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Campus "Unrest" demonstrations and consequences, 1970-1971

1971-11-12 American Report: Review of Religion and American Power Page 14

10-S AMERICAN REPORT, NOVEMBER 12, 1971

With Liberty and Justice for All

by Barry Levine

The man on the phone said, "Maybe you could say something about American justice, you know, a young person;s attitude." I said, "Sure, I'll give it some thought," and hopped in my car. I had a four hour drive ahead of me and surely I'd be able to put something together for this supplement. 
As I drove, I began to think about American justice. I got as far as the last line in the pledge of allegiance when my thoughts began to drift. It was autumn again and I was in Ohio. It's funny you know. how leaves turn such beautiful colors when they die.There I was, seeing Ohio in her autumnal nakedness and walking with a pretty girl i had just met a few days before. 
The memories flashed by like road signs, and before long it was the middle of winter. That same girl was walking beside me, her teeth sparkling with the snowflakes. My car veered a little and snapped me out of this dreamworld, getting me back to the issue at hand. So Barry, just what is this thing, justice?
Well, let's see, a few weeks ago 30 prisoners were shot by the police and we were told it had to be done, after all, they had brutally murdered their hostages. The truth is the police killed the hostages. Then there was George who (we are told) was shot from above while attempting to escape from prison. It turns out he was shot in the back. Then there was Fred. They told us he was killed in a lengthy gun battle with the police. The truth is, he was sleeping in bed at the time of his execution. And how about Dan who is dying in jail because is accused of conspiring to blow up Washington and kidnap one of our King's servants? Can one actually believe he masterminded such an intricate plan from his jail cell? I wonder if this is the type of justice a school child speaks of in his daily rectification of the pledge of allegiance. And what about the Vietnamese baby who is shot to death because he cried when he saw a G.I. stick a machine gun barrel in his mother's vagina and open fire?
And what about... 
Clearly, man's behaviour is not just. But perhaps justice is not determined by man's behaviour. Perhaps justice is the reward or punishment rendered as a result of one's behavior. With this definition let us look at the Kent State issue. A group of National Guardsmen mechanically (as if on signal) turned in their tracks and fired haphazardly into a group of pursuing students, wounding nine and killing four. We were told the guardsmen had been sniped at, but investigations show no snipers. So then, we were told the pursuing students were about to overrun the guardsmen and beat them to death, but pictures of the event show the nearest fatality 250 feet away and the nearest person 60 feet away. So then they tell us....
Surely these actions are not just. But if justice lies in the judgments to follow, then let's look at them. The five reports made public (two books, three official reports) all condemn the guard action as unwarranted and inexcusable. The Vice President of the United States says the action was murder and cannot be excused, yet 24 students, and one professor are indicted. The parents of four dead children ask for something to be done and find their only recourse is civil action. They file suits and are told the defendants have sovereign immunity. A report is released containing evidence to substantiate a theory that a group of National Guardsmen conspired to murder students. After reading the report, the Attorney General of the United States publicly states there is not enough evidence to warrant the convening of a Federal Grand Jury. These are some of the judments passed on the event since it occurred 17 months ago. 
If there is justice it is administered so selectively that it goes unnoticed. Justice must be a tool that is used by the rich and the power hungry. 

It can be no other way when prison guards ruthlessly, beat their prisoners without just reason and go unpunished, yet prisoners are savagely murdered when they threaten the safety of those guards. It can be no other way when Lieut. William Calley is crucified for the crimes of thousands of me. It can be no other way when the American Indian is driven from his land and then jailed when he attempts to regain a small portion of it (Alcatraz) It can be no other way when an oil lick threatening the San Clemente shoreline is cleaned up in a matter of days, but other slicks are left untouched for weeks
It can be no other way when it takes a week to convene a grand jury and indict Daniel Ellsberg, yet it takes 15 months to even consider a grand jury to probe the Kent State issue. It can be no other way when a man convicted of smoking marijuana is sentenced to 50 years, yet Capt. Ernest Medina walks free. It can be no other way when Richard Nixon watches a televised football game while half a million Americans gather on his front lawn to register their disgust with his war policies. It can be no other way when billions of dollars are considered for defense program while half of America starves, in ghettos. It can be no other way when a black man is chained and gagged in the very halls of justice. 
And it can be no other way when one considers the expediency with which National Guardsmen would be brought to trial had it been Tricia Nixon who was shot. 
I am only 20 years old I've already watched my best friend painfully bleed to death, as the men who shot her turn their backs and walk away. I've seen a sympathetic man slowly forfeit his career in his attempt to expose the carefully whitewashed truth of this atrocity. I've seen two parents lose a daughter and in their lonely agony be told there is no reason to investigate the incident which brutally took the life of their 19 year old daughter. I've seen my Government turn callously murder and then turn its back on public inquiry. Could this be justice?
I was driving for three hours before I realized I had no idea what American justice is other than being quite selective. My thoughts began to drift again, and I was thinking of that pretty girl. Two years ago she was playfully rolling under a warm spring sun. Now she is lying somewhere in Pittsburg six feet beneath the freshly fallen leaves. As a tear fell I wondered if I know what it was how would I explain justice to her?

