Besides Kent State, Jackson State deserves remembrance

Today marks 50 years since Ohio National Guard pumped 67 bullets at Vietnam protesters at Kent State University, killing 4 and wounding 10. That dramatic day is still burned in my memory from the extensive coverage it provoked then and again at its half century commemoration.

But I never even heard of the Jackson College (now Jackson State University) shooting just ten days later till about 20 years ago. It was in arguably worse than Kent State, in that local Jackson and Mississippi state police at the scene were under less threat than the inexperienced and poorly trained Ohio National Guardsman. Their response to an imagined sniper was to unload nearly 500 bullets on the declared dormitory sniper nest. No evidence of a sniper was ever produced. Amazingly, only 2 were killed and 12 wounded in what could have been a horrendous massacre.

The Jackson State shootings were virtually ignored by our political culture then and likely now for reasons involving race, class and America’s obsession with the Vietnam War. The Jackson State student protest involved civil rights.  Let’s hope that 10 days from now we devote the fair share of time ruminating on the tragedy of Jackson State that we devote today to the tragedy of Kent State.