"Scarcely have you descended on the soil of America when you find yourself in the midst of a sort of tumult; a confused clamor is raised on all sides; a thousand voices come to your ear at the same time; each of them expressing some social needs. Around you everything moves; here, the people of one neighborhood have gathered to learn if a church ought to be built; there, they are working on the choices of a representative; farther on, the deputies of a district are going to town in all haste in order to decide about some local improvement; in another place, the farmers of a village abandon their furrows to go discuss the plan of a road or a school.
"Citizens assemble with the sole goal of declaring that they disapprove of the course of government. To meddle in the government of society and to speak about it is the greatest business and, so to speak, the only pleasure that an American knows."
--Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis Charles Henri Clerel comte de Tocqueville wrote those words going on 200 years ago. The man watched us, studied us, and pegged us. He would be completely unsurprised, we think, at what is happening in the United States today, especially on campus. Protesting might be part of an American's DNA. We're born to it.
Right now the template for the news stories seems to be: Pro-Palestinian, or pro-Gaza, or just anti-war, protesters have taken to college campuses in America (sometimes those protesters are even enrolled in those colleges!) to condemn Israel's war in Gaza. They are carted away by the cops when they stay too long. Meek college presidents try to walk a fine line between allowing protesters' First Amendment rights and, in the converse, allowing classes and graduation ceremonies for their paying customers. Several colleges have had to go online-only. Columbia recently canceled commencement.
But not every university has been stopped cold in efforts to educate, house and secure students. We note that Arkansas' schools are operating fine, thank you. And in what seems like a photo-negative of the news today, this dispatch from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill:
Last week, demonstrators at UNC-Chapel Hill took to the main quad on campus and replaced the U.S. flag with a Palestinian flag and, as Newsweek put it, sparked "clashes between protesters and counter-protesters amid wider demonstrations."
The papers say 36 people were arrested on campus. (And 10 of them were students.) The interim chancellor, Lee Roberts, walked to the quad and helped put the Stars and Stripes back up on the flagpole. Protesters tried to replace it again. One student told Newsweek: "As the chancellor left, the pro-Palestinians began removing the flag once again. My fraternity brothers and I ran over to hold it up to prevent it from touching the ground. People began throwing water bottles, rocks, and sticks at us, calling us profane names. We stood for an hour defending the flag that so many fight to protect."
The interim chancellor will be named the permanent chancellor if leaders in the North Carolina legislature get their way. As for the frat brothers involved, somebody created a GoFundMe account to try to raise a few thousand bucks to throw them a party. "Organizers disabled further donations" after the fund went over $500,000.
George Lynn Cross, the longest-serving president of the University of Oklahoma, once said he'd like to build a university that the football team could be proud of. We think Professor-President Cross, that card, was joking.
But UNC-Chapel Hill, and many other universities, students and administrators, can be proud of what they are doing on campus. Even if most of the news is focused on the craziness at the more, ahem, "elite" schools.
Guest EDITORIAL: And in other news: Like looking at a photo-negative
30
0
08.05.2024
"Scarcely have you descended on the soil of America when you find yourself in the midst of a sort of tumult; a confused clamor is raised on all sides; a thousand voices come to your ear at the same time; each of them expressing some social needs. Around you everything moves; here, the people of one neighborhood have gathered to learn if a church ought to be built; there, they are working on the choices of a representative; farther on, the deputies of a district are going to town in all haste in order to decide about some local improvement; in another place, the farmers of a village abandon their furrows to go discuss the plan of a road or a school.
"Citizens assemble with the sole goal of declaring that they disapprove of the course of government. To meddle in the government of society and to speak about it is the greatest business and, so to speak, the only pleasure that an American knows."
--Alexis de........
© El Dorado News Times
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Tarik Cyril Amar
Rami G Khouri
Dr Ramzy Baroud
Mort Laitner
Petra Lesjak Tušek
Bradley Blankenship