Allison Krause

Barry Levine ho was with Allison Krause when she was shot is now studying at the State University of New York, Buffalo. "I have few plans and no expectations for the future."

BULLET

Puckering its lips, a fierce green beast 
Spits forth a messenger of death 
Spirally to its target 
It whistles for a second
Before kissing her soft flesh

Tearing thru flesh 
its violence shatters her ribs
Which had taken nineteen years
To mature to the healthy size
They now enjoyed

Splintered bone
Amidst torn, mangled flesh
Both of them saturates
In a warm red river
Gushing from her side 

Leaving fragmented bone behind
This messenger of death continues
Struggling to go deeper, to tear wider
Trying to rip apart the beautiful body 
Encasing the golden soul of love. 

Slicing a lung, it continues apathetically 
Looking for the large tube
that carries within its walls
The serum of life. 

Reaching its target
It lowers its head and plunges
Into the life giving organ
That so many people believe
To be the sanctuary of love. 

It seems ironic
That this projectile of anger
This pellet of hate
Must find for its prey 
The soft tissue of a young girl's heart 
That never knew hate 

Its duty done 
The impartial assassin 
Self destructs by exploding 
Leaving bits of itself
In her liver and in her spleen

Completely torn apart 
Her body crumples to the ground
Being drained of the joyous life she loved
Losing with each gasp of air
A memory
Of a Summers evening of a past lover. 

Yes, Allison
Flowers are better than bullets
A rose
Would have gently kissed your forehead. 

- BARRY LEVINE

Saving...

