Kent State University won’t back down on its decision to bring Jane Fonda to speak during its 50-year commemoration of May 4, 1970.
On 4 May, 1970, the National Guard fired on students at Kent State University during an anti-war protest, killing four students and injuring one.
Download the new Independent Premium app
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
Download now
Ms Fonda was an outspoken anti-war activist at the time and became controversial for a photo of her perched atop a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a trip to Hanoi in 1972. Even today some people view her as traitorous for the photo and have called for the college to cancel her speech.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that Kent State University responded to the criticism in a statement and made it clear it did not intend to cancel her appearance.
“We take to heart the painful feelings expressed by those for whom Fonda’s visit to Hanoi as a young activist in 1972 had a profound impact. We are equally moved by those who expressed their high regard for Fonda’s atonement after the incident and her lifelong activism in support of human rights and civil rights.”
left
Created with Sketch.
right
Created with Sketch.
1/14 Umm Mahdi, 66, an Iraqi demonstrator, during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq
“I come to protest for rights and against illegitimacy. The government is illegitimate, there are no jobs, no housing, no services and the protesters have a good cause. I should be with them because I am like a mother to them,” Mahdi said. “If the government proed jobs or housing or services to citizens the youth would not be protesting and sacrificing their lives. My message to the protesters is: I am with you until the last day of my life, I support you – keep your peaceful protests going until you get your rights,” she continued. “I will not back down from participating in protests until our youth get all their rights from the corrupt and unjust. Any people who protest do so because they have been oppressed.”
Reuters
2/14 Axel Buxade, 18, a student, holds a Catalan flag during a protest at University Square in Barcelona, Spain
“We’re here, mainly young people, outraged by the sentences and the inability of politicians to talk,” said Buxade. Referring to Hong Kong, he said: “There have been acts of mutual support, if they reach their goal we’ll be very happy.”
Reuters
3/14 Alex Munoz Fuentes, 47, an accountant, holds a Chilean flag in Santiago, Chile
“People in the world are tired of injustice,” said Fuentes. “I don’t want anything given for free. But I know that in Chile the institutions, the law and the constitution are made to abuse the working classes. I want a new deal. Hong Kong is similar, the authorities are not thinking about people’s wellbeing… I have a fraternal hug for them, and all my solidarity from Chile. Please don’t give up.”
Reuters
4/14 A protester nicknamed Liberty Girl God and her boyfriend nicknamed Little Brother, both 15, during a protest in front of Lennon Wall in Hong Kong, China
“We want the government to finally respond to our demands and to make changes quickly,” said Liberty Girl God. “In my opinion (protesters in other countries) have the same demands as us. This may be a hard way to achieve our wish but I believe we will win.”
Reuters
5/14 Rese Domini, 31, an activist for an organisation called the Haitian Equality Movement for Fraternity (MONEGAF) during a protest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
“Here we are not treated like humans,” said Domini. “We don’t have access to hospitals, schools, university, food, security or infrastructure. That is why it is important for us to rebel against the accused (president) Jovenel Moses and ask him to leave. He is a thief … we need a government that can meet our needs. Many places are protesting because there is exploitation everywhere.”
Reuters
6/14 Mohammad Anas Qureshi, 20, a fruit vendor, holds the national flag of India in front of riot police during a protest against a new citizenship law in Delhi, India
“We are here to protest against the new citizenship law. This law is wrong against Muslims and India. It will die the country. We won’t let it happen,” he said. “I think all the protesters all over the world are fighting for their rights. Protesters all over the world are our brothers. We hope that God gives them more strength in their fight for their rights.”
Reuters
7/14 Teacher Andres Felipe Vargas, 52, at a protest during a national strike in Bogota, Colombia
“The government that is currently in Colombia is an extreme right-wing government that wants to take away more and more of our rights… it is a government that only wants to encourage inequality, Colombia is the third most unequal country in the world,” Vargas said. “Throughout history it has been seen that things don’t just happen, things change with revolutions … with the French revolution, with the industrial revolution. Right now we are in a stage of awakening and we have to take advantage of that.”
