RIDGE RUNNER CHRONICLES: Whatever Happened to Bernadine Dohrn?
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By BILL HOAGLAND
Who in the world is Bernadine Dohrn? That is the response you would probably get from anyone who is younger than 75 if you asked about Bernadine Dohrn. But for those of us who were young adults during the 1960’s, we were well aware of Bernadine Dohrn, the attractive, smart young law student at the University of Chicago who ended up on the FBI “Most Wanted List” for years and according to J. Edgar Hoover in 1970, was the most dangerous woman in the United States. Bernadine was an enigma—a white woman raised in a middle-class family in the middle of America who became not only an avowed Communist but one who believed that the only way to change the direction of the country was to have a violent, bloody revolution. For years, she did everything she could as a member of the Weathermen to make that happen, including setting bombs in public buildings throughout the country and joining forces with the Black Panther Party to instigate a racial war right here in the US.
If you have wondered what did eventually happen to Bernadine Dohrn, you now have an answer to that question. That’s because Bernadine’s son, Zayd Ayers Dohrn, has written a book entitled “Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young” in which he describes his life as a young child on the run with Bernadine and her husband, Bill Ayers. This book tells the intriguing story of what it was like growing up in the revolutionary underground of the 1960’s with two notorious parents. Zayd’s account of this most unusual lifestyle is surprisingly candid and to a certain extent critical of the choices his parents made. But it is also obvious that Zayd’s exposure to revolutionary teachings as a child still impact his viewpoint of life in America today. That should not be a surprise; his exposure to radical politics as a youngster was constant. For example, the picture that hung above Zayd’s crib when he was an infant was not of Winnie the Poo; it was of Ho Chi Minh.
Although most members of the Weathermen are now dead, Bernadine and Bill are still alive and living in Chicago. Bernadine was recently diagnosed with Alzheimzer Disease and Bill is essentially spending his days caring for her. So the ultimate question for me is this: does Bernadine regret what she did as a young radical? While it is difficult for her to admit her mistakes, according to Zayd, she does have regrets but for those of us reading this book, she clearly made horrible choices in life.
This book will trigger memories for those of us who grew up in the 1960’s. I had forgotten, for example, that Bernadine and the Weathermen engineered the sensational escape of the LSD advocate, Timothy Leary, from a California prison because they thought he would help their cause if he were freed. (He didn’t help; his brain was already essentially fried.)
As an amateur historian of the 1960’s, I am glad I read the book although it is not for everyone. Still, the book may be relevant to what is happening in this country today. Bernadine and Bill were able to survive on the run because there were many young people at the time who were not Communists, but who sympathized with them because they too were bothered by the Viet Nam war, the racial unrest at home and the need to do something about it. And maybe, just maybe, that revolutionary attitude of the 1960’s has returned for the same reasons to our youngsters today, whether we like it or not.
Note: All criminal charges against Bernadine for the bombings were eventually dismissed because she could not be found but years later, she was jailed for criminal contempt in refusing to answer questions in front of a grand jury regarding her associates in the Weathermen organization. She served seven months at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, the same jail where John Gotti, Bernie Madoff, and El Chapo Guzman were incarcerated and where Jeffery Epstein died. She was finally released when the judge who held her in contempt concluded she would never be willing to testify no matter how long she remained jailed.
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■ Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].
