Roger Allen LaPorte
Roger Allen LaPorte | |
---|---|
Born | July 16, 1943 Geneva, New York, U.S. |
Died | (aged 22) Bellevue Hospital, New York, U.S. |
Cause of death | Burns from self-immolation |
Roger Allen LaPorte (July 16, 1943 – November 10, 1965) was a protester of the
Early life
Born in Geneva, New York,[1] LaPorte was active in public speaking and debate clubs, for which he won awards. His parents divorced after he graduated from high school. Before joining the Catholic Workers, he had attended a seminary in Vermont and hoped to become a monk. However, he withdrew from the seminary early and attended and graduated from Holy Ghost Academy, Tupper Lake, New York in 1961.[2]
Background of immolation
On June 11, 1963
On March 16, 1965, 82-year-old pacifist Alice Herz immolated herself on a Detroit street corner in protest of the escalating Vietnam War. A man and his two boys were driving by and saw her burning and put out the flames. She died of her wounds ten days later. On November 2, 1965, Norman Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office.[3]
Self-immolation
The Morrison self-immolation at the Pentagon was front-page news as Catholic Workers gathered for an antiwar demonstration on Union Square in New York City on November 6, 1965, which LaPorte attended shortly after joining the Catholic Workers. Dorothy Day, the leader of the Catholic Workers, addressed the crowd. "I speak today as one who is old, and who must endorse the courage of the young who themselves are willing to give up their freedom," Day said. "This very struggle was begun by courage, even in martyrdom, which has been shared by the little children, in the struggle for full freedom and human dignity."
Catholic Worker Tom Cornell had become known in 1960 for burning his draft card at actions and had repeated the act several times, including for national television cameras during the 1962 Strike for Peace.[clarification needed] In October 1965, another Catholic Worker, David Miller, became the first draft-card burner to be arrested under a new federal law banning the practice. Immediately following Day's speech on Union Square, Cornell and four others burned their draft cards on the platform. New York hecklers shouted, "Burn yourselves, not your cards."
Three days later, in front of the
Dorothy Day responded to the tragedy with an article in
John Leo wrote in the National Catholic Reporter that while the Catholic Workers had been important to the Church, they displayed "a sort of built-in rejection of complexity that I hope was not operative in LaPorte's death."[5] The famous Trappist monk Thomas Merton also took issue with LaPorte's act and entered into a prolonged dispute with Day after laying blame for the incident at the feet of the Catholic Worker movement.[6]
See also
- Catholic Worker Movement
- Alice Herz
- George Winne, Jr.
- Norman Morrison
- Self-immolation
References
- ^ "Roger Allen LaPorte (1943-1965) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com.
- ^ [1] Archived September 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Pacifists" Time Magazine. November 12, 1965. (Accessed July 23, 2007) [2]
- ^ Day, Dorothy (November 1965). "Suicide or Sacrifice?". Catholic Worker. Vol. XXXII, no. 3. pp. 1, 7.
- ^ Leo, John (November 17, 1965). "Thinking It Over: LaPorte's Protest". National Catholic Reporter.
- OCLC 1143844509.
Further reading
- Ryan, Cheyney (1996). The One Who Burns Herself for Peace. In: Karen Warren, Duane L. Cady (eds.), Bringing Peace Home: Feminism, Violence, and Nature. Indiana University Press. pp. 16–31. ISBN 0-253-21015-1.