DIY History | Transcribe | Social Justice | University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970 | ""Iowa '70: Riot, Rhetoric, Responsibility?"" Page 44

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

""Iowa '70: Riot, Rhetoric, Responsibility?"" Page 44

40
Now That It's Over

Looking back over the past two weeks' events, one fact stands out in my mind- the protests are people-people of many feelings, aims, means and needs, all coming together to express these. But the sadness of an event like this is that the people are lost in the larger perspective of the events in their entirety. In covering stories, I met many people, and gained an insight into their lives and feelings in an uncontrived and open way. I find their actions much more real than the broken windows at Iowa Book.
The night the Iowa Book windows were smashed, a thin, frail girl, afflicted with a muscular disease which prohibits her running, was in the crowd. When the mob turned to run from advancing police she was trampled. Another student saw her and lifted her to safety. There they were joined by a friend of the student who took them both to her apartment. There the girl was allowed to rest, clean-up and was fed soup. They even offered her a palce to sleep. In the middle of a mob, a couple of good samaratans came to the aid of a girl in need of help. A stranger to them both.
A series of Chamber of Commerce meetings consisting of discussions between students and businessmen was started following the Monday night window breaking. The original meeting was called to try to find a connection between the breaking of windows and student hatred of the war. But as the dialogue progressed and the meetings continued, they became a sounding board where each side could try to express its beliefs while the other side actually listened. Maybe no opinions were changed by the discussions, but at least the two groups were talking and trying to work out mutual problems.
In the aftermath of the arrests that night, another individual contributed hsi time working for legal aids. After a shift of 48 hours straight, broken only by cat naps on the student activities center floor, he still found time to be sure that I received a packet for canvasers.
At a rally a long haired man and his girl suddenly appeared from the crowd to where I was sitting, carrying a whole fresh pineapple and a coconut in the shell. He stopped long enough to share his coconut with me before again merging with the crowd to share with others.
At Tuesday night's rally when students stood in the streets to block traffic, a black student was seen talking to a group of fellow demosntrators. He was trying to persuade them that people must be treated as human beings first. He was not talking about his color or racism, but rather the topic of discussion was treatment of the police. He said that the police were as human as they were, that they didn't want to be there, that they were afraid also. He wanted us to remember that before we called them pigs or threw rocks.
There was a negative side, too, that of people in the states of fear or hatred or lostness. This was the rock throwing and the disillusionment. Some actions were reactionary, others calculated, but all were the actions still of people caught up in the events.

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40 Now That It's Over Looking back over the past two weeks' events, one fact stands out in my mind- the protests are people-people of many feelings, aims, means and needs, all coming together to express these. But the sadness of an event like this is that the people are lost in the larger perspective of the events in their entirety. In covering stories, I met many people, and gained an insight into their lives and feelings in an uncontrived and open way. I find their actions much more real than the broken windows at Iowa Book. The night the Iowa Book windows were smashed, a thin, frail girl, afflicted with a muscular disease which prohibits her running, was in the crowd. When the mob turned to run from advancing police she was trampled. Another student saw her and lifted her to safety. There they were joined by a friend of the student who took them both to her apartment. There the girl was allowed to rest, clean-up and was fed soup. They even offered her a palce to sleep. In the middle of a mob, a couple of good samaratans came to the aid of a girl in need of help. A stranger to them both. A series of Chamber of Commerce meetings consisting of discussions between students and businessmen was started following the Monday night window breaking. The original meeting was called to try to find a connection between the breaking of windows and student hatred of the war. But as the dialogue progressed and the meetings continued, they became a sounding board where each side could try to express its beliefs while the other side actually listened. Maybe no opinions were changed by the discussions, but at least the two groups were talking and trying to work out mutual problems. In the aftermath of the arrests that night, another individual contributed hsi time working for legal aids. After a shift of 48 hours straight, broken only by cat naps on the student activities center floor, he still found time to be sure that I received a packet for canvasers. At a rally a long haired man and his girl suddenly appeared from the crowd to where I was sitting, carrying a whole fresh pineapple and a coconut in the shell. He stopped long enough to share his coconut with me before again merging with the crowd to share with others. At Tuesday night's rally when students stood in the streets to block traffic, a black student was seen talking to a group of fellow demosntrators. He was trying to persuade them that people must be treated as human beings first. He was not talking about his color or racism, but rather the topic of discussion was treatment of the police. He said that the police were as human as they were, that they didn't want to be there, that they were afraid also. He wanted us to remember that before we called them pigs or threw rocks. There was a negative side, too, that of people in the states of fear or hatred or lostness. This was the rock throwing and the disillusionment. Some actions were reactionary, others calculated, but all were the actions still of people caught up in the events.