Anti-war protests, a Chicago DNC: Is it 1968 all over again? Some historians say no
In late April, with election season in full swing and pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping college campuses across the U.S., a historian named Keith Orejel voiced an observation.
"I just can't believe the parallels with 1968," the Wilmington College professor wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "I mean ok, Columbia has unrest and there's widespread anti war activism, that might be coincidence. But there is a guy named Robert Kennedy running for president and the [Democratic National Convention] is in Chicago. Like is this a bit?"
That question seemed to resonate, and not just among the more than 8,000 people who liked Orejel's post.
It has appeared in a growing number of think pieces and political interviews in recent weeks, especially with the school year ending and the general election — along with this summer's political conventions — fast approaching.
Many see parallels between the political and cultural events of 1968 and 2024, especially with the Democratic National Convention happening in Chicago in both years and against the backdrop of extensive student protests against U.S. involvement in foreign wars — the Vietnam War then and the Israel-Hamas war now.
In fact, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that the conflict in the Middle East and the U.S. response to
