Tufts professors, joined by students and staff, rekindled peace activism and dusted off anti-war slogans not seen since the Vietnam War to preach against military action during a teach-in last Friday.
Twenty-five students, staff, and faculty gathered in the Crane Room, where speakers urged attendees to consider the motivations of the terrorist who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon before the US carries out a violent response.
Violence in Afghanistan, philosophy Professor Erin Kelly said, would be tantamount to terrorist strikes in major cities, causing mostly civilian casualties, because Afghanistan lacks a targetable military infrastructure.
Japanese history professor Gary Leupp, who organized the teach-in, began the rally with a historical account of American involvement in Afghanistan. "We can't view these attacks in isolation," he said. "We need to get to the topic of imperialism."
Joe Ramsey, a graduate student in English and one of a handful of students to speak at the event, said the targets of the attacks provide insight into the terrorists' mindset. The World Trade Center and the Pentagon symbolize America's economic and military might, he said, but Americans have been misled to believe that the attacks represented an assault on the nation's heart.
Steven Marrone, who lectures in Medieval and early modern European history, said the nation should create a more benevolent image. "We need to focus on changing the wretched lives of many people around the world," he said. "I don't have a lot of confidence in the government of the US to take action that is both fair and effective."
Marrone proposed a criminal investigation to find the people responsible for the attacks. He said the US can only prevent future terrorism by improving diplomatic and economic relationships with countries that historically harbor resentment.
But attendees could not come up with many concrete and timely solutions to the terrorist problem.
"What can we do?" one student asked. "I'm honestly not sure." The student said the current situation was governed by a "playground mentality," as in "if you hit me, I'll hit you back."
A lack of awareness may limit alternative solutions. Anthropology Professor Rosalind Shaw said that Americans are not educated about all possible responses because the media has not presented the options. "We shouldn't fall into the either-or trap," she said.
Leupp and other attendees left the three-hour teach-in early for Saturday's anti-war protest in Washington, DC.
According The Washington Post, the protest drew 7,000 people, but some organizers put the figure closer to 25,000. Most of the protestors originally planned to march against globalization outside World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, which were canceled after the attacks.
Activists in caravans came from as far as California and Oregon to attend the protest, the largest since the attacks. The event developed into a largely peaceful display against military retaliation, marred by a few scuffles and three arrests during one of the day's two downtown marches. Eight more people were arrested at DC General Hospital in a related protest.
The protestors and participants of Friday's teach-in are among a national minority that opposes military action. According to a New York Times/CBS New Poll released last Tuesday, 83 percent of Americans favor going to war with a country that harbors those responsible for the attacks, "even if that means thousands of casualties for the nation's armed forces."
But the protestors represent a growing national sentiment that the US government should withhold response until it is certain who is responsible for the attacks. English Professor Lynn Stevens wanted to expose the students in her international freshman writing class to that sentiment when she took them to the rally. "I wanted my students to see another point of view," she said.
Her class, filled with students considering the international relations major, is studying argument and persuasion by examining newspaper editorials that support or denounce the government's response. "There are other ways we do things in this country," she said. "[The international students] are brand new to this country and not sure who to trust."
