31 years ago today, student-led, non-violent protests against the government of the People’s Republic of China, also known as the ’89 Democracy Movement, were forcibly suppressed by the Chinese military, resulting in significant loss of life among the protesters. The Chinese government was widely and rightly criticized for the use of force in suppressing what were peaceful protests engendered by concerns regarding economic issues, corruption and restrictions on political participation. Here’s an iconic and moving photo from the week when things came to a head.
31 years later, I challenge anyone to refuse to acknowledge the tragic role reversal leading to this travesty in the heart of the nation’s Capital.
Peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square – across the street from the White House and in the heart of the city universally recognized as the Capital of the Free World – violently expelled from a location that has historically hosted peaceful protests by Americans exercising their 1st Amendment right to assemble and petition the government for a redress of their grievances.
How the might have fallen…