Promise of a Positive Left

AS I watched the ghosts of 1969 rally in Harvard Yard two weeks ago, one word kept running through my mind--promise.

The politics of 1969 were ripe with promise. The promise that a freer, more equal society was about to be born. The efforts to make America extend its promises of liberty and justice to women, minorities and the poor. The promise that a younger generation could rise up and present an alternative direction for the nation.

But too many of the promises of 1969 went unfulfilled. Racism and poverty still tear at the fabric of our society. The United States government continues to conduct illegal and unpopular foreign policy. The revolution envisioned by activists of 1969 never happened--and the rally celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Harvard strike shows some of the reasons why.

ABOUT half an hour into the noontime demonstration, Joseph Mlot-Mroz, carrying a sign saying "Fight and Destroy Jewish Zionist Conspiracy Today," rushed to the front of the University Hall rally and tried to address the audience.

As both The Crimson and The Globe reported, Mlot-Mroz was pushed down the steps of University Hall, as participants shouted "No Nazis!" One protester destroyed Mlot-Mroz's sign, and Harvard police frisked the counter demonstrator and forced him to leave the Yard.

So much for free speech.

Granted, Mlot-Mroz's politics are reprehensible. A self-described Polish freedom fighter, Mlot-Mroz--who is a frequent counter-demonstrator at Boston-area leftist protests--is little more than a thinly-veiled fascist.

But instead of proving their moral superiority to fascism, the protesters sunk to Mlot-Mroz's level, shouting him down and forcing him to leave. Had the organizers handled Mlot-Mroz differently--by giving him five uninterrupted minutes to speak, for instance--Mlot-Mroz would have made clear his loony positions and would not have been able to present himself as a persecuted victim.

Allowing Mlot-Mroz to speak would have accomplished a number of things. Primarily, it would have proven that left-wing activists actually believe that freedom is more than a convenient rhetorical phrase. It also would have done a great deal to dispel the idea that the leftists are nothing but dangerous reds with a paternalistic, totalitarian ideas about controlling who hears what. If the left wants America or Harvard to be a held to a higher standard, we must be ready to apply those higher standards to ourselves.

AFTER insuring that dissent would not be tolerated, the moderator of the rally showed clearly why the New Left--as a national movement--failed to win the support of most Americans--and eventually collapsed.

Having sent Mlot-Mroz on his way, the moderator sarcastically asked his fellow activists to join him in a rendition of "America the Beautiful." The audience complied, hurriedly and mockingly mouthing the lyrics.

The message was clear. Not only do these aging leftists disdain people who they feel are simple-minded enough to be patriotic, but they have yet to mature beyond the ludicrous late '60s assertion that anyone who salutes the flag or is proud to be an America is a fascist.

Too much of the rhetoric of activists of the late '60s was blatantly anti American. And although I staunchly support the right to burn the American flag as a matter of freedom of expression, I don't feel that it is a particularly effective tactic for a movement which is trying to convince the majority of voters to support their cause.

Those former strikers who returned to Harvard two weeks ago could learn a lesson from a contemporary of theirs--the late Abbie Hoffman. While on trial for conspiracy in 1970, the anti-war, anti-establishment activist summarized his feelings about America:

"I don't feel un-American. I feel very American. I said it is not that the Yippies that hate America. It is that they feel that the American dream has been betrayed."

The mission for the left is to help America keep the promise of the principles on which it was founded. To do so, we must prove that there is something we want to build--that we have a positive and constructive agenda that includes more than tearing things down.

As Mlot-Mroz was being dragged away from the rally, one onlooker shouted to the participants, "That's not what Gandhi would do." With that one person, the promise of a positive left and a better America was renewed. Maybe this time it can be fulfilled.