- Title: USA: 18-YEAR-OLD NUCLEAR PROTEST CONTINUES OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE
- Date: 12th March 1999
- Summary: GV: WEBSITE OF PROPOSITION ONE
- Embargoed: 27th March 1999 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA93WDXXCTJ3PZZIV3GIG6BXHTB
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: The U.S.White House has spent more than a year under intense scrutiny from the media and the public, but its most diligent detractors have been keeping a critical eye there for 18 years and aren't planning to leave the neighbourhood anytime soon.A small band of anti-nuclear activists has occupied the choice property across Pennsylvania Avenue for 24 hours a day since 1981, demanding full conversion of nuclear power plants and complete disarmament of nuclear weapons, and while the White House may not be listening, it has no choice but to see them.
For some people, life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the summit of luxury in Washington, DC.Others, however, choose to cram all their worldly possessions onto a three-square-foot area of cold concrete at the mercy of the elements -- not to mention the park police.For nearly two decades, undeterred by arrests or horrible weather such as the Capital had this week, this has been the life of anti-nuclear activist Concepcion Picciotta, for whom standing on her principles has meant exactly that -- she sits down only to sleep, and only briefly at that.
The Spanish-born Concepcion, known in the park as Connie, and her friend William Thomas began their round-the-clock vigil just outside the White House fence in 1981, erecting huge hand-painted plywood signs warning of doom and destruction if nuclear power and the arms race did not cease.
"No holidays, no vacations, no movies," she confirms.
The "vigilers", as they call themselves, have outlasted the terms of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, and there's no question they'll be there after Bill Clinton is gone, too.
And while they were forced years ago to move the vigil across the street into Lafayette Park, that hasn't hindered their view of the White House, nor it of them, although they say they have yet to be offered a neighbourly chat with a Chief Executive.
There has been some political movement away from nuclear weapons under their watch, such as the arms limitation treaties signed by the U.S.and the Soviet Union in the 1980's, but it hasn't come anywhere near the full abolition the protesters seek.This decade has even seen the danger increase, they say, with nuclear testing by India and Pakistan, the just-revived reactor at Chernobyl and concerns about potential Y2K glitches that could cause meltdowns at nuclear power plants.
At various times throughout their tenure, Connie and Thomas have been joined by others, opponents of the Gulf War, wayward hippies, Native Americans with drums.A couple of years after the vigil started, a woman named Ellen was interviewing homeless people on a cold winter night and discovered Connie's crusade.Ellen came back the next day to meet her Thomas and within three weeks, Ellen had quit her job and taken up the vigil.She and Thomas were married in the park shortly thereafter.
Ever cheerful as she warns people to "have a nice doomsday"
if they don't take action, Connie approaches everyone who looks curious, armed with her command of several languages and a full array of peace literature."We've got to demand the government come to its senses!" she tells one young Chinese man, who looks a bit overwhelmed and confirms with her that she really does sleep under the heap of plastic wrap behind her.She gives him reading material in Chinese and urges him to tell his government to oppose the American policy on Iraq.
The young man walks away shaking his head, saying Connie "is a good woman".
In 1990, Ellen and William Thomas formalised the vigil into a broader grassroots movement under the name of "Proposition One", calling for the conversion of nuclear power to mass production of "clean" energy and for complete disarmament of nuclear weapons.Using a donated room as an office, the group gathered supplies and created a vast website with many links to historical, scientific and legal data on what they classify as issues of democracy and human rights.
They admit to frustration at the apathy of most Americans regarding nuclear proliferation."People don't really care, is what I've found, but it's hard for me to understand why,"
William Thomas laments."(S)ince the Manhattan Project in the 1940's, over the last 50 years, the United States has spent well in excess of five trillion dollars on its nuclear arsenal.If for no other reason, people should care about it for that reason."
Ellen, too, lists multiple reasons for opposing nuclear power."Even if we never do have another meltdown" like the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, she says,
"nuclear waste is terribly dangerous.They don't know what to do with it; nobody wants it.It's time to change our policies."
The Thomases now rotate volunteers on shifts at their signs so that they are able to maintain the public-relations and research roles of Proposition One, but Connie has never traded in her three-foot-square space for a night with a roof over her head.She says the only nights in the last 18 years that she has not been there have been when police arrested her for "camping", a violation of federal regulations which, depending on what officer is on duty, can mean anything from falling asleep to wrapping in a blanket to lying on the ground, vigilers explain.
Wrapping herself up in the plastic tarp against the blowing snow, Connie casts a judgmental eye over to the illuminated mansion across the street.She doesn't envy its inhabitants a bit, she says, especially in the aftermath of the past scandalous year."I'm living with more dignity than the president does," Connie asserts, "in the eyes of the people and the world."
And after 18 years, she still says she hasn't given up on that world seeing things her way."I'm not wasting my time, no," she laughs."I'm doing something for humanity. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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