Kent State 1970 - When Everyone Went Too Far

There is a valuable lesson to be learned from this infamous photograph. It was taken, of course, at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970, a day when extremists on both sides, went too far. Democracy is a fragile vehicle. Tensions flare, rise up and sometimes die away. Sometimes there are changes left in the wake. Sometimes there are only scars.

On the night of May 2nd, 1970 demonstrators had burned down the ROTC building on the Kent State Campus. This led to the National Guard being called in to preserve order. What happened on Monday, May 4th, 1970 did little to restore that order. Instead, it locked both sides into a struggle that would cleave our nation into 2 halves for decades. That division continues to this very day.

Extremism begets extremism. History is filled with examples. We are living through some dangerous and fractious times right now. If you are for the current administration you are labeled a Communist, if you support the Tea Parties you are a Nazi. Interestingly, both sides, when taken too far, lead to the same thing, Fascism.

The Vietnam era was a volatile time in our nation's history. Families were split along political lines. Friendships were formed and broken over the issue of the Vietnam War. We became a nation divided by our politics, rather than a nation united by our political system. And we have remained so. And the people at the top want it that way. It's the only way that they can continue to run the show the way they see fit.

These are the victims of extremism. 4 young people, caught up in a sea of rhetoric, going too far and coming face to face with another group, equally caught up in their own rhetoric. When each side is so right, when each side claims the high ground, where do the little people go? When both sides cling so tightly to their beliefs, that they are willing to burn, or kill, the opposition, then it is time to step back and re-examine the cause.

In memory of Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandy Scheuer and William Schroeder I hope that we will all take the opportunity to look inside of ourselves and our respective political positions. And in tribute to these 4 young Americans, let's step back a bit from the edge of division and look to re-unite ourselves as a nation. I really think that is what these 4 victims of extremism would have wanted us to learn.