Silent Majority: The Kent State Massacre (Part One)

About this episode

This episode discusses the Kent State Massacre and the societal reactions surrounding the anti-Vietnam War movement in 1970.

For the nineteenth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we talk about a fateful week in the spring of 1970, when the anti-Vietnam movement was confronted by a conservative backlash. We discuss the tragedy at Kent State University in Ohio, when four students were killed by National Guard. In the wake of the tragedy, many were shocked but lots of Americans felt that anti-War protesters had gone too far. Richard Nixon would dub this coalition the "silent majortity," and days later in New York City they would be on the streets themselves. Join our America250 newsletter community ! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now . This Day is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod…

People in this episode

Host: Jody Avirgan

Topics covered

• Kent State Massacre
• anti-Vietnam War movement
• silent majority
• 1970s history
• conservative backlash
• student protests

Keywords

• Kent State
• Vietnam War
• Nixon
• student protests
• history
• silent majority
• Ohio
• 1970

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Radiotopia

Places: Kent State University, Ohio, New York City

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