[garinda]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

From my experience of college in the late 60s/early 70s, I'd say most student protest was facile, shallow and hypocritical - most participated in it because it was the fashionable thing to do at the time. It always made me laugh (in a cynical sort of way) to see students protesting against the South African apartheid regime, whilst carrying their "Thoughts of Chairman Mao" book - a man who instigated a regime just as brutal and repressive as the South African one.

OK, there were a few genuine idealists but most just paraded their political views in the same way as their clothing styles and musical tastes - and discarded them just as quickly when they got out into the big wide world!

Maybe a few were along for the ride, but student protests and actions did help change lots of things. The public perception about the war in Vietnam for one.

And let's not forget, without the added weight of student support on the campuses in the States, the struggle for civil liberties would probably still be going on, and those uppity niggers would still not be able to sit where they wanted on the bus.