As humans, we don’t enjoy being boxed in, whether it’s into a category, a state of mind, or even a physical space. When thinking about 1968, I have tried to fit it into a compartment in my brain that can be analyzed and pored over, but every aspect of the year has been amorphous. I think it is fitting that this year is so multi-faceted; none of the groups involved in conflict at that time wished to be physically barricaded or compartmentalized. The posters that we saw in class today called for barricades to be taken down. Civil rights protests called for the ending of separation, the ending of a compartmentalized mindset in the United States. The French yearned to be free in their universities and in their work. Putting up walls and barricades only brought violence, fear, and greater radicalism.
Seeing photos of walls, barricades, posters, and murals is one way to heed the messages and imagine the tension of the Long ’68, but reaching out to touch the Peace Wall in Belfast or walking along the stone walls in Derry makes one feel that tension. Last year, I had the privilege to travel to Northern Ireland and learn about the Troubles from various perspectives. The upheaval and unrest that came in 1968 and beyond has left behind remnants that cannot be erased; there are still extremists and paramilitary groups ready and willing to incite violence at any moment, there is a sadness that hangs over each city in the rain-clouds. The walls, barriers, and gates were meant to protect each community from violence, but they kept the tension, the despair, and the grief inside of them. I hope that in moving forward through this class, I can come to think of 1968 and its conflicts as something that cannot be compartmentalized; it is a symphony of fears and categories and states of mind that mingle in raucous bursts of sound.
When I read your post, the first thing that came to mind for me was the ghettos used by Nazis during WW2 to imprison and trap Jewish communities. The pure act of being boxed in must’ve created such an extraordinary amount of tension, despair and grief, similar to that which you referenced having felt in the air looming over Northern Ireland to this day. It makes me wonder why powerful rulers have a tendency to use barriers when they deem a certain population dangerous. Based on the ghettos, the Berlin Wall, President Trump’s rhetoric about the Mexican border, and much more, perhaps physical barriers represent a way for these leaders to dismiss these populations, as if keeping people physically apart will suddenly cause the issue to vanish. What is obvious, however, is that physical separation only fuels resentment between groups. I love what you said about 1968 being a “symphony of states of minds that mingle” because I think it is so important that humans are allowed to talk through their differences. This is the only way positive change can happen, and in creating walls, and shutting down constructive conversation, tension is the only thing being built.
I really liked seeing how you view this idea of walls keeping us trapped in place, whether they are physical or metaphorical. I agree that we as a human race do not like being trapped anywhere, and if we are being held somewhere against our wills, we will try again and again to escape, which may go back to our almost first primal and animal instincts. How would things in the world change if we had no walls to divide and separate us, metaphorically or physically. Obviously it may be a little more difficult to build houses, but overall it might make us more empathetic to others’ struggles, more open and loving, and even more willing to help those who are going through a hard time.
I really enjoyed reading your insight into the walls and barricades in Ireland. In my theology class last semester, we discussed the effect that being in a place of historical significance can have. The phrasing my professor used was the “mysticism of the historical event”. Although this idea was discussed in a theological context in my class, I think it can be applied to this class as well. By being in Ireland, for example, you were able to feel a connection between the physical place you were in and the compartmentalizing events that occurred years ago.