The 1960s and Beyond

1. The 1960s and Beyond

2. Johnson Presidency (1963-1969) • LBJ pushed through more domestic legislation than any 20th century president except FDR • Declared a war on poverty and creation of a Great Society • Medicare and Medicaid programs • VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)--domestic Peace Corps (now AmeriCorps) • New cabinet offices created in Transportation and Housing and Urban Development • Head Start programs to aid underprivileged children • Food Stamp aid to help poor families

3. Civil Rights Legislation • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • LBJ • No literacy tests • Provided federal registration of African-American voters in areas that had less than fifty percent of eligible voters registered • Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 • March on Washington helped to get passed • Federal government would withdraw support from any state that discriminated • Established Equal Employment Commission

4. Urban unrest • Watts Riots (1965) resulted in 34 deaths and $35 million damage and demonstrated frustration of urban blacks with unemployment and police practices • Riots followed in black neighborhoods in Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, and Jacksonville from 1965-1967. • King's assassination in April 1968 further antagonized racial tensions. National Commission concluded "Our nation is moving towards two societies, black and white, separate and unequal."

5. LBJ’s Foreign problems • Vietnam • Because of criticism, LBJ announced on March 31, 1968 he would not seek second full term as president in 1968 election.

6. Countercultural Movements • Port Huron Statement (1962)--group of young intellectuals formed the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and set out an agenda for societal reform, that included student rights, economic justice, and anti-nuclear war views • Free Speech Movement (1964) begun at UC Berkeley by Mario Savio in protest of university policies spread to other universities as general student unease focused on anti-establishment sentiments.

7. Radicalization of American students led to challenge to Establishment norms and laws • Youth culture openly scornful of middle class values • Increased and public use of hallucinogenic drugs • Rise of hippies led to development of communes and other counterculture movements

8. Rock and folk music reflected iconoclastic views of the counter culture • Rock groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Doors expressed mystical approach that embraced drugs and Eastern religions as well as themes of anger, frustration, and rebelliousness • Folk singers (Joan Baez, Bob Dylan) expressed explicit radicalism and challenged traditional mores.

9. Militancy and Protest • New militancy among ethnic groups (Native Americans and Hispanics) and feminists also challenged values and laws through affirmative action and university programs that focused on correcting past abuses and stridency in pushing for equal treatment and legal protection.

10. From Civil Rights to Black Power • King and Selma march • Watts (1965) • "Black Power" • Nation of Islam • Malcolm X • Elijah Muhammad • Stokely Carmichael • leader of SNCC and later the Black Panthers • Integrationist and later a separatist • Civil Rights Act of 1968 • expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, and national origin • as of 1974, sex • as of 1988, the act protects the handicapped and families with children • The Act is commonly known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).

11. Environmentalism • Preservationist legislation • Environmentalism • Rachel Carson Silent Spring (1962) • Earth Day (1970) • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • Clean Air Act of 1970 • Endangered Species Act of 1972

12. Controversies over Rights • Warren Court and Miranda v. Arizona (1966) • Burger Court and Dandridge v. Williams (1970) • Each state has the right to determine guidelines for welfare programs • Ralph Nader • Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) • Occupational Safety Act (1973) • National Organization for Women (NOW) • Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) • Phyllis Schlafly’s “Stop ERA” • Roe v. Wade (1973)

13. Détente (Nixon) • Easing of tensions with Soviets and Communist Chinese • Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) • People's Republic of China

14. Vietnamization • "Nixon Doctrine“ • U.S.’s allies were to take care of their own protection. • Cambodia (1970) • Jackson State College • Kent State University • My Lai • Vietnam Veterans Against the War • "how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake” John Kerry April 1971 • Paris Peace Accords (1973) • Collapse of Saigon (1975)

15. The Aftermath of War • 1960-1973: 3.5 million men and women served in Vietnam • 58,000 died • 150,000 wounded • 2,000 missing • Politicians and citizens alike struggled with the conditions and outcome of the war • “No more Vietnams”

16. The Nixon Doctrine • Kissinger: the U.S. would not dispatch troops to oppose revolutionary insurgencies but would give assistance to anticommunist regimes or factions • Early 1970s, America supported staunch anticommunist powers with dictatorial governments • Iran, South Africa, Brazil • Covert CIA operations: Chile, 1970