Reuters
8/14 Paola Correa, 37, an artist, at a protest during a national strike in Bogota, Colombia
“I go out to protest because I am sure that the demonstrations … can generate the social and political transformations that this country needs,” Correa said. “In reality, I do not protest for me, I protest for people of other races, for the peasants, for the disappeared. There are many ways to support the protests, there are people who don’t go out on the streets because of the fear that the state itself is generating… but (you) can make a difference, in how you treat others, that’s also a change, and it happens from the most intimate moments of our lives.’
Reuters
9/14 Ronnie, 27, an office worker, during a protest in Hong Kong
Ronnie demands genuine universal suffrage for the city’s leader and legislative council representatives. ‘Five demands, not one less’ is not only a slogan, but a cause I will fight for until the end.” Ronnie wants to express the message that the fight for human rights and democracy are basic fundamental values that we need to defend at all costs.
Reuters
10/14 Hiba Ghosn, 36, who works in the fashion industry, poses as her friends sit in the afternoon sun on Martyrs’ square, as people gather for a demonstration during ongoing anti-government protests in Beirut, Lebanon
“They are thieves, every single one of them. They’ve been robbing us for 30 years,” she said. “The new generation should come in and politicians that are more like us, and see what we see. I think it’s gonna take a very long time to reach there … but we will. I think we’ve woken up the dragon. (Globally) people have had enough. I think they are all asking for those basic rights.”
Reuters
11/14 Amiri Yacine, 26, a student, poses for a photograph during a protest rejecting the December presidential election and against the country’s ruling elite in Algiers, Algeria
“I am protesting against injustice and dictatorship,” said Amiri Yacine, 26. “People are protesting around the world. In Lebanon, Iraq Chile, France, Hong Kong and Haiti, because of injustice and corruption.” Yacine, who has joined rolling demonstrations since February in opposition to the shadowy elite that has controlled Algeria since independence in 1962, feels his demands are universal. “We want to build a new Algeria … we want free media and a total respect of human rights. Also, we want jobs and infrastructure,” Yacine said. “My message to protesters is just be peaceful – be wise and keep calm. Fight the system with good ideas, because they don’t have ideas.”
Reuters
12/14 Protester Didier Baylac wears a yellow vest in Paris during the 56th round of French protests, with a backdrop of social discontentment triggered by president Macron”s pensions reform plan
“I demonstrate for a better purchasing power,” Baylac said. “I am here also against the rise in violence carried out by the police forces at the Saturday demonstrations,” he continued. “All the powerful, all the rich, want us to believe we live in a wonderful world, that we are protected, we do not need to worry about anything. All this is untrue: it is only the case for the rich people who are protected … all the other honest small people struggle. (People should) get up and demonstrate every Saturday to show what is wrong with your country. All this in the most peaceful way possible.”
Reuters
13/14 Jasper, 27, who works in a retail bank, during a demonstration in Hong Kong
“This is a universal demand for democracy and fairness,” said Jasper, who joined a downtown protest at lunchtime. Like many protesters, he declined to give his surname and wore a surgical mask to conceal his identity. “Every country in the world faces the same situation. This will not be an easy road, but we all know we are doing the right thing.”
Reuters
14/14 Rivera Zambrano, 67, poses as he and fellow coca farmers and supporters of Bolivia’s ousted president Evo Morales, stage a blockade at the main road of The Chapare province, in Villa Tunari, Bolivia
“There is injustice,” said Rivera. “This a government selling our homeland. No one chose them. All people are on a vigil, which we will not lift. We do not want that president. We want peace. The previous governments did nothing for us. Only the government of Evo Morales has done something for us. We are claiming our rights.”
