Today in Labor History April 26, 1960: Students and workers forced South Korean President Syngman Rhee to resign after 12 years of dictatorial rule. The protests began on April 11 after the police killed a high school student. The student’s skull had been split by a tear gas canister. On April 19, the police shot into a demonstration of 100,000 people in Seoul, killing 180 people. They killed 186 people, overall, during the two weeks of demonstrations. Rhee fled to the U.S.
Admin: We have to stop the protesters. They're disrupting our mission to educate and they're making Jewish students feel unsafe.
Cops: We'll take care of it for ya
Students elsewhere: Wait, they're doing what to students at Columbia? We gotta start doing that here!
Admin at Vanderbilt, Emory, etc: Oh, we'll let them exercise free speech. Just not let 'em disrupt our mission to educate...or terrorize Jewish students.
Cops: ok, gotcha.
Students elsewhere: Wait, they're doing what to students at Vanderbilt and Emory? Damn, we gotta start doing that here, at our school, too!
And so it went, until the movement spread to universities across the country. High schools, too. Walking out of classes, erecting tent cities, occupying buildings. And the schools continued to claim they were protecting free speech as they called out the police and National Guards. And then they began shooting. Students died. Sound familiar?
Today in Labor History January 30, 1970: 20,000 people rioted in Manila. They were protesting the regime of US-backed dictator Ferdinand Marcos after his State of the Nation address. Over 2,000 attempted to storm the US embassy chanting “Down with imperialism!” Riot police and soldiers beat protesters with truncheons and rifle butts. At least 50 people were hospitalized and at least six died. Riots continued throughout the year. They were part of the First Quarter Storm.