane I do too. I'm glad that "kids" are aware of what is going around them and are taking a stand (though sometimes it doesn't stay peaceful).
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@jstory07 - Yes, those were the days. Gone too soon! 
@marlina (154166)
• Canada
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane And I did love that swimming suit. I had many compliments on it.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@marlina - I'm sure everyone loved it!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@marlina - Oh, I would have LOVED that swimming suit. It sounds adorable!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@Dena91 - Yes, many people alive today are too young to remember the activism of the 60s and why students got so involved in what was happening in the world.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
10 Jul 18
I graduated in 1964 before all that happened, and was teaching in Long Beach by 1965. Some of my younger friends were caught up in some of the demonstrations. I guess I'm not the demonstrating type. I would rather use written words or conversations to get ideas across and hear why those who disagree do.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane I agree. I prefer more reasoned protest to the current kind of in-your-face-shout-opposition-down protests we are seeing in the streets. Might doesn't make right, no matter which side is trying to force their views on others. I believe in persuasion. Convince me by showing me how you came to your view and why so that I may consider it. Insults and violence never won anyone over. In this country we are supposed to settle our differences at the ballot box -- not in the streets with intimidation. Peaceful demonstration is one thing. Making war zones of our city streets is an entirely different matter. Some demonstrators in inner cities have burned or vandalized the property of the very people they claimed they were trying to help.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane And that's how it ought to be. Nothing paves the way for a dictator like anarchy. Those who create anarchy are tools of those who want to destroy our Constitutional Republic. Presidents and those in Congress can be voted out if we don't like how they govern. One can never predict the results of a coup. The French Revolution is a good example.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@bagarad - The written word, and even music, can be a powerful type of protest, too. I think it is important for people not to simply ignore things they believe are wrong.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@id_peace - Ha ha! You are too kind. I take care of myself, but I have aged, for sure! LOL
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (457967)
• Switzerland
10 Jul 18
We had serious riots and protests here in Europe at the end of the 60's. My parents never allowed me to take part. They even did not allow me to go to the Brera University, because they were among the most active as protesters.
We did not change the world.
We did not change the world.1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (457967)
• Switzerland
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane Protests can make more harm than good in some occasions and I do not believe that Protests in Italy brought anything good. Before the 60s, we were a lot better than later.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@LadyDuck - Yes, sometimes protests cause problems. That is true. Did you see that George Clooney was in a motorcycle accident in Italy a couple of days ago. He went to an Italian hospital, and I immediately thought of everything you have said about them. Luckily, it appears he was not seriously hurt.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@LadyDuck - I think protests have an effect. When the populace of a nation just go along with what is happening and do not stand up for what they think is wrong, then bad things can go on without any resistance ... exactly what happened during WWII in Germany. Too often people think it is an asset not to protest, and I agree it can be bad to protest too often. However, the protesting I am doing now is happening for the first time in 50 years. I don't think that is too often! LOL
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
10 Jul 18
Oh, wow! You were really cutel in your 'college' days, DD!
I'm afraid I don't remember much from 1970. I was only seven then.
BTW, I think you may have made a tiny error in this discussion... You state that you were in college in 1970. I know that is a mistake. You are just barely older than I am. (See the comment about me being seven in 1970?
) 
I'm glad you avoided being arrested but have to wonder if you'd be telling us you were that old if we could easily check your age against your arrest record! 
)
I'm glad you avoided being arrested but have to wonder if you'd be telling us you were that old if we could easily check your age against your arrest record! 1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane You keep telling me things like that, DD, but I think you bumped your head so you can't remember your age clearly! I am sure you are my age!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@DaddyEvil - I'll take it! I'm happy to accept a younger age. When my kids see our wedding pictures, in 1971 in Berkeley, my daughters say I look like I was about 14. Actually I was 22. I love my daughters! LOL
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@DaddyEvil - Ha ha! I'm afraid it was no mistake. I graduated from college in 1970! Fortunately, that day was the closest I ever came to being arrested ... thank goodness!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@rakski - College is a good time to grow up and learn what is important to us.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
10 Jul 18
I attended many protests here in Oregon in the '70s, as I was a member of a Vets Against the War Group on campus. Now, both Anne and me attend some anti-Trump protests.
Love that photo!
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane I hope that is true. A friend of mine from the army feels that democracy is over, that Trump and his henchmen have basically seized power and won't give it up. He reluctantly predicted Trump's win when I thought it was not possible, so it is pretty scary.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@JamesHxstatic - I agree that this gang of men are not going to give up power easily. That is one reason I tell my friends that I am tired of old, white men running this country and I would like term limits. I didn't use to feel that way, but now I think that is the only way we are going to get back to a true democracy. The reason Trump admires people like Kim and Putin is because he would like to be a dictator like they are. He terrifies me. I never remember such a corrupt administration and I get tired of some of my Orange County friends who keep making excuses for him.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@JamesHxstatic - Good for you and Anne. I can't remember another time in my life, since the 60s, that people have been so inspired to take a stand against what they view as bad government policy.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Jul 18
@RubyHawk - Yes, it was a troubled time. I always believed the protests sped up the end of the Vietnam War, but who knows?
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
17 Jul 18
@RubyHawk Yes, some were mistreated, but not all of them. I went to college with Vietnam vets who were in school on the GI Bill, and they were treated like every other student. In fact, most were respected for being a little older and having more life experiences than the other guys.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99425)
• Atlanta, Georgia
16 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane Maybe it did. Our veterans coming home weren't welcomed, they were booed and spit upon.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129431)
• Israel
10 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane
I remember those days and also Kent State. I was at the University of Minnesota at that time. I did not demomstrate. You look so different in the picture. They certainly were the days.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@Hannihar - Yes, those were the days! Kent State was the turning point for a lot of students. It was a situation which made many students feel like they had to take a stand.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@Hannihar - I agree that many soldiers were treated very badly. I never did that to any soldiers. The only reason I ever protested was because I felt my young friends were being treated badly because they were forced to go 10,000 miles to fight a war in a jungle they did not care about. I supported the soldiers, but not the leaders who were sending them overseas.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129431)
• Israel
11 Jul 18
@DeborahDiane
I do not remember way back then. I think now I look at things very different since I live in Israel and we deal with wars here. Here is different. I feel bad for the the soldiers that fought in that war and how they were treated when they came back. Instead of a hero welcome they were treated very poorly.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (36431)
• Toccoa, Georgia
10 Jul 18
I was only 6 years old in 1970, but I do have vague memories of hearing about The Vietnam War on the radio and our black and white TV.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@LeaPea2417 - I think the Vietnam War caused a lot of kids to get interested in government and politics. It was the only way we didn't feel so helpless when guys our age were being sent off to war and, in too many cases, never came back.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (205646)
• Walnut Creek, California
6 Nov 18
Such a cutie! My sister taught at Kent State (Art History) for awhile, and I got to walk around and see where everything happened. Peaceful is the key. I participated in building "Peace" Parks" in Chicago, during the Vietnam War, but was never violent or insulting to anyone.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
6 Nov 18
@TheHorse - I was never a violent protestor, either, although I knew a few back in the 60s. It was an emotional time.
@birjudanak (14319)
• India
10 Jul 18
it's so scary experience because if you seated on a lawn and you arrested and jailed. by the way, you looking so beautiful in the photo. college time was my best time but thank god here its not situation like it. but old memory is always gold because sometimes we never thought that we will in this situation but we in it and also come out and we always think that how were those days.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40053)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jul 18
@birjudanak - I agree that old memories can be golden!
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