Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil P.O. Box 27217 Washington, DC 20038
January 20, 1989
Dear Washington Post,
Thank you for printing a photograph of my signs in your
January 20th edition.
Photographs do not lie.
I do, though, have problems with about every word that you
bothered to print -- concerning our eight year old, 24 hour-a-day
vigil, of which I have been a member for the last 2 years.
In the course of the 19th and 20th (of Jan.) you managed to
name us (vigilers) as."residents" and "campers." We neither
reside nor camp in Lafayette Sq (Peace Park, please).
In 1982, the Dept. of Interior created the "camping
regulations." These regulations were responsible for six fellow
vigilers spending 2-3 months in jail last winter, and threatens
to end the vigil permanently. We are currently in court to prove
that these regulations have been enforced illegally.
We vigil. That is why we are called vigilers -- because we
do all the things that vigilers do: collect signatures on our
petition; pass out leaflets; encourage discussion and awareness
of key issues: to eliminate all nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons; to negotiate for an end to armed conflict; to
use our resources for humanitarian needs, not ideological wars.
This, generally, is the purpose of our vigil, and was the
message being generated on Friday, the 20th, even with the
addition of many other demonstrators, who were here for one day
only.
We welcomed their energy. After all, many of them are friends of ours, members of the Washington--area peace community.
The fellow who was yelling (occasionally) "rich pigs" was present
for the cause of Aids research. He, himself, has Aids, many of
his friends have died of Aids, and he's pretty upset about our
government's policy thus-so-far concerning Aids.
Another fellow demonstrator was from Central America, and he
was demonstrating against the United States' funding and training
of death squads. Despite the fact that he has lived under the
fear of death squads, and knows of many people being killed by
death squads, he was amazingly polite.
The mostly white, rich, privileged people -- of whom I am,
unfortunately, one -- "slip past uneasily" such a display of raw
reality, anxious to be in more comfortable surroundings, where
things Rappear" to be democratic and just.
At this moment, wars are being fought, lives are being lost,
and whole populations suffer so that the world can be "made safe
for democracy."
You should, therefore, embrace our right to vigil, and our
many causes, because -- after the last dissenters have been put
in jail -- "freedom" will no longer be available as an excuse to
stockpile weapons and wage war. At present, it is a very THIN
excuse.
After my personal vigil of 2 years, and the fact of the
continuous vigil of eight years, I find your ignorance of our
cause to be very troubling and deeply insulting.
