I don't know if anyone is familiar with the U. of Iowa, but we have an area on campus called the Pentacrest, which is 5 buildings and then a huge grassy area. Anyway, all these dumbass protesters have been camped out there for the last week, and their "leader" wrote a letter to our paper the other day, and I thought I would share it here, because it's quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever read...
A letter from the Peace Camp
Guest Opinion
I write to you about the Peace Camp. The university worked alongside with five student activist groups and, together, we decided that the Peace Camp would be a forum in which students and community members could meet and express their opinions on war in Iraq and other social and cultural issues in a safe, open, and tolerant manner.
Campers' reasons for protesting war vary. I protest war because I've read scholarly literature and firsthand accounts about the genocide of the American Indians, the enslavement and colonization of Africa, and the U.S. military deployments in Central and South America, Asia, and the Middle East. I've also read about and seen firsthand the racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia that has been perpetuated in this country and that continues to be perpetuated today. I protest war because the United States contains 6 percent of the world's population, but 1 percent of that population controls 50 percent of the world's wealth. I protest war because, in the face of worldwide poverty, famine, and suffering, it is obvious to me who the real terrorists are.
We camp out in the freezing cold, eat cold food, and work off of little or no sleep. In this respect, we have begun to understand a little bit about what it's like to be the victims of an unjust social system or the victims of a war.
White boys drive by our camp in expensive cars and scream hatred or throw eggs at us. At night, drunk white guys come into our camp, and the vast majority of them challenge our space, spitting in our faces as they scream and yell incoherently. We've had tables knocked over, tents vandalized, and I've seen more sexual harassment against women campers than I have ever seen in my life - and I used to be in a fraternity.
For the most part, though, we keep the place civil, even in these situations. The Iowa City police have stopped by twice during the night because of noise complaints, and both times I sent them packing because I felt like we had the situation under control, and we did.
Several students (mostly female), teachers, and community members stop by the camp each day to lend us their support. Little gestures such as that make us realize what we are out here for.
We know that we are helping other students make the same connections between racism, sexism, homophobia, class, and war that most of us have made. Every day, another female realizes that it is not a coincidence that the same men who defend Pierre Pierce or degrade women also happen to be for war. Every day, another man realizes that acting tough and screaming for blood is a frightening way to live life. Every day, more people realize that business and political science are jokes in the academic world and are instead embracing the art, music, literature, and history of cultures other than their own. Every day, more of the silent majority are seeing our camp and finding motivation to help other human beings, to speak out against injustice, and to take antagonistic action. In a few weeks, our camp will break national news, and the movement for social justice will accelerate on college campuses everywhere.
I go to the Peace Camp and pray that something good will come out of this horrible war like the civil rights, feminist, and black power movements did during the Vietnam War era. I know it will porque estamos las companeras de las justicia. Salaam.
David Goodner
UI student
A letter from the Peace Camp
Guest Opinion
I write to you about the Peace Camp. The university worked alongside with five student activist groups and, together, we decided that the Peace Camp would be a forum in which students and community members could meet and express their opinions on war in Iraq and other social and cultural issues in a safe, open, and tolerant manner.
Campers' reasons for protesting war vary. I protest war because I've read scholarly literature and firsthand accounts about the genocide of the American Indians, the enslavement and colonization of Africa, and the U.S. military deployments in Central and South America, Asia, and the Middle East. I've also read about and seen firsthand the racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia that has been perpetuated in this country and that continues to be perpetuated today. I protest war because the United States contains 6 percent of the world's population, but 1 percent of that population controls 50 percent of the world's wealth. I protest war because, in the face of worldwide poverty, famine, and suffering, it is obvious to me who the real terrorists are.
We camp out in the freezing cold, eat cold food, and work off of little or no sleep. In this respect, we have begun to understand a little bit about what it's like to be the victims of an unjust social system or the victims of a war.
White boys drive by our camp in expensive cars and scream hatred or throw eggs at us. At night, drunk white guys come into our camp, and the vast majority of them challenge our space, spitting in our faces as they scream and yell incoherently. We've had tables knocked over, tents vandalized, and I've seen more sexual harassment against women campers than I have ever seen in my life - and I used to be in a fraternity.
For the most part, though, we keep the place civil, even in these situations. The Iowa City police have stopped by twice during the night because of noise complaints, and both times I sent them packing because I felt like we had the situation under control, and we did.
Several students (mostly female), teachers, and community members stop by the camp each day to lend us their support. Little gestures such as that make us realize what we are out here for.
We know that we are helping other students make the same connections between racism, sexism, homophobia, class, and war that most of us have made. Every day, another female realizes that it is not a coincidence that the same men who defend Pierre Pierce or degrade women also happen to be for war. Every day, another man realizes that acting tough and screaming for blood is a frightening way to live life. Every day, more people realize that business and political science are jokes in the academic world and are instead embracing the art, music, literature, and history of cultures other than their own. Every day, more of the silent majority are seeing our camp and finding motivation to help other human beings, to speak out against injustice, and to take antagonistic action. In a few weeks, our camp will break national news, and the movement for social justice will accelerate on college campuses everywhere.
I go to the Peace Camp and pray that something good will come out of this horrible war like the civil rights, feminist, and black power movements did during the Vietnam War era. I know it will porque estamos las companeras de las justicia. Salaam.
David Goodner
UI student
