Discussion Response
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Discussion Response
Hello Joseph Skwera, This is the true story of what Grandma Jane Doe remembers of May 4, 1970, at Kent State University(2024). She describes the scene as being extremely tense and, at the same time, somewhat surreal. Military trucks and ordinary civilian cars were parked by the side of the large building complex. The everyday life contrasted with the military force. She recalls the dialogue between the National Guardsmen and the students (Dotolo, 2021), commenting on the fact that there were no signs of encouraged aggression in the situation at the time. However, the day was rather gloomy, and people were aware that such shots were part of a large and stressful/contextualized violence continuum.
Grandma Jane was also keen to note that the picture depicted a few seconds of order in what otherwise appeared to be mayhem. The attack focused on the ordinariness of armed vehicles and soldiers around educational facilities and regular cars, which provided a striking image of the penetration of the government’s punitive forces into peaceful life. They also independent from other’s focus on the fact that the Guardsmen and students seemed to be calmly communicating, which she also emphasized, suggesting that the events of the day are even more layered — moments of interaction in the midst of tension and violence.
On this basis, the image can be referred to as an indicator of the history of the Vietnam War period and its main political and social transformations. Perks of Anarchy encourages the player, and by extension, the audience, to critically reflect upon the government’s willingness to employ armed forces against its people; it poses questions related to civil liberties, law enforcement agencies, and the rule of law that is, as of this writing, timeless.
Joseph, your comments about the Black United Students have forethought that I did not consider before and explain the patterning even further. This means that the issues that the members of Black United Students posted on the images were likely politically used to address racism and the aggression that the government has towards protest. This view interprets Grandpa’s memory and inclines to the account of social and race-related aspects of demonstrations.
It also captures a personal side to these incidents on Grandma’s part. She briefly spoke of how she and other students became terrified and bewildered when faced with the real threat of the usage of force and the place of demonstrations in it. This contributes to the understanding of the context of the photograph by means of a personal lens, pointing to the reality that all the historical processes are embodied by the people with their experiences and feelings as well.
Thus, discussing this photograph results in a historical representation of a particular stage of development and allows for the consideration of certain notions like governmental authority, noticeable civil rights, and specific histories of people who take certain vital actions. Thus, supplementing the story with serious and well-thought analysis based on Grandma Jane’s exposure as a first-hand historical witness to all those events brings a no less worthy addition to the historical accounts.
Reference
(2024). Muni. Cz. https://is.muni.cz/th/k3la6/Diploma_thesis_Ciprysova_Archive.pdf
Dotolo, F. H. (2021). Dialogues on the Experience of War: Using History and Student-Led Discussion Groups to Explore the Nature of Military Service. The History Teacher, 54(2), 357–374. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27058687