17. The Election of 1972 • CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President) • “Dirty tricksters" • George McGovern, Democratic candidate • Twenty-sixth Amendment, 1971 • Lowered legal voting age to 18 years

18. A Changing People • Demographics of the United States • Population was becoming: • Older • More urban • More ethnically and racially diverse • Center of Power shifted away from the Northeast, towards the West and South

19. An Aging Population • Growth rate almost halved between 1970 and 2000 • Age of marriage delayed • Median age of population • 28 was the average age in 1970 • 34 was the average age in 2000 • The “graying of America”

20. New Immigration • Between 1960 and 2000 5 times as many immigrants came from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America than Europe • Mexicans were the largest group • Immigration Act (1965) • Abolished national origins quotas • Refugee Act (1980) • Admits refugees on a humanitarian basis • Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) • Makes it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants • Immigration Act of 1990 • Increased numbers of immigrants allowed into the U.S.

21. Urbanization and Suburbanization • Metropolitan areas continued to expand • “Urban corridors” connected city centers and adjacent suburbs • “Edge cities” • City centers transformed • Financial, administrative and entertainment • Upper and middle income residents leave • More lower income residents moves in • Major challenges in: urban sprawl, traffic, affordable housing • Community Reinvestment Act

22. Postindustrial Restructuring • Downsizing and mergers • Increase in service sector jobs • Decrease in union jobs • Cesar Chavez • United Farm Workers (UFW) • Microsoft • Bill Gates

23. The New Mass Culture Debate • FCC regulations • Self-censorship • Mass Cultural studies: • No longer made distinctions between lowbrow and highbrow • Analyzed the cultural icons and the way consumer integrated products of mass culture into their everyday lives • “Multiculturalism”

24. Social Activism • 1960s style activism embeds itself in American life • "Million Man March“ (1995) • "Promise Keepers“ (1999) • International Christian organization for men • Promote abstinence • “Take back the night” • Media coverage slips as protest activity increased

25. Women’s Issues • The pill • Greater control over reproduction • Affected sexual behavior • Struggles over gender issues • “Feminization of poverty” • “Glass ceilings” • Sexual harassment ruling, 1986 • Thomas-Hill hearings (1991) • Political gender gap • "Tailhook" (1991)

26. African American Activism • "Afrocentrism” • Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. • Greater recognition of black literature and accomplishments • Toni Morrison • 1st black woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature (1993) • O.J. Simpson trial (1995) • “Racial profiling” • Confederate flag issue • Congressional Black Caucus

27. American Indian Activism • American Indian Movement (AIM) • Civil Rights Act (1968) • “Indian Bill of Rights” • Tribally Controlled College Assistance Act • Native American Rights Fund (NARF) • Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (1988) • Powwows

28. Dilemmas of Antidiscrimination Efforts • “Affirmative action“ • Quotas and the issue of reverse discrimination • Title IX (1972): "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." • Proposition 209 (1996) • Public institutions may not consider race, sex or ethnicity • Opposed by affirmative action activists

29. The New Right • Mid-1970s: diverse coalition called “New Right” • Anti-communist and anti-domestic spending programs • “New Right” members came from: • Older activists • Phyllis Schlafly • William F. Buckley’s Firing Line

30. The New Religious Right • The “New Right” attracted grassroots support from Protestants in fundamentalist and evangelical churches • Effect of Roe v. Wade mobilized fundamentalist and evangelical leaders • Conservative Catholics • Jerry Falwell • Constitutional dilemma: strict separation of church and state perceived as infringing on the “free exercise of religion

31. The New Right’s Agenda • National Conservative Political Action Committee (1975) • Conservative Caucus • Moral Majority • Family values • “Politically correct” • Pat Robertson • 700 Club • Pat Buchanan

32. Conclusion • Sweeping changes in U.S. in last quarter of 20th century: • Demographics • Economics • Culture • Society • Mass Culture: the video screen • Suburbs and urban sprawl • Social activism centered around sexual, ethnic and racial identities • New Right movement