We are confronted today with the California National Guard, joined by U.S. Marines, being called on by the President to quell unrest on the streets of Los Angeles. It is a drastic escalation of what began as a peaceful protest until it wasn’t, but yet it is not unprecedented.
National Guards are militia organized in each state to assist during times of disasters. Volunteers train monthly and, for a small stipend, agree to make themselves available when called on…earthquakes, fires, floods or widespread rioting. Nationwide, the National Guard force number nearly a half million men and women.
The first National Guard dates back to 1638, nearly a 150 years before we became a country. The Massachusetts Bay Colony established three Regiments to defend colonists against incursions by Indian tribes. In 1792, amended in 1795, the U.S. Congress passed the Militia Act authorizing each state to establish their own militia separate from a Federal army. This law gave concurrent powers to both the Federal and State governments to call up State militias in the event of insurrection or rebellion.
Only six times in our history has it ever been deemed necessary..
1863 – New York City draft riots – U.S. Marines joined state militia as rioters objected to a draft that would force them to serve in the Union Army and fight in the Civil war.
1932 – Disbanding the ‘bonus’ army – Veterans of WW I had been promised a bonus which they hadn’t received. Now, in the midst of the Great Depression, nearly 50,000 veterans and their families descended on Washington. Militias were called out to forcibly break-up the huge veteran’s squatter’s encampment.
1967 – ‘The Long Hot Summer’ – It was Detroit and five days of unquelled race riots. President Lyndon Johnson sent in troops from the 82d & 101st Airborne to support Michigan State militia.
1967 – Newark – A few months after the Detroit riots a Black cab driver was arrested and beaten by white police. Violent race riots exploded across Newark. 26 people were killed and hundreds injured before militia and federal troops helped return the city to a tense but peaceful truce.
1968 – The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Riots exploded in large cities across the country following King’s death in Memphis but in Washington, D.C., local authorities were unable to deal with violence and looting. More than 13,000 soldiers spread across the streets of the city as the largest military force to face their own citizens struggled to bring calm to a tragic situation.
1992 – Los Angeles riots – As television sets replayed the beating of a black motorist, Rodney King, and the acquittal of the 4 white police officers involved, the city burned. It would take days, 10,000 National Guard troops and a force of U.S. marines to restore order.
President Trump’s call for the military to quell Los Angeles’ current unrest was opposed by Governor Newsom. He justified his action by calling the situation insurrection or armed rebellion. Whether it was is questionable and at this point it will be for the courts to decide.
But the current protests aren’t about race, or drafts or bonuses as they have been in the past. These protests are about the status of people presumed to be here illegally.
Why are we surprised? Candidate Trump said he was going to do it. His claims, however, were limited to those who committed crimes and we had no reason to believe ‘due process’ would be shredded.
If, as a nation, we decide to close our borders, we have a right to do so. It would be sad and a refutation of what we have always been, a nation of immigrants.
Our country’s greatest strength has been that we are a nation of laws…a right to defend ourselves, face our accusers, have our day in court. The current abusive tactics of ICE in rounding up large numbers of people and deporting them surreptitiously are an affront to who we are, how the world sees us, and how we have always seen ourselves.
If we lose respect for our government and for one another’s rights we will have moved toward an authoritarianism that will cause Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin to turn over in their graves. It must not happen.