Ron Scott, “Speech on the Black Panthers, Kent State, and Campus Climate” (May 6, 1970)

by | May 6, 1970 | Race and Social Justice

In this audio recording, PSU Black Student Union Coordinator Ron Scott speaks at a rally to address the escalating Vietnam War and the arrest of Black Panther leader Bobby Seale. He spoke at a moment of intense passion for student protestors, who were reeling from the National Guard shooting of students at Kent State University the previous day.1

Scott himself had been a highly active participant in Penn State protests. In mid-April, for instance, he participated in a Moratorium March that morphed into a sit-in and, with the arrival of state troopers, a set of violent altercations. 29 students were arrested, including Scott.2 Drawing from his arrest and other experiences, Scott linked together local, state, and federal figures of authority as part of a mutual project of oppression.

Throughout his speech, Scott uses the common Black Panther strategy of “critical memory,” depicting the recent history of racism as a way to inspire “ethical reflection on the past.”3 Students would soon have plenty of time to reflect; the day after Scott’s speech, classes were canceled to allow time for students to process the events at Kent State.4

References

 

  1. “What happened to the Panthers and Bobby Seale Ron Scott,”  Allen Zollman Penn State student protest audio collection, May 6, 1970. Eberly Family Special Collections Library. https://aspace.libraries.psu.edu/public/repositories/3/archival_objects/1067505. Accessed April 26, 2019. ↩
  2. Curt Harler and Tina Hondras, “Moratorium March Escalates to Riot: 18 Troopers Hurt, 29 Arrests Made,” The Daily Collegian (April 16, 1970). ↩
  3. Gwendolyn D. Pough, “Rhetoric That Should Have Moved the People: Rethinking the Black Panther Party,” in African American Rhetoric(s): Interdisciplinary Perspectives, eds. Elaine B. Richardson and Ronald L. Jackson II (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004), 61-62. ↩
  4. Note: The featured image accompanying this essay is via WPSU. ↩