You hear a lot of commentators talk about how divided we are as a nation.
Has the nation been divided before? Of course. It hasn’t been so long since the 1960s and early 1970s for many older Americans not to remember those years and for younger Americans not to have forgotten their history classes about those times.
There were Vietnam War protests in the streets, in front of the White House and violent demonstrations on college campuses across the country. The worst of which was the protest in 1970 at Kent State University in Ohio where several student protestors were shot and killed by National Guard troops.
Now decades later, there has been an eerie and worrying series of protests across the country in recent days with one of them turning deadly just this week here in Southern California.
A 69-year-old Jewish man who was holding an Israeli flag, died after being was struck by someone taking part in pro-Palestinian protest in Ventura County. The Sheriff there called for calm.
And also this week, amid threats of and some violence on some college campuses, the chancellors of U-C San Diego and U-C Berkeley are calling on their students to speak peacefully while protesting the war between Israel and Hamas.
While this is a time where there is division, it is probably also a time to remember that phrase from the 1960s about peace and maybe even love.
(Photo Getty Images)