Reuters
1/14 Umm Mahdi, 66, an Iraqi demonstrator, during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq
“I come to protest for rights and against illegitimacy. The government is illegitimate, there are no jobs, no housing, no services and the protesters have a good cause. I should be with them because I am like a mother to them,” Mahdi said. “If the government proed jobs or housing or services to citizens the youth would not be protesting and sacrificing their lives. My message to the protesters is: I am with you until the last day of my life, I support you – keep your peaceful protests going until you get your rights,” she continued. “I will not back down from participating in protests until our youth get all their rights from the corrupt and unjust. Any people who protest do so because they have been oppressed.”
Reuters
2/14 Axel Buxade, 18, a student, holds a Catalan flag during a protest at University Square in Barcelona, Spain
“We’re here, mainly young people, outraged by the sentences and the inability of politicians to talk,” said Buxade. Referring to Hong Kong, he said: “There have been acts of mutual support, if they reach their goal we’ll be very happy.”
Reuters
3/14 Alex Munoz Fuentes, 47, an accountant, holds a Chilean flag in Santiago, Chile
“People in the world are tired of injustice,” said Fuentes. “I don’t want anything given for free. But I know that in Chile the institutions, the law and the constitution are made to abuse the working classes. I want a new deal. Hong Kong is similar, the authorities are not thinking about people’s wellbeing… I have a fraternal hug for them, and all my solidarity from Chile. Please don’t give up.”
Reuters
4/14 A protester nicknamed Liberty Girl God and her boyfriend nicknamed Little Brother, both 15, during a protest in front of Lennon Wall in Hong Kong, China
“We want the government to finally respond to our demands and to make changes quickly,” said Liberty Girl God. “In my opinion (protesters in other countries) have the same demands as us. This may be a hard way to achieve our wish but I believe we will win.”
Reuters
5/14 Rese Domini, 31, an activist for an organisation called the Haitian Equality Movement for Fraternity (MONEGAF) during a protest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
“Here we are not treated like humans,” said Domini. “We don’t have access to hospitals, schools, university, food, security or infrastructure. That is why it is important for us to rebel against the accused (president) Jovenel Moses and ask him to leave. He is a thief … we need a government that can meet our needs. Many places are protesting because there is exploitation everywhere.”
Reuters
6/14 Mohammad Anas Qureshi, 20, a fruit vendor, holds the national flag of India in front of riot police during a protest against a new citizenship law in Delhi, India
“We are here to protest against the new citizenship law. This law is wrong against Muslims and India. It will die the country. We won’t let it happen,” he said. “I think all the protesters all over the world are fighting for their rights. Protesters all over the world are our brothers. We hope that God gives them more strength in their fight for their rights.”
Reuters
7/14 Teacher Andres Felipe Vargas, 52, at a protest during a national strike in Bogota, Colombia
“The government that is currently in Colombia is an extreme right-wing government that wants to take away more and more of our rights… it is a government that only wants to encourage inequality, Colombia is the third most unequal country in the world,” Vargas said. “Throughout history it has been seen that things don’t just happen, things change with revolutions … with the French revolution, with the industrial revolution. Right now we are in a stage of awakening and we have to take advantage of that.”
Reuters
8/14 Paola Correa, 37, an artist, at a protest during a national strike in Bogota, Colombia
“I go out to protest because I am sure that the demonstrations … can generate the social and political transformations that this country needs,” Correa said. “In reality, I do not protest for me, I protest for people of other races, for the peasants, for the disappeared. There are many ways to support the protests, there are people who don’t go out on the streets because of the fear that the state itself is generating… but (you) can make a difference, in how you treat others, that’s also a change, and it happens from the most intimate moments of our lives.’
Reuters
9/14 Ronnie, 27, an office worker, during a protest in Hong Kong
Ronnie demands genuine universal suffrage for the city’s leader and legislative council representatives. ‘Five demands, not one less’ is not only a slogan, but a cause I will fight for until the end.” Ronnie wants to express the message that the fight for human rights and democracy are basic fundamental values that we need to defend at all costs.
