Ch. 18. The Politics of Protest (1960-1980).

Ch. 18. The Politics of Protest (1960-1980). Tom Hayden, 2007.

I. Youth Actions. A. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). 1. Port Huron Statement (1962) – Stop apathy & letting country be run by big corporations. 2. Tom Hayden. •  Port Huron Statement written largely by Tom Hayden. •  “New” left of liberalism different from “Old” left of Socialism / communism. • Protested Vietnam War; poverty, nuclear power, and racism. • “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”

These UC-Berkeley students are protesting the government's actions in Vietnam.

B. Counterculture – Alternative ways of living, called “Hippies.” 1. Communes – Group living. This was the center of the hippy world in San Francisco.  Communes – Group living arrangement where they shared everything.  Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco – Hippy destination in mid-1960’s.

Andy Warhol, with painting of Che.  Tie-dyed shirts; Andy Warhol, Hair musical in 1967. The peace symbol was developed in the UK as a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and was embraced by U.S. anti-war protestors in the 1960s

► The Beatles perform “I want to hold your hand” on the Ed Sullivan Show (1964). ► Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.

THE SUMMER OF LOVE The Summer of Love refers to the summer of 1967, when nearly 100,000 hippies converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion. It was a melting pot of music, psychedelic drugs, sexual freedom, creative expression, and politics. The Summer of Love became a defining moment of the 1960s, as the hippie counterculture movement came into public awareness.

WOODSTOCK !! • Woodstock – Aug 1969, over 400,000 descended on a farm in upstate NY for “3-days of peace and music.” • Much of hippie style had been integrated into mainstream American society by the early 1970s.

Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson in 1962. • The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement. • Silent Spring spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy—leading to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides—and inspired the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Rachel Carson, 1940

Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania The Three Mile Island accident in 1979 was the most significant accident in the history of the U.S. commercial nuclear power generating industry. Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station consisted of two pressurized water reactors each inside its own containment building and connected cooling towers. TMI-2, suffered a partial meltdown, is in the background.

Three Mile Island • A recent study has noted that the counties surrounding TMI have the highest radon concentrations in the United States and that this may be the cause of the increased lung cancer noted in the region. • Fewer Nuclear reactors built. • The clean-up cost was around $975 million. From 1985 to 1990 almost 100 tons of radioactive fuel were removed from the site. • Federal requirements became more stringent, local opposition became more strident, and construction times were significantly lengthened. The full damage to the reactor core was not known for many years after the accident.

II. The Feminist Movement. A. Feminism – Men & women equal politically, economically, and socially.

B. Women’s Movement Reawakens. 1. Equal Pay Act (1963) – Same pay for same job. 2. Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique (1963). Betty Friedan was an American feminist, activist, and writer, best known for starting the "Second Wave“ of feminism through the writing of The Feminine Mystique.  Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963).  Shirley Chisholm – 1st African American woman in Congress (NY) in 1968.

3. National Organization for Women (NOW) – 1966, Bring women into mainstream of U.S. society. NOW Organizing Conference, October, 1966.  NOW was created by Betty Friedan.

4. Title IX (1972) – Schools can’t discriminate against females. 5. Roe vs. Wade (1973) – Supreme Court ruled that states can’t regulate abortions (first 3 months).  Title IX – no school discrimination from admission to athletics.

III. New Approaches to Civil Rights. A. Hispanic Americans Organize. Raymond L. Telles, the first Hispanic elected mayor (1957), El Paso, Texas. Hispanic immigrants protest for civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama.

1. United Farm Workers (UFW) – Rights for farm workers. a) Started by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta. Cesar Chavez lived on a small farm near Yuma, Arizona until his family lost it during the Great Depression and moved to CA. At age 10, Chávez became a migrant farm worker, laboring in fields and vineyards.  Early 1960’s, combined groups to organize against CA growers to demand union recognition, better wages, and better benefits.  National Boycott of table grapes (no uvas) with help from AFL-CIO, students, churches, and civil rights groups; about 17 million people stopped buying them; market plunged.  Started in 1965 and ended in 1970.

The UFW is a labor union that evolved from unions founded in 1962 by César Chávez, Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong. This union changed from a workers' rights organization that helped workers get unemployment insurance to that of a union of farmworkers almost overnight, when the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) went out on strike in support of the mostly Filipino farmworkers of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC).

2. La Raza Unida (the united people) – 1969, Texas group led by José Angel Gutiérrez for better job training, banking services, and bilingual education.

B. Stonewall Riots(1969) – Beginning of Gay rights movement. The Stonewall riots were a series of violent conflicts between New York City police officers and 2,000 gay and transgender people that began during the early morning of June 28, 1969, and lasted five days. The Rebellion was a watershed moment for the worldwide gay rights movement. The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NYC.

President Nixon President Nixon greets Chinese Party Chairman Mao Zedong (left) in a historic visit to the People's Republic of China, 1972. • Nixon won the 1968 election (against Humphrey) by appealing to the “silent majority” of conservatives. • With support from national security advisor Henry Kissinger, Nixon forged better relationships with China and the Soviet Union.

Yes, we skipped section I. Chapter 19, Sec II. The ‘Watergate’ Scandal. A. President Richard Nixon forced to resign (1974). The Watergate Hotel and office complex in Washington, D.C. Tricky Dick  President Nixon sought reelection amid a scandal over the Watergate break-in.

“People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.” -- President Nixon  A break-in at the Watergate complex (Dem National Committee (DNC) headquarters) soon developed into a political scandal.  Re-election was not assured; Nixon supporters tried to steal information from the DNC (June 17, 1972).  One of the burglars, James McCord, was an ex-CIA official and on the Committee for the Reelection of the President (CRP).  Cover-up – Nixon administration officials began destroying incriminating evidence and provided false testimony to investigators.

 Nixon may not have ordered the break-in, but he did order the cover-up; Asked the CIA to get the FBI to stop investigating – it would threaten national security; Nixon denied any involvement.  Counsel to the President, John Dean, said that the Attorney General John Mitchell ordered the break-in and Nixon was involved in cover up; Nixon still denied everything.  White House aid Alexander Butterfield informed the Senate committee of Nixon’s tape recording system.  Nixon pleaded Executive privilege and refused to give up tapes; Nixon fires special prosecutor Cox (wanted Nixon’s tapes); bad publicity.  The Vice President, Spiro Agnew resigns in disgrace due to discovery that he accepted bribes from state contractors while governor of Maryland and still took bribes as VP.  Gerald Ford, leader of the Hose of Representatives, is now VP.

Nixon’s ‘Enemy List’: included politicians, actors, journalists, etc. • The Pentagon Papers – Leaked in 1971, detailed 30 years of deception and escalation in Vietnam. • Nixon’s criminal activities included breaking and entering, illegal wiretaps, espionage, sabotage, witness tampering, obstructing justice, perjury, and blackmail.

 New special prosecutor demanded unedited tapes (not just edited transcripts); Nixon reluctantly agrees.  Several days later, Senate judiciary committee votes to impeach Nixon (obstruction of justice, misuse of federal agencies, and defied the orders of Congress).  Unedited tapes revealed that 6 days after break-in, Nixon ordered the CIA to stop the FBI’s investigation.  Aug 9, 1974, Nixon resigns in disgrace to avoid impeachment. Nixon departing the White House aboard a helicopter after resigning, 1974.

Gerald Ford went from Minority Speaker of the House to the President between 1973-74, without being voted to either office. Once president, Ford issued a full pardon to Nixon for any wrongdoing while he was president. The Watergate scandal left such an impact on the national and international consciousness that many scandals since Then are labeled with the suffix "-gate".  Gerald Ford now the 38th president.  Affects: A number of new laws to limit campaign contributions, have more financial disclosure, means of appointing an independence counsel for investigations, but left many with deep distrust of public officials, lack of respect for presidency, and skeptical about politics.

OPEC and the Oil Crisis(of the 1970’s) • The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador (which rejoined OPEC in November 2007), Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. • Their principal goal is to determine the best means for safeguarding their interests and devising ways of ensuring the stabilization of prices in international oil markets. OPEC nations still account for 2/3 of the world's oil reserves, and, as of March 2008, 35.6% of the world's oil production, giving them considerable control over the global market.

On October 6, 1973, Syria & Egypt launched a military attack on Israel starting the Yom Kippur War. The GAS Shortage !! • The 1973 oil crisis began on Oct 17, 1973, when the members of OAPEC (Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announced, as a result of the Yom Kippur War, they would no longer ship oil to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt (the U.S., its allies in Western Europe, & Japan). • The same time, OPEC members agreed to use their leverage over the world price-setting mechanism for oil in order to raise world oil prices. • President Nixon and Ford’s price controls led to gas shortages. Oregon, 1973. In the U.S., drivers of vehicles with license plates having an odd number as the last digit were allowed to purchase gasoline for their cars only on odd-numbered days of the month, while drivers of vehicles with even-numbered plates were allowed on even-numbered days

Gas rationing system is announced in an afternoon newspaper being read at a service station with a sign in the background stating no gas is available in 1974.

Jimmy Carter defeats Ford in 1976 election. • Carter was the 39th U.S. President from 1977 - 1981 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. • After the Yom Kippur War, Carter negotiated a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt (Camp David Accords) in 1978, calming the troubles in the Middle East. • The Iran hostage crisis led to his defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980. • Known for his humanitarian work, including assistance with Habitat for Humanity. • He is still considered a respected diplomat today. The peanut farmer from Georgia.

Ch. 18. The Politics of Protest (1960-1980).