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Women’s & Minority Movements of the 1960s. Ch. 23, Sec 1, 2. Women’s rights movement began in mid 1800’s. 1960s-Movement changed, became feminism . Full political, social, political equality. Women could vote, but many didn’t work. 1960-38% of women worked outside home.
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Women’s & Minority Movements of the 1960s Ch. 23, Sec 1, 2
Women’s rights movement began in mid 1800’s. • 1960s-Movement changed, became feminism. • Full political, social, political equality. • Women could vote, but many didn’t work. • 1960-38% of women worked outside home. • Employers didn’t want to spend time/money training women, as it was expected they would leave work to start families. • Many wouldn’t hire women, as they felt women’s responsibilities were home & family. • Women tended to earn around 53 cents for every dollar a man earned. • Were often under-employed as well.
Civil Rights movement of 50s & 60s provided model for feminist activists. • Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII-employer could not discriminate on race, religion, national origin, SEX. • Women had legal framework to sue employers, but EEOC would not hear complaints. • Women active in many social causes(ex-Vietnam) began to band together in feminism.
Betty Friedan had huge role in feminist movement. • Wrote The Feminine Mystique. • Said women were unhappy with traditional roles, felt there must be more to life; wanted to realize their full potential. • Many women in suburbs joined feminist movement due to book. • Due to feminism & The Feminine Mystique, women began to form community groups, speak of feminism, sexism. • Negative attitudes toward a certain sex. • Soon, national groups began to organize.
1966-28 women formed National Organization of Women (NOW). • Goal-bring women to equality in society. • Wanted equal pay, equal job opportunities, attacked sexist stereotypes, wanted marriage to be partnership. • Grew rapidly-in four years, 15,000 members. • NOW organized protests, rallies, lawsuits, brought feminism to mainstream attention. • Early 1970s brought Our Bodies, Ourselves. • Book dealing with women’s bodies, health issues.
1972-Gloria Steinem & others published Ms. magazine. • Devoted to feminist issues, very different than other women’s magazines. • Became very popular magazine. • Feminist movement brought successful changes. • 1972-Higher Education Act included amendment outlawing sex discrimination. • More women went to college, entered “male” industries (engineering, medicine, law). • National Women’s Political Caucus pushed for women’s issues in national politics.
Non-feminists also saw gains. • Need for daycare facilities, homeless women’s shelters, women’s health issues. • Feminist movement eventually began to split. • Radical group rejected men, marriage, kids, wanted to end “male patriarchy”. • Traditional group wanted equal footing with men. • Abortion became a big feminist issue. • Illegal in most states. • 1973-Roe v. Wade-Supreme Court legalized abortion in first 3 months of pregnancy. • Based on “right to privacy”. • States could still regulate after first 3 months.
1972-Congress approved Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), passed to states to ratify. • Needed 38 states by 1982, got 35. • ERA died. • Would have made sex discrimination constitutionally illegal. • Many, including women, opposed feminist movement, Roe v. Wade, ERA. • Wanted to continue traditional roles. • Homemakers, mothers undervalued by NOW. • Many men opposed movement.
Minority Movements • Civil Rights & Feminist movements inspired other groups. • US had large & growing Latino movement. • Cubans in Florida, Puerto Ricans in northeast, Mexicans in southwest were biggest groups. • Many felt that Latinos held back by white organizations-Catholic Church, media, schools; and by economic pressure. • Organizations began to develop to push for equality. • High school students protested for better facilities, Latino courses, Latino teachers & counselors. • Walkouts in CA, TX CO.
Many Latino migrant farm workers. • Followed harvests all over west; low pay, hard work, few education opportunities. • Cesar Chavez, former migrant, organized United Farm Workers union. • Started with grape pickers-when growers refused more pay, etc., UFW organized nationwide boycott of grapes. • Caused growers to fold. • CA passed law requiring collective bargaining between union, growers. • UFW became very successful union.
Other Latinos gained political power. • Henry Gonzalez, Elizo de la Garza elected to Congress from Texas. • 1970-Jose Angel Gutierrez began political group La RazaUnida in TX. • Worked for better housing, job opportunities, backed Latino political candidates. • Other groups more extreme. • Alianza Federal de Mercedes – claimed whites stole Mexican lands, protested, demanded reparations.
Japanese citizens in WWII held in internment camps. • Many lost homes, property, businesses with no payment. • Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) organized to help people receive compensation. • Due to JACL, Congress passed Japanese American Claims Act. • Took 20 years for claims to be settled, only small amounts paid for properties. • Asians tended to be better educated than most immigrants, quickly made gains economically.
Native Americans granted citizenship in 1924. • 1948-Arizona, New Mexico became last states to grant Natives suffrage. • Became very angry due to treatment by gov’t, American people. • 1956-gov’t built dam on Seneca lands, without consulting tribe. • Afterwards, gov’t paid Seneca $15 million. • Other tribes sued & won suits over violation of treaties, failure to make promised payments.
1968-Chippewas Dennis Banks & George Mitchell began American Indian Movement (AIM). • Fought for Native American autonomy (self-government), for control of natural resources on tribal lands, for restoration of lands taken illegally by gov’t. • Organized like Black Panthers or militant SNCC. • Many didn’t like militant approach. • 1969-75 Aim members occupied Alcatraz Island under Fort Laramie Treaty. • Allowed Native males to claim federal land. • Held it for 1.5 yrs, marshals finally removed them. • 1972-AIM organized Broken Treaties Caravan to bring attention to broken treaties. • Took over Bureau of Indian Affairs offices for 6 days.
1973-AIM took over Sioux village of Wounded Knee, refused to leave until gov’t investigated conditions on reservations, reviewed 300+ treaties. • 3 months later, AIM surrendered after 2 AIM members killed, 12 wounded in shootout with marshals. • Positive outcomes: • Indian Education Act-Gave parents, tribal councils more control over tribal schools & programs. • Indian Self-Determination & Education Assistance Act-Let tribes run reservations, let leaders administer federal housing & education programs.