Reuters
10/14 Hiba Ghosn, 36, who works in the fashion industry, poses as her friends sit in the afternoon sun on Martyrs’ square, as people gather for a demonstration during ongoing anti-government protests in Beirut, Lebanon
“They are thieves, every single one of them. They’ve been robbing us for 30 years,” she said. “The new generation should come in and politicians that are more like us, and see what we see. I think it’s gonna take a very long time to reach there … but we will. I think we’ve woken up the dragon. (Globally) people have had enough. I think they are all asking for those basic rights.”
Reuters
11/14 Amiri Yacine, 26, a student, poses for a photograph during a protest rejecting the December presidential election and against the country’s ruling elite in Algiers, Algeria
“I am protesting against injustice and dictatorship,” said Amiri Yacine, 26. “People are protesting around the world. In Lebanon, Iraq Chile, France, Hong Kong and Haiti, because of injustice and corruption.” Yacine, who has joined rolling demonstrations since February in opposition to the shadowy elite that has controlled Algeria since independence in 1962, feels his demands are universal. “We want to build a new Algeria … we want free media and a total respect of human rights. Also, we want jobs and infrastructure,” Yacine said. “My message to protesters is just be peaceful – be wise and keep calm. Fight the system with good ideas, because they don’t have ideas.”
Reuters
12/14 Protester Didier Baylac wears a yellow vest in Paris during the 56th round of French protests, with a backdrop of social discontentment triggered by president Macron”s pensions reform plan
“I demonstrate for a better purchasing power,” Baylac said. “I am here also against the rise in violence carried out by the police forces at the Saturday demonstrations,” he continued. “All the powerful, all the rich, want us to believe we live in a wonderful world, that we are protected, we do not need to worry about anything. All this is untrue: it is only the case for the rich people who are protected … all the other honest small people struggle. (People should) get up and demonstrate every Saturday to show what is wrong with your country. All this in the most peaceful way possible.”
Reuters
13/14 Jasper, 27, who works in a retail bank, during a demonstration in Hong Kong
“This is a universal demand for democracy and fairness,” said Jasper, who joined a downtown protest at lunchtime. Like many protesters, he declined to give his surname and wore a surgical mask to conceal his identity. “Every country in the world faces the same situation. This will not be an easy road, but we all know we are doing the right thing.”
Reuters
14/14 Rivera Zambrano, 67, poses as he and fellow coca farmers and supporters of Bolivia’s ousted president Evo Morales, stage a blockade at the main road of The Chapare province, in Villa Tunari, Bolivia
“There is injustice,” said Rivera. “This a government selling our homeland. No one chose them. All people are on a vigil, which we will not lift. We do not want that president. We want peace. The previous governments did nothing for us. Only the government of Evo Morales has done something for us. We are claiming our rights.”
Reuters
“As the 50th Commemoration of May 4th approaches, we remain optimistic about the opportunity and responsibility we have to model for others the importance of reflecting on our past, learning from our mistakes and recognizing that tragedies borne of division have no place on a college campus or in a democracy,” the statement said.
The response comes after Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a statement calling for Kent State University to rescind its offer to have Ms Fonda speak.
“There is still time to right this wrong @Kentstate – rescind your invitation to @JaneFonda. The anniversary of this tragedy is not the time to pay a speaker who betrayed our service members,” Mr LaRose tweeted.
In a longer statement posted to his Facebook account, Mr LaRose suggested Ms Fonda was a traitor.
“What’s not ok is proing aid and comfort to the enemy and willfully serving as a propaganda tool for those engaged in hostilities against the United States. And Ms Fonda did that – the very definition of treason,” he wrote.
Mr LaRose – who spent a decade in the US Army – did not comment on whether considering the feelings of service memebrs was an appropriate reason to cancel a speaker commemorating the murder of four students by the US military.
No hype, just the advice and analysis you need
Read more
Kent State University is paying Ms Fonda $83,000 for her speaking engagement.
Ms Fonda said she plans to speak on her reflections from that era, her life as an activist and the legacy of the Kent State shootings. She will speak on 3 May at the university.
The university is running special events from 1 May to 4 May and alongside Ms Fonda’s speech will feature panels, documentaries, other speakers and an annual candlelight march and silent vigil.
