It’s been 50 years since the major protests of 1968 that saw U.S. campuses as the focal point for outrage against a multitude of issues: U.S policy in Vietnam, racial inequality in Black communities throughout the U.S. and the general rejection of capitalism and materialism by a broad-based youth counter-culture.
We’ve seen protests in the recent past from Black Lives Matters rallies to the walkouts and mass marches over the Parkland, Florida shootings.
But will the recent Trump-led strike on Syria move students to protest?
A few of the students I’ve encountered in my stint as an adjunct this spring semester would identify as “woke.” I sure hope the rest of them wake up and understand what’s going on with President Trump and Syria and how that impacts their future. Do they want to live while a world war rages and call to duty is more than a video game?
Trump, the America-first isolationist, now wants to come out, guns blazing as policeman of the world.
Students should be concerned.
There should be no doubt that the strikes that took place were illegal and against all major international standards. And if any of them are worked up about Donald Trump’s chaotic presidency, the students should understand that more than the Mueller investigation, the Cohen investigation, or Stormy Daniels, the strikes in Syria pose a greater threat to the Trump administration.