10-S AMERICAN REPORT, NOVEMBER 12, 1971 With Liberty and Justice for All by Barry Levine The man on the phone said, "Maybe you could say something about American justice, you know, a young person;s attitude." I said, "Sure, I'll give it some thought," and hopped in my car. I had a four hour drive ahead of me and surely I'd be able to put something together for this supplement. As I drove, I began to think about American justice. I got as far as the last line in the pledge of allegiance when my thoughts began to drift. It was autumn again and I was in Ohio. It's funny you know. how leaves turn such beautiful colors when they die.There I was, seeing Ohio in her autumnal nakedness and walking with a pretty girl i had just met a few days before. The memories flashed by like road signs, and before long it was the middle of winter. That same girl was walking beside me, her teeth sparkling with the snowflakes. My car veered a little and snapped me out of this dreamworld, getting me back to the issue at hand. So Barry, just what is this thing, justice? Well, let's see, a few weeks ago 30 prisoners were shot by the police and we were told it had to be done, after all, they had brutally murdered their hostages. The truth is the police killed the hostages. Then there was George who (we are told) was shot from above while attempting to escape from prison. It turns out he was shot in the back. Then there was Fred. They told us he was killed in a lengthy gun battle with the police. The truth is, he was sleeping in bed at the time of his execution. And how about Dan who is dying in jail because is accused of conspiring to blow up Washington and kidnap one of our King's servants? Can one actually believe he masterminded such an intricate plan from his jail cell? I wonder if this is the type of justice a school child speaks of in his daily rectification of the pledge of allegiance. And what about the Vietnamese baby who is shot to death because he cried when he saw a G.I. stick a machine gun barrel in his mother's vagina and open fire? And what about... Clearly, man's behaviour is not just. But perhaps justice is not determined by man's behaviour. Perhaps justice is the reward or punishment rendered as a result of one's behavior. With this definition let us look at the Kent State issue. A group of National Guardsmen mechanically (as if on signal) turned in their tracks and fired haphazardly into a group of pursuing students, wounding nine and killing four. We were told the guardsmen had been sniped at, but investigations show no snipers. So then, we were told the pursuing students were about to overrun the guardsmen and beat them to death, but pictures of the event show the nearest fatality 250 feet away and the nearest person 60 feet away. So then they tell us.... Surely these actions are not just. But if justice lies in the judgments to follow, then let's look at them. The five reports made public (two books, three official reports) all condemn the guard action as unwarranted and inexcusable. The Vice President of the United States says the action was murder and cannot be excused, yet 24 students, and one professor are indicted. The parents of four dead children ask for something to be done and find their only recourse is civil action. They file suits and are told the defendants have sovereign immunity. A report is released containing evidence to substantiate a theory that a group of National Guardsmen conspired to murder students. After reading the report, the Attorney General of the United States publicly states there is not enough evidence to warrant the convening of a Federal Grand Jury. These are some of the judments passed on the event since it occurred 17 months ago. If there is justice it is administered so selectively that it goes unnoticed. Justice must be a tool that is used by the rich and the power hungry. It can be no other way when prison guards ruthlessly, beat their prisoners without just reason and go unpunished, yet prisoners are savagely murdered when they threaten the safety of those guards. It can be no other way when Lieut. William Calley is crucified for the crimes of thousands of me. It can be no other way when the American Indian is driven from his land and then jailed when he attempts to regain a small portion of it (Alcatraz) It can be no other way when an oil lick threatening the San Clemente shoreline is cleaned up in a matter of days, but other slicks are left untouched for weeks It can be no other way when it takes a week to convene a grand jury and indict Daniel Ellsberg, yet it takes 15 months to even consider a grand jury to probe the Kent State issue. It can be no other way when a man convicted of smoking marijuana is sentenced to 50 years, yet Capt. Ernest Medina walks free. It can be no other way when Richard Nixon watches a televised football game while half a million Americans gather on his front lawn to register their disgust with his war policies. It can be no other way when billions of dollars are considered for defense program while half of America starves, in ghettos. It can be no other way when a black man is chained and gagged in the very halls of justice. And it can be no other way when one considers the expediency with which National Guardsmen would be brought to trial had it been Tricia Nixon who was shot. I am only 20 years old I've already watched my best friend painfully bleed to death, as the men who shot her turn their backs and walk away. I've seen a sympathetic man slowly forfeit his career in his attempt to expose the carefully whitewashed truth of this atrocity. I've seen two parents lose a daughter and in their lonely agony be told there is no reason to investigate the incident which brutally took the life of their 19 year old daughter. I've seen my Government turn callously murder and then turn its back on public inquiry. Could this be justice? I was driving for three hours before I realized I had no idea what American justice is other than being quite selective. My thoughts began to drift again, and I was thinking of that pretty girl. Two years ago she was playfully rolling under a warm spring sun. Now she is lying somewhere in Pittsburg six feet beneath the freshly fallen leaves. As a tear fell I wondered if I know what it was how would I explain justice to her? Allison Krause Barry Levine ho was with Allison Krause when she was shot is now studying at the State University of New York, Buffalo. "I have few plans and no expectations for the future." BULLET Puckering its lips, a fierce green beast Spits forth a messenger of death Spirally to its target It whistles for a second Before kissing her soft flesh Tearing thru flesh its violence shatters her ribs Which had taken nineteen years To mature to the healthy size They now enjoyed Splintered bone Amidst torn, mangled flesh Both of them saturates In a warm red river Gushing from her side Leaving fragmented bone behind This messenger of death continues Struggling to go deeper, to tear wider Trying to rip apart the beautiful body Encasing the golden soul of love. Slicing a lung, it continues apathetically Looking for the large tube that carries within its walls The serum of life. Reaching its target It lowers its head and plunges Into the life giving organ That so many people believe To be the sanctuary of love. It seems ironic That this projectile of anger This pellet of hate Must find for its prey The soft tissue of a young girl's heart That never knew hate Its duty done The impartial assassin Self destructs by exploding Leaving bits of itself In her liver and in her spleen Completely torn apart Her body crumples to the ground Being drained of the joyous life she loved Losing with each gasp of air A memory Of a Summers evening of a past lover. Yes, Allison Flowers are better than bullets A rose Would have gently kissed your forehead. - BARRY LEVINE