[Oe List ...] Lessons from the Riots of 1968

[Ellie Stock]

Thanks, Herman.  Well said.
Ellie elliestock at aol.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Herman Greene via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: OE Listserv <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Cc: Herman Greene <hfgreenenc at gmail.com>
Sent: Mon, Jun 1, 2020 10:40 am
Subject: [Oe List ...] Lessons from the Riots of 1968

I just submitted this letter to the editor of the Raleigh News & Observer
Lessons from the Riots of 1968 In 1968, I lived in the East Garfield Park neighborhood ofChicago, which was to be the center of the riots following Martin Luther King,Jr.’s death on Thursday, April 4. I was part of a community that was engaged incommunity reformulation in a 22-square block area. We lived in a one-square-blockseminary campus; the seminary had moved to the suburbs as part of white flight.On the evening of April 5th (it was Good Friday), I watched out of athird-floor window as fires were lit one after another. They came closer andcloser and eventually our building was set on fire—thankfully, we were able toput the fires out. Organizers had identified white-owned businesses, and thesewere the targets. The only grocery story in the neighborhood was burned—it wouldnot be replaced for 10 years. Looting was rampant. The National Guard wasbrought in. It was surreal.  Protests and riots are related but different. Riots it issaid are the voice of the voiceless, but what a confusing and often destructivevoice. Protest comes from anger, riots from rage and the desire for paybackagainst a generalized other. In the 60s the civil rights movement, the Viet Namwar, and the intolerable deterioration of inner-city urban life tore into theAmerican soul. Today pandemic, economic collapse, and blatant racism torch ourcollective anxiety and despair. Then Richard Nixon called on the “moralmajority” to put down anarchy. There is little doubt in my mind that the chaosof the riots and protests or the late 60s led to the conservative turn in ournation, which began with Nixon. Protests barely make the news these days, but riots andviolence do. Along with riots and violence come the widely divergent responsesof the people. Compared with Trump, Nixon was a healer—he appealed to amythical majority to restore order and decency. Trump appeals only to his baseand incites rage to counter rage, division to counter division, and distractionto avoid addressing the serious problems we face.  It will take a miracle for our country to come together, fordecency and tolerance to reign. May those who engage in senseless violencecease, and those who take what is not theirs stop. May we give up our carefullyconstructed culture wars. May those who foment anger for gain come to theirsenses. We cannot afford another 50-year detour into us versus them. We are theUnited States and there is so much we need to do together. Herman GreeneChapel Hill, NC 
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__________________________________________________Herman F. Greene2516 Winningham RoadChapel Hill, NC 27516919-942-4358 (ph & fax)hfgreenenc at gmail.com_______________________________________________
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