I feel like I have never learned much about the Vietnam war or the protests taking place in the U.S. during that time. I had heard of some of the events mentioned in that video, such as the Kent state protests, but I never really realized how these events were connected. I had also learned that this was a war the people heavily protested and knew that some people refused to be drafted. My elementary school principal was sent to prison for refusing to be drafted, which is something I have always though about. It seems incredibly unfair that there were so many loopholes to get out of the draft. Based on what was mentioned in the video, it seems that those were most accessible for more affluent populations, such as people that could afford to go to college.
I had never thought much about the impacts that the Vietnam war would have on specific population. Previous classes have never taught me about the disproportionate number of African Americans dying the war. I found it interesting to hear comments from people representing black Americans about why they would refuse to serve, but it makes complete sense. Why would you go to war when you have an especially high change of dying? It’s even less fair than it already was. I also found MLK’s comments about the amount of money spent on the war compelling. He said that it was estimated that $322,000 dollars was spent for each person killed in Vietnam, whereas in the war on poverty, only $53 was spent on each person classified as poor. This information would make me question the priorities of my government.
Be First to Comment