The Bloody History of April 20: Mass Murders, a ‘Fake News’ War and Environmental Disaster

Posted April 20, 2018

External Article: The Washington Post

Robert Blaskiewicz, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, was quoted in The Washington Post, April 20, article, “The Bloody History of April 20: Mass Murders, a ‘Fake News’ War and Environmental Disaster.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

T.S. Eliot wrote “April is the cruelest month,” and April 20 stands out if you want to zero in on a specific date besieged with bad news. Across American history and beyond, this particular spot on the calendar is blood-soaked, marked by significant catastrophe and upheaval. Some of the negative energy coiled around the date stems from the fact that Adolf Hilter was born on April 20 in 1889. For militia groups and anti-government types, the middle of the month is also significant as the beginning of colonial America’s fight against the British following the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775… “For many people who labor under the idea that the federal government is a tyrannical foreign oppressor like the British monarchy, Waco symbolizes a war of a government against its people,” Robert Blaskiewicz, a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, told CNN in 2011. “Nonetheless, in the mythology that has grown up around Waco and Oklahoma City among self-identified patriots, the 19th has become a sort of high holiday for those who think that they live under the thumb of a tyranny.”
 

For the full article, visit The Washington Post website.