Hong Kong protests mark twist in history of umbrella symbolism As young people in Hong Kong pop open umbrellas in a show of defiance against China’s plan for watered-down democracy in the city, a U.S. academic notes that to previous generations the accessory symbolized appeasement. From 1930s England through the Kennedy and Nixon years in the U.S., to display an umbrella was to allege political softness, says Edward H. Miller, […]