Select this to read [the Whole Story].
No. Not then; not now. From America's white suburbs in the 50's and 60's the fantasy was sustainable. Particularily for a kid, as it was the only available reality.
How easy is it to find justice in America? Now? During the Vietnam era?
From my own experience, it's very difficult. Even in routine mundane matters an ordinary citizen is up against an institution whose rules are largely unintelligable and whose integrity is often suspect. It's an institution concerned solely with the efficient and expeditious execution of its own procedures It has little or no regard for the spirit underlying it's own existence. The government agencies I dealt with considered the law little more than a convenience to be invoked if favorable or ignored otherwise. They had no respect whatsoever for it or any concept involving fairness and justice.
How is the neighborhood cop perceived? Now? During the Vietnam era?
That depends on where you live. In the suburbs they drove around in nice, new sedans and generally overlooked any rudeness from those they ticketed. In Roxbury (Boston's black ghetto) they drove around in vans and often rousted passersby - those who objected to their approach were booked and thrown into the back of the van. The only significant difference I can see between then and now is the level of violence. The police are a lot more afraid of and set apart from their fellow citizens than they used to be...
How did you finally reach your decision to emigrate?
After exhausting all appeals to the two draft notices I re- ceived over the space of a year or so. My options were: - go to prison and have my life destroyed for an America that neither respected nor valued my principles; - go underground for at least 15 years living in constant fear under an assumed name with no reliable support system and the real probability I'd end up in prison anyways; - give in and allow myself to be drafted into a War that I felt to be illegal, immoral and fundamentally racist with a personal history of opposition that would likely target me not just for combat duty but `special treatment'; - emigrate to Canada losing my family, friends and life here but have a chance at a normal life there.I considered all the usual variations on the above: National Guard duty, enlisting in the Air Force or some other service that wouldn't likely involve combat. I even had a good shot at CO status and a doctor who was willing to get me a medical deferment. I probably could have wormed my way out. But, after considerable soul-searching, I knew I wasn't a pacificist nor could I honestly claim CO status on religious grounds. And there was the nagging problem that this War was wrong. I felt that I couldn't just avoid it - I had to do something about it. History was knocking on the door asking where I stood.
What finally made me determined to leave America was the FBI harassment. They made it obvious that I would never be allowed to live anything like a normal life - ever.
Select this to read [the Whole Story].
