Johnson’s “Great Society”

Johnson’s “Great Society” 1. War on Poverty: Office of Economic Opportunity 2. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 -- Provided $1 billion in poor areas 3. Head Start: pre-school for economically disadvantaged 4. Medicare, Medicaid. 5. HUD: Housing and Urban Development

Immigration Act of 1965 1. Discontinued the national origins system from the 1920s 2. Immigration now based on first come, first served basis a. Immigrants with family already in the U.S. had precedence b. Admission also based on skills and political asylum 3. The act more than doubled the number of immigrants entering the U.S. each year. -- By 2000, the largest non-white group was Hispanic

The Triumph of Civil Rights A. 24th Amendment (1964): abolished poll taxes in federal elections B. Civil Rights Act of 1964 1. Johnson’s skill with Congress got Kennedy’s bill passed President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Bill, July 2, 1964

2. Provisions a. Forbade segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and sporting arenas that did business in interstate commerce -- Equal Employment Opportunities created to enforce the law b. Relieved individuals of responsibility for bringing discrimination complaints to court themselves -- Federal gov’t was now responsible

c. Eliminated remaining restrictions on African American voting d. Title VII: discrimination based on race, religion, gender and national origin in the workplace was illegal 3. Result: most businesses in the South’s cities and larger towns desegregated immediately

C. Voting Rights Act of 1965 1. Existing legislation still did not fully enforce 15th Amendment guarantees of suffrage 2. March from Selma to Washington, 1965 a. Only 383 of 15,000 blacks were registered to vote in Selma b. In response to violence in Selma civil rights leaders announced a climactic protest march

3. Provisions a. Literacy tests were unlawful if 50% of all voting-age citizens were registered to vote b. If local registrars would not enroll African Americans, the president could send federal examiners who would -- This gave teeth to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 c. Result: 740,000 African Americans were registered to vote within three years

D. Affirmative Action 1. LBJ signed an executive order in 1965 requiring employers on federal contracts to ensure underprivileged women and minorities were hired. -- Purpose: give preferences to minorities to make up for past discrimination 2. President Nixon later furthered affirmative action through the “Philadelphia Plan”

3. Result a. African American, Asian, and Hispanic enrollment in universities increased dramatically b. Women benefitted significantly in the workplace 4. Cries of “reverse discrimination” among white men occurred in the 1970s 5. Bakke case, 1978: race could only be used as a factor if minorities were equally qualified

E. Thurgood Marshall 1. LBJ appointed Marshall as the first African American to the Supreme Court in 1967 2. Marshall was most famous for his victory in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Thurgood Marshall in the Oval Office, 1967

F. Forced busing 1. 1968, the Supreme Court ordered the end to de facto segregation in the nation’s schools 2. The Court ordered school districts to bus children from all-minority neighborhoods in the inner-cities to achieve integration 3. Issue became controversial with middle-class whites in the early 1970s through the 1990s

G. African American civil rights movement in retrospect 1. Years between 1954 and 1968 can be seen as the “Second Reconstruction” -- Equality before the law was largely achieved 2. Other minorities such as women, Hispanics, Native Americans, and gays/lesbians looked to the civil rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s as a model for the own efforts.

IV.The rise of Black Power A. Not all African Americans agreed with non-violence and civil disobedience 1. After passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, King’s methods seemed obsolete to many younger African Americans 2. Many questioned if integration was a worthwhile goal 3. African Americans still experienced poverty and discrimination in the inner-cities as well as police brutality

B. Black Separatism 1. Some argued for the separation of the races by occupying an exclusive area of land in the U.S. supplied by he federal government a. Opposite of integration b. Inspired by ideas of Marcus Garvey (Harlem Renaissance) c. The Nation of Islam was the most notable and well-organized of the black separatist groups

2. Malcolm X a. Most vocal and brilliant orator of the Nation of Islam b. Preached religious justification for black separatism and furthering of black rights “through any means necessary.” -- Believed non- violence encouraged white violence c. His ideas became the foundation for the Black Power movement

C.SNCC and Stokely Carmichael 1. Influenced by Malcolm X 2. 1966, CORE and SNCC called for all- black staffing, rejecting interracial cooperation 3. “Black Power” a. Response to the shooting of James Meredith in 1966 b. Appealed to racial pride, black nationalism, struggle against “white tyranny” c. Joined the Black Panthers in late ‘60s

4. Black Panthers a. Based in Oakland and founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale b. Revolutionary socialist movement c. Para-military organization to protect blacks from white violence and police brutality d. FBI effectively undermined the group Bobby Seale and Huey Newton stand in the street armed with weapons

D.Violence in the Inner City 1. Poverty, unemployment, and racial discrimination were common in the inner city. -- Empty promise of racial equality in the North ignited rage 2. Racial disorders hit in the summers of 1965, 1966, and 1967 a. Watts Riots in L.A., March 11-16, 1965 b. 1967, 7,000 arrested in Detroit c. 150 cities experienced racial disorders in 1967

3. Kerner Commission appointed by LBJ • to investigate causes for riots • a. Conclusions concerning causes • Frustrated hopes of African Americans led to violence • Encouragement of violence by white terrorists and black protest groups led to violence • Blacks felt powerless in a society dominated by whites • b. Recommendations • End racial barriers in jobs, education and housing • Greater gov’t response • Increased communication

1. April 4, 1968: King shot on the balcony of a Memphis motel 2. Riots broke out around the country E. Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Lorraine Motel in Memphis which is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum. The wreath marks the spot where King was shot.

VII. The Warren Court A. Chief Justice Earl Warren was appointed by Eisenhower in 1953 1. His court is considered one of two creative periods in U.S. history -- John Marshall’s court is the other 2. Warren’s court stressed personal rights (especially 1st Amendment) B. Brown v. Board of Education is the most important of his court’s decisions

C. Reapportionment decisions: “one person, one vote” -- Required states to redraw their voting districts for U.S. Congress D. Rights of the accused 1. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): people accused of a crime have right to a lawyer, even if they can’t afford one. 2. Escobedo v. Illinois (1964): one has the right to a lawyer from the time of arrest 3. Miranda v. Arizona (1965): one must be informed of their rights at the time of arrest

E. Engle v. Vitale (1962): banned school prayer and religious exercises in public school as it violated the “establishment” clause of the