Weather Underground Organization (Essay Sample)

Weather Underground Organization
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Introduction
When one mentions terrorists and militant groups, one group comes to mind, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Operating majorly in the Middle East, ISIS founded in 2003 is a radical jihadist militant group that has grown in a span of two years to surpass other well-known terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaeda. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks around the globe including the recent Paris Attacks in 2015. One might think that such groups have come up in the 21st century, but these groups have been operative since time in memorial. An example of such a group is the Weather Underground Organization (WUO). This essay, therefore, presents a succinct analysis of the group.
Overview of the Weather Underground Organization
Founded in 1969 on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan, the Weather Underground Organization also known as the Weathermen was radical left-wing American terrorist group (Gilbert 2002). It was a division of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) which grew out of the Revolutionary Youth Movement of SDS. The founding members of the group were the national officials of the SDS and their supporters (Gilbert 2002). The group’s aim was to revolutionize the system of leadership in the US and overthrow the United States government (Gilbert 2002). Their first public demonstration was the Declaration of a State of War and a public riot in Chicago on 8th October 1969 the same day the Chicago Seven were on trial. They declared war against the US government after the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, members of the Black Panthers, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (FBI, 2004).
The group was opposed towards the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War and the US military operations in Laos and Hanoi. Believing in a system of ‘destruct to rebuild afresh’, the group’s mode of operation was characterized by bombings on Federal government buildings and banks.
The revolutionary antics of the group were characterized by the use of insurgency, militancy and direct action. They mobilized people to take action against any injustices within the borders of the US and outside the United States as a result of the presence of America abroad. Their use of urban-guerrilla warfare remains unmatched by other militant groups operating within the United States (Bishop, 2013). WUO organized a series of bomb attacks within the United States from 1969 all through to 1979 with the most prominent being; the bombings on the Capitol on 1st March 1971, the Pentagon bombing on 19th May 1972 and the bombings on the United Sates Department of State building on 29th January 1975 (Greenberg, 2003).
Political Context of the Weather Underground Organization
‘You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows’ a lyric from Bob Dylan's song Subterranean Homesick Blues formed the basis of the operations of the group (Dohrn, Ayers & Jones, 2006). Captured in the founding document of the group, the position paper also titled using the lyric explains the group’s need to use militancy to alleviate capitalism and corruption that have continued to take root in the legislative system of the United States. The group was opposed to imperialism and championed for classless i.e. no social classes in the United States. One of the WUO leaders once stated that US was like a tumor that was quickly spreading and infecting everywhere with capitalism and imperialism WUO believed that young people had the capacity to eradicate capitalism and instill communism in the US (Dohrn, Ayers & Jones, 2006). The founding document of WUO describes the middle working-class citizens and the student population (viewed as workers obtaining skills before employment) as the "oppressed people" and "builders of the wealth of the US Empire”. It is, therefore, only fair that such wealth be returned to these individuals instead of a privileged-few (Dohrn, Ayers & Jones, 2006).
They undertook to achieve this through militant operations and the radicalization of the working class of the nation. The leaders of the group including; Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, and John Jacobs believed that years of non-violent resistance have done little or nothing to improve democracy of the United States (Jones, 2004). They justified their use of direct force and militancy as the only means to achieving a capitalist and corrupt-free United States (Jones, 2004).
The group was opposed to white-dominancy and black oppression. They sympathized and allied with other movements that sought to alleviate white-privilege and supremacy such the Black Liberation Movement and the Black Panthers (Greenberg, 2003). They denounced the political theories of organizing people into classes or groups in order to meet their interests as "objectively racist" (Greenberg, 2003). They considered such theories as a means to propel agendas which will further racial segregation. They denounced the organization of whites to fight against their own oppression as antics used by white people to further carve out more privilege (Greenberg, 2003). They advocated the use of international proletariat, a theory which campaigned for the unification of workers to fight against capitalism.
Societal Effects of the operations of the Weather Underground Organization.
In spite of the fact that most of the bombings and other attacks organized by the Weather Underground Organization had no human causalities owing to the fact that the group issued warning prior to their attacks, these events had catastrophic social, political and economic effects on the American society (Greenberg, 2003).
The massive use of militancy by the Weather Underground Organization revolutionized the manner in which protests, especially non-violent protests, were done in the US (Ucko, 2011). For example, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee an organization founded by Martin Luther King Jr. to champion for peaceful protests became radically violent after being influenced by WUO (Ucko, 2011). Other moments such as the New Left, civil rights movements including the LGBT, disabled and Native Americans also became violent. By 1960, a large percentage of the US’ population was below 25 years, a college-going age. In colleges many students, especially those who were sympathizers with WUO’s courses, were susceptible to the influence of the group. This made a large percentage of the total US population to be against the government and the existent leadership structures (Ucko, 2011).
The bombings on the Capitol Hill, the seat of the Congress and a symbol of American freedom and constitutionalism, in 1971, shook the US to the core (Berger and Puybonnieux, 2010). These bombings represented the annihilation of the US’ constitution and the freedom of rights. They also disrupted the daily activities of the Congress and brought the legislative functions of the government to a standstill. The attacks on the Pentagon, which is the nerve center of the US security and defense mechanisms, were aimed at showing that Americans were not safe within the comfort of their nation (Berger and Puybonnieux, 2010). The rhetoric behind these attacks was ‘why was the federal government spending billions of dollars funding foreign wars and meddling into the activities of other countries yet it could not safeguard its own nation and put its house in order? (Varon, 2004).
The wave of the WUO attacks and bombings back in the 1970’s paralyzed the nation with fear. In spite of the resilience that is synonymous with Americans, the terror activities of the group took a toll on the nation. Parents were afraid to send their children to universities and colleges fearing that they might be influenced to join such radical courses. Government officials were working in fear, afraid that their offices might be the next targets of the group (Greenberg, 2003).
The economy of the US was also affected during this period. Foreign investors were afraid of making investments during to the lack of security and political instability. The value of the US dollar weakened against other international currencies such as the Euro and the British pound. The group’s protests and bombing also lead to the destruction of property. For example, during the Days of Rage, a violent march along the streets of Chicago led to the destruction of property amounting to millions of dollars. Although there were no were no people killed during the protest, several people were injured during the confrontation with the police. WUO protests led people to depart from their neighborhoods such as Chicago and the environs of the University of Michigan.
In spite of the activities of Weather Underground Organization having negative effects on the society, they did have some positive effects too. They ‘opened the eyes’ of Americans to the effects of capitalism and imperialism. Americans became enlightened on how the middle and lower classes were working hard to achieving the American dream and building the American empire only for their wealth to be grabbed by the upper class of the society. Americans questioned why the government was using billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to fund foreign wars e.g. the Vietnam War and meddle in the activities of other nation, yet they(Americans) would not benefit from such exploits. WUO opened a new chapter in the democracy of the United States by ensuring that the government was accountable for every action both within and without the country. The group championed for the openness of the activities of the government and any information that may be of material ...