In response to Nixon's speech:
The distinctions made between the demonstrators and non-demonstrators contradicted the common excerpts he used from the constitution like "justice for all" and "we, as Americans." Who are these non-demonstrators? Are they bystanders in the eyes of one America and heroes in the eyes of another? It is almost as if the two worlds can't seem to collide in the context of this speech. The non-demonstrators are at risk of losing their America, but wouldn't they- or wouldn't that idea imply that their America is being threatened by their neighborhood watchmen. The kids their children go to school with and the ones they don't. Where are the lines being drawn? The demonstrators have been criminalized in the eyes of the law and therefore there is no true "we" just a similarity in shared space in what is becoming a desolate social climate in need of rejuvenation.
Destine Manson
