History

People once again gathered at noon on May 4 at what is known as the “Victory Bell.” There were an estimated 2,000 demonstrators — three times the number that had previously convened, despite every attempt by the school administration to stop the demonstration. A confrontation between protesters and the Guard ensued outside Taylor Hall. The “tin soldiers” opened fire, stealing the lives of 19-year-old Allison Krause, 20-year-old Jeffrey Miller, 20-year-old Sandra Scheuer and 19-year-old William Schroeder, while shooting and wounding nine others.

Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller were the only two slain who had participated in the demonstration. Krause was a supporter of the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and Miller was active with the KSU branch of Students for a Democratic Society. Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were simply walking to class.

The murders at KSU led to student strikes and protests on college campuses across the country.

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The four murders at Kent State have always gotten more attention than the two at Jackson State — even among white “progressive” circles — despite being equally horrendous. In the May 21, 1970, issue, Workers World newspaper called out the hypocrisy of the “liberal” wing of the U.S. ruling class and the middle-class layers of the antiwar movement:

“The war against Black America and the war against Indochina are both genocidal wars against colonized people. But while there is a ‘loyal opposition’ within the [neo]imperialist establishment to the war in Indochina, there is no such opposition to the war at home. Where were McGovern, Kennedy, et al., when the bullets cut into the backs of Blacks in Jackson and Augusta? Certainly, these murders are as vicious as the murders at Kent State.

“But these ‘liberals’ didn’t call a press conference to denounce the murders. They didn’t run to be photographed with grief-stricken Black families or ask Black people to come to Washington. […] They want to limit their ‘loyal opposition’ to the war in Indochina — a tactic they hope will get them votes.

“For similar motives, these ‘doves’ used the murders at Kent State for their own political ends. […] And so they shed crocodile tears and called for an end to the violence — but they didn’t call for an end to the violence of the cops, the storm troopers of the ruling class.

“Why? Because there is no loyal opposition to war against Black America — it folded up after the Civil Rights Movement, when the ruling class decided they were not going to give Black people equality, because the class interests of the [neo]imperialists were too intimately tied up with racism and the subjugation of Black people.”

Youth Against War and Fascism — the youth wing of Workers World Party in 1970 — participated in the student strikes following the Kent State shootings, as well as in actions following the Jackson State murders. YAWF proudly carried banners that read, “Avenge the Kent State Four!” and “Racist Ruling Class Wanted for Murder at Jackson State.”