Post Author: Rebecca Staple
In 1968 President Nixon was elected on the promise to end the Vietnam War, in 1970 this still had not happened but troop numbers were being reduced. This post will look at student response to the issues surrounding the Vietnam War, it will examine if they are looking at it from a purely American perspective or whether they are trying to examine more angles.
In May 1971 The Genesis II runs an article from the American Youth Justice for Peace asking to students not to endorse a ‘Peoples Peace Treaty’ that has been put forward by the National Student Association. This is obviously from a group outside of Madison College, the fact that the editors of The Genesis II decided to run perhaps suggests to their political leanings.
The article goes through attacking elements of this peace treaty put forward by the National Student Association, in conjunction with the North Vietnamese National Student Union and the South Vietnamese Liberation Student Union. It firstly states that none of these organisations are particularly representative, especially the North Vietnamese as the communists squash any political opposition. The article provides a more complicated account of the situation in Vietnam, and perhaps what can be seen as more of a realist approach than the official story of what was happening in Vietnam. It is quite critical of the Communist party of Vietnam suggesting that they are untrustworthy and they have not reciprocated in a reduction of troop numbers and therefore withdrawing from South Vietnam is just going to offer up the South on a platter to the North Vietnamese. They therefore seem genuinely concerned with the fate of the Vietnamese people. The article then goes on to state the South Vietnamese have been given a fair democratic chance to vote, which the treaty put forward by the National Student Association is saying the have not, it also states that regardless of what is said the South Vietnamese that collaborated with the Americans will not be safe. This is again showing how they seem genuinely concerned with the peoples welfare. It concludes to state that this is a sham put forward to undercut actual efforts at peace. This does not so much show student sentiment at Madison College but sentiment within those running The Genesis II. Although it is obviously an opinion peace it seems to be assessing the issue from a more outside perspective than most the reporting about the Vietnam War in either The Breeze or The Genesis II. Naturally as American college students who are effected by issues such as the draft it is difficult not to just report events from that perspective, however it is important. This shows a diversification of thought in what is being provided for students to consider.
Works Cited
The Genesis II, May 7, 1972