Apr 10, 1968-1968
Russia
Napalming a Dog
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ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP
Steve Kiyoshi Kuromi and Michael Crisafi
TARGET
U.S government
WIDELY HELD BELIEF
Napalming should not be tolerated since it has killed many civilians during the war.
CASE NARRATIVE
Issue and Opponent: In 1968, the U.S. war against Vietnam created frustration among the anti-war veterans and the anti-war movement. This put the spotlight on the U.S. for the use of Napalm. This chemical would stick to the skin and cause horrible burns on a person’s body. During 1963 and 1973, the use of Napalm was highly used and dropped by U.S. military officials. Dilemma Action: On April 10, 1968, two anti-war activists, Steve Kiyoshi Kuromi and Michael Crisafi, created a horrible scenario in Philidelphia, United States where they would napalm a dog. Because they announced that this would take place, thousands of people showed up to this demonstration outraged about the dog. The goal of this demonstration was to give Americans an idea of what was happening during the war and advocate for the unnecessary use of Napalm. By switching the roles of humans and dogs it would give people a sense of humanity and help them see the harm that Napalm has created to those affected by Napalm during the war. Outcome: When people showed up to express their disagreement the two activists announced that they were not going to napalm a dog. They wanted people to understand that if they were that outraged about a dog being Napalmed then what difference does it make when the U.S. is napalming people during the war?
PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL
NONVIOLENT TACTICS USED
DA TACTICS USED
Banners/posters/displayed communications
CASE NARRATIVE WRITER
SUCCESS METRICS
8 / 12
(MC) Media Coverage
(MSYMP) Media coverage was sympathetic to the activists
(OR) Opponent response
(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public
(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent
(RF) Dilemma action reduced fear and/or apathy among the activists
(SA) Dilemma action appealed to a broad segment of the public
Laugtivism
PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN
0 / 3
RESOURCES
Project documentation
Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook
Case study documentation
Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset
SOURCES
Diener, Sam. 2014. “Napalming a Dog!?” Actipedia, December 11. Retrieved July 20, 2023.(https://actipedia.org/project/napalming-dog).
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