Ed Whitfield
Ed was at Cornell University from 1967-1970 and headed the Black Student organization there in 1969. Since then he has lived in Greensboro, NC and is a community activist doing work around education, and peace and justice issues. The PNL received this article via email, and when we asked if we could print it, Ed's gracious response was, "You may use the article in any way that you see fit to promote the struggle."
Folks who believe the official line that support is nearly unanimous for the current US policies in the "war on terrorism" and the new domestic measures at home need to know what happened in Greensboro, North Carolina on the 4th of July.
The Greensboro Peace Coalition heeded a firm suggestion by one of its leading younger members that it should have an entry in the city's annual 4th of July Parade. After some hesitation, we decided to register an entry, and spread the word widely that we were going to claim our piece of the public space, utilizing that day of patriotism to spread our message of opposition to Bush's "war on terrorism".
To coincide with our entry into the parade, we bought a half-page ad in the local daily paper, and had them print a "Statement of Conscience: Not In Our Name," along with names of over 100 prominent national signers.
We were never sure how many people would show up. Some of our members and supporters were afraid that the parade entry would be too aggressive a tactic. They feared that in the light of the patriotic outburst since 9-11, an entry in the city's parade would be too much in the face of those who would be waving the flag that day. Some of them changed their minds and came to the parade anyway. They were all glad that they did because on this 4th of July in Greensboro, North Carolina, those negative fears turned out to be wrong.
We had over 50 people _ black and white, young and old, professional and laboring and unemployed _ come to march with us behind a large banner that said "Greensboro Peace Coalition _ Not In Our Name". Along the route we passed out small flyers with a "Not In Our Name" pledge of resistance on one side and a statement from the Greensboro Peace Coalition on the other. The theme of the parade was "American Heroes". Our delegation marched with posters of Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Fredrick Douglas, Martin Luther King, and other great Americans who have stood for peace and against militarism and aggression.
As we walked the mile and a half parade route, many of the people along the street began to applaud. There were a few hecklers, but only a few. There were far more smiles, peace signs and applause. Two city police on bicycles pulled into the parade to follow our group. We passed the reviewing stand where there was a live broadcast on the local radio. The announcer seemed a bit surprised as he announced "And here is ... the Greensboro Peace Coalition." We let out a cheer for ourselves that could be heard on the radio.
After the parade, we set up a table among the groups who participated in the day long "Fun Fourth" activities. We heard many times how glad people were to see someone with the courage to express concerns about the nation's direction.
A real surprise came when officials from the event's organizing committee came to our table to give us the award for "Best Interpretation of Theme" in the parade.
After the day was over, I looked at the emails coming to the Greensboro Peace Coalition. Some of them were caustic and critical of us for having the nerve of going against "mainstream America". One said that what we were doing and saying was not "in vogue" and that this wasn't the `60s. Many others, however, expressed real joy that someone was standing up for what was right, and asked how to get more involved.
There is a real lesson in this. If you scratch the surface of the poll numbers about Bush's and Ashcroft's overwhelming support, you get down to a lot of people with a lot of questions, a lot of concerns and a lot of fears. Some of them are afraid that they are alone in what they are thinking.
What it takes to get them excited and involved is for them to see someone standing up so that they know they are not alone. We should have been doing this in every city across the country that had a 4th of July Parade. If we had the foresight and the courage, we could have turned this day of flagwaving into a day of introspection and dialogue, building the movement against repression here at home and aggression abroad.