Day in and day out I go about my business, I hang out with my kids and my grandchildren, take care of the elders, I go to work, I teach and I write, I organize and I participate in the never-ending effort to build a powerful movement for peace and social justice; now and then (and unpredictably) I appear in the newspapers or on TV with a reference to my book Fugitive Days, a memoir of the revolutionary action and militant resistance to the Viet Nam War—the years of miracle and wonder—and some fantastic assertions about what I did, what I said, and what I believe. The other night, for example, I heard Sean Hannity tell Senator John McCain that I was an unrepentant terrorist who had written an article on September 11, 2001 extolling bombings against the U.S., and even advocating more terrorist bombs. Senator McCain couldn’t believe it, and neither could I.
My e-mail and my voice-mail filled up with hate, as happens, mostly men with too much time on their hands I imagined, all of them venting and sweating and breathing heavily, a few threats—“Watch out!”; “You deserve to be shot”; and from satan@hell.com, “I’m coming to get you and when I do, I’ll waterboard you”—all of it wildly uninformed. I’ve written a lot about the Viet Nam period, about politics, about schools and social justice, and I read and speak about all of it. I encourage people to argue, to agree or disagree, to discuss and struggle, to engage in conversation. I believe deeply in the pedagogical possibilities of dialogue—of listening with the possibility of being changed, and of speaking with the possibility of being heard—and I believe in revitalizing the public square, resisting the eclipse of the public and expanding the public space, searching for a more robust and participatory democracy. Talking to one another can help.
So in that spirit here is another attempt at clarity:
1. Regrets. I’m often quoted saying that I have “no regrets.” This is not true. For anyone paying attention—and I try to stay wide-awake to the world around me all/ways—life brings misgivings, doubts, uncertainty, loss, regret. I’m sometimes asked if I regret anything I did to oppose the war in Viet Nam, and I say “no, I don’t regret anything I did to try to stop the slaughter of millions of human beings by my own government.” Sometimes I add, “I don’t think I did enough.” This is then elided: he has no regrets for setting bombs and thinks there should be more bombings.
The illegal, murderous, imperial war against Viet Nam was a catastrophe for the Vietnamese, a disaster for Americans, and a world tragedy. Many of us understood this, and many tried to stop the war. Those of us who tried recognize that our efforts were inadequate: the war dragged on for a decade, thousands were slaughtered every week, and we couldn’t stop it. In the end the U.S. military was defeated and the war ended, but we surely didn’t do enough.
2. Terror. Terrorism—according to both official U.S. policy and the U.N.—is the use or threat of random violence to intimidate, frighten, or coerce a population toward some political end. This means, of course, that terrorism is not the exclusive province of a cult, a religious sect, or a group of fanatics. It can be any of these, but it can also be—and often is—executed by governments and states. A bombing in a café in Israel is terrorism, and an Israeli assault on a neighborhood in Gaza is terrorism; the September 11 attacks were acts of terrorism, and the U.S. bombings in Viet Nam for a decade were acts of terrorism. Terrorism is never justifiable, even in a just cause—the Union fight in the 1860’s was just, for example, but Shernan’s March to the Sea was indefensible terror. I’ve never advocated terrorism, never participated in it, never defended it. The U.S. government, by contrast, does it routinely and defends the use of it in its own cause consistently.
3. Imperialism. I’m against it, and if Sean Hannity and others were honest, this is the ground they would fight me on. Capitalism played its role historically and is exhausted as a force for progress: built on exploitation, theft, conquest, war, and racism, capitalism and imperialism must be defeated and a world revolution—a revolution against war and racism and materialism, a revolution based on human solidarity and love, cooperation and the common good—must win.
We begin by releasing our most hopeful dreams and our most radical imaginations: a better world is both possible and necessary. We need to bring our imaginations together and forge an unbreakable human alliance. We need to unite to transform and save ourselves as we fight to change the world and save humanity.
Bill Ayers 
Bill. I feel extremely sorry for you. You do have the blood of human beings on your hands if not on your conscience. I wonder if you ever regret allowing your political agedna to destroy so many lives. Yours included.
Professor Ayers:
I have often thought that humanity is clinging to the lowest possible rungs of its existence when the basis of our interaction has to be predicated on competing with one another in whatever context (business, sports, academia, etc.). Ironically, as children, we’re told to share what we have, but as we grow up and mature, we’re encouraged to think about all that we can accumulate for ourselves – as individuals. People talk about the importance of “community,” but from what I can tell, it only matters in times of great tragedy. After all, who has time for “community” as part of their everyday life when they’re so busy attending to their own personal affairs?
Well, I just wanted to drop in on your blog because I’ve been following the controversy. In my opinion, the problem with people like Sean Hannity is that they lack the ability to think beyond their own constrained, simple framework of “God and country.” This is why he keeps showing your picture on his program and using the word “terrorist” to describe you multiple times over. Some of the more thoughtful people watching have to question his motivations – especially since his characterization of you is devoid of any depth. Undoubtedly, he’s thriving on an incomplete narrative. Anyways, it’s not like I’m telling you something you don’t already know. I just feel like it needs to be said publicly.
Until all are free,
John A. Duerk
Bill Ayers is a terrorist scum bag piece of garbage!!! and ayone body that has respect for him is worse then Hitler!!
I have been fascinated by 60s radicals for a while, so the Ayers name was familiar to me before Hannity. (I am 37 and a student of history.) While I agree that the the US role in Vietnam was wrong and should have been opposed, I cannot imagine resorting to violence to stop it.
In addtion to being questionable morally, setting off bombs accomplished nothing except to discredit your cause. To me, the bombings are a black mark on the 60s movement and represented little more than self-indulgent middle class kids trying to establish their “revolutionary” credentials. A real revolutioary, like MLK, can accomplish his goals through other, non violent, methods.
Respectfully,
Scott in Fort Walton Beach, FL
“a revolution based on human solidarity and love, cooperation and the common good”
Try this:
1. Love your neighbor.
2. Be the servant of all.
Anything else is a scam.
Bill Ayers is incapable of remorse.
Bill,
I just saw you on Fox and thought instantly that Sean Hannity is a moron and simultaneously wondered how you are doing. I actually think of you often and I hope you and Bernadine are doing well. Are you writing other than on the blog? Ever make it to DC? We’d love to see you. Send me an e-mail. Let’s catch up.
Meanwhile, hang in there.
Jodi
Funny, (well, not really), how these righty propagandists can pontificate about how you are supposedly a terrorist, yet they don’t blink an eye about bombs dropped on foreign populations by the U.S. military.
I enjoyed the Weather Underground documentary, thank you for sharing in that project. I would have been one of those criticizing your tactics at the time if I wasn’t about 3 yrs. old, but I came to understand your frustrations that led you down that road.
“Until we are all free,”
“Life is not only a stage, its a game where winner takes all.”
“All people need to move past the power structures…”
The left’s perchant for sanctimonious platitudes reminds me of the old time gospel preachers calling on the wayward to repent. And just as the flock in those pews, the folks will continue to live their life as they see fit. Do I hear an Amen?
Bill
As a product of the 60’s, I cannot believe that after almost 50 years we are still making the same mistakes! I guess Kurt Vonnegut was right when he talked about the question of “Why was man born to suffer and die” that we never have been able to get a straight answer to.
Peace, Hope, Education
Jill