Violence in America: A Brutal Audio History

"In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."  Aeschylus 

Violence within the human race is nothing new in the history of the world.  Even in the Bible violence goes back to Cain and Abel and it has snowballed as the centuries progressed.  In the long history of the world; civilizations have fought wars based on three major things: land, money, and religion.  Others, like in the case of Cain and Abel some wars were fought over family squabbles.

In the history of the United States, violence has brought government to its knees in the case of assassinations and possible coups.

Old hatreds of one group over another has brought violence.  A great example of this was during the Presidential Election of 1964 known as Freedom Summer where three civil rights workers were registering black voters in Mississippi only to be kidnapped and murdered by local Klansmen.

But racial violence was even before that when in 1955, while a young black teenager named Emmett Till was visiting family down in Mississippi.  At that time, to be a young black boy from Chicago going down to Mississippi you were entering a whole different world when it came to knowing your place.  Till had whistled at a white woman in a store, stuff that teenaged boys do, but that whistle proved fatal for Emmett Till.  What happened is too gruesome to put into words but let’s just say that his mother insisted on an open casket to show the world what had been done to her son, which later turned out to be a misunderstanding.  That whole episode proves that no one should make life or death situations when filled with anger and hate.

The 1960s was really no stranger to violence, especially when it came to assassinations; particularly of such leaders as President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Dr. MLK, Jr., and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  Race played a big role in violence in this country, particularly in the south.  In addition to the killing of the civil rights workers in 1964, the United States saw young children being attacked by police dogs and fire hoses, the bombing of a Baptist church killing three young girls, the bloody march across a bridge to gain the right to vote for black southerners, and the countless burning down of major American cities. 

As the era of the 1960s was coming to a close, one more political figure, Governor George Wallace would be gunned down in a Maryland shopping center while campaigning for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.  He would spend the next twenty-six years in a wheelchair.

There have also been instances where our government over reacted to protests that turned violent all in the name of law and order.  A great example of this was in Kent, Ohio when riots on Water Street broke out in response to President Richard M. Nixon expanded the war into Cambodia.  The newly inaugurated mayor; LeRoy Satrom had imposed a curfew on the City of Kent on May 2, 1970, but that left the University’s community free to roam on campus while tensions were high.  Mayor Satrom called Columbus requesting help from the Ohio National Guard to help keep the peace.  Just as the Guard rolled onto campus the ROTC building was burning to the ground.  Governor James Rhodes held a press conference the next day at the Kent Fire House talking about protecting the buildings paid for by the tax payers of Ohio and what to expect if things get violent.  The next day; four students were killed and nine more were wounded.

Days later, down in Jackson, Mississippi two black students would be shot by police at a dormitory at Jackson State.  While this was 1970, the United States was only six years past the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so this event did not get the coverage in the media like Kent State did.  Many believe it was because the students at Kent State were white and the students at Jackson State were black.

The 1980s would see an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan where his Press Secretary, James Brady was shot and wounded.  This would lead to what was called the Brady Bill that would be signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.  The early 1990s would see race become an issue again as a Los Angeles resident, Rodney King was beaten by police officers.  A year later, the police officers were found not guilty and South Central Los Angeles broke out in racial violence.  President George HW Bush addressed the American people pleading for the violence to stop.

As the 20th Century was coming to an end and well into the 21st Century school shootings were becoming all too commonplace with the most notorious being Littleton, Colorado, Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.  While some political leaders want to remedy the problem, others offer thoughts and prayers.

This collection is a reminder and a wake-up call to the American people about the violence in America, and hopefully learning from history someone can piece together an idea to reduce violence in America.  This is not a cute collection, but a no hold any punches collection.  The kind that kicks you in the gut so that the listener will want to do something to change the path that the United States is on.