To: The Ohio State House, the Ohio State Senate, and the current Ohio State Governor
Remove Tributes to Kent State Massacre's Heinous Governor
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James Rhodes was the Ohio Governor during the weekend prior to the Kent State Massacre of four students by National Guardsmen on Monday, May 4, 1970. Following is the Governor's speech, recorded from his office, that weekend:
"We've seen here at the city of Kent especially, probably the most vicious form of campus-oriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups. They make definite plans of burning, destroying, and throwing rocks at police and at the National Guard and the Highway Patrol. This is when we're going to use every part of the law enforcement agency of Ohio to drive them out of Kent. We are going to eradicate the problem. We're not going to treat the symptoms. And these people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize the community. They're worse than the brown shirts and the communist element and also the [Ku Klux Klan] and the vigilantes.They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. Now I want to say this. They are not going to take over [the] campus. I think that we're up against the strongest, well-trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America."
Granted, the violence seen on campus prior to May 4 was heinous on both sides. But, the Governor's hyperbole (throughout which could be heard the sound of him pounding on his desk) equated unarmed college students, who were protesting the US involvement in the Cambodian War, with Nazis and other hate groups, and compared those youths with the equivalent of today's ISIS terrorist group. He made it very clear in his speech that their lives were forfeit. Although he was named in subsequent lawsuits, which were all won in favor of the plaintiffs/victims, he did not resign his office - - then, near the end of his first of two four-years in office (1963-71; his second eight-years: 75-83) - - nor did he apologize, until years later.
After leaving office, a number of buildings, a tower, and various streets, were named in his honor. A statue of him stands outside East Broad Street, moved from the Ohio Statehouse after being vandalized.
In light of the reprehensible statements, attitudes, and acts, of then-Governor James Allen Rhodes prior to and during the Kent State Massacre, 49 years ago, today, this petition seeks to have all existing tributes to James Allen Rhodes - - including, but not limited to, signage, namings, statues, roads, arenas, schools, edifices, et al. - - stripped of his name, at the very least, and/or have any likenesses removed in their entirety and destroyed, and that no future tributes or honors of any kind be given in his name, either from the public, government, or private sectors.
Thank you.
"We've seen here at the city of Kent especially, probably the most vicious form of campus-oriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups. They make definite plans of burning, destroying, and throwing rocks at police and at the National Guard and the Highway Patrol. This is when we're going to use every part of the law enforcement agency of Ohio to drive them out of Kent. We are going to eradicate the problem. We're not going to treat the symptoms. And these people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize the community. They're worse than the brown shirts and the communist element and also the [Ku Klux Klan] and the vigilantes.They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. Now I want to say this. They are not going to take over [the] campus. I think that we're up against the strongest, well-trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America."
Granted, the violence seen on campus prior to May 4 was heinous on both sides. But, the Governor's hyperbole (throughout which could be heard the sound of him pounding on his desk) equated unarmed college students, who were protesting the US involvement in the Cambodian War, with Nazis and other hate groups, and compared those youths with the equivalent of today's ISIS terrorist group. He made it very clear in his speech that their lives were forfeit. Although he was named in subsequent lawsuits, which were all won in favor of the plaintiffs/victims, he did not resign his office - - then, near the end of his first of two four-years in office (1963-71; his second eight-years: 75-83) - - nor did he apologize, until years later.
After leaving office, a number of buildings, a tower, and various streets, were named in his honor. A statue of him stands outside East Broad Street, moved from the Ohio Statehouse after being vandalized.
In light of the reprehensible statements, attitudes, and acts, of then-Governor James Allen Rhodes prior to and during the Kent State Massacre, 49 years ago, today, this petition seeks to have all existing tributes to James Allen Rhodes - - including, but not limited to, signage, namings, statues, roads, arenas, schools, edifices, et al. - - stripped of his name, at the very least, and/or have any likenesses removed in their entirety and destroyed, and that no future tributes or honors of any kind be given in his name, either from the public, government, or private sectors.
Thank you.
Why is this important?
This hateful, sociopathic, individual, should never have been allowed to be a politician, much less rule an entire State. And, given his disgraceful attitudes and actions towards children, which resulted in the Kent State Massacre, anything bearing his name should be removed. The South is removing historical names and edifices erected to members of the Confederate States of America. Doesn't the killer of children deserve the same, which, of course, begs the question: Why is he so fondly remembered?
In this era of ultra-political correctness, where Confederate statues, flags, et al., are being removed, and streets, ballteams, and even cities, are being renamed, wholesale, for the slightest perceived historical aberration, likewise, this hate-filled, murderous, politician does not deserve any accolades or to be remembered for anything other than being responsible for the murder of children. Say their names. Remove his.
Thank you for your time, attention, and signature.
In this era of ultra-political correctness, where Confederate statues, flags, et al., are being removed, and streets, ballteams, and even cities, are being renamed, wholesale, for the slightest perceived historical aberration, likewise, this hate-filled, murderous, politician does not deserve any accolades or to be remembered for anything other than being responsible for the murder of children. Say their names. Remove his.
Thank you for your time, attention, and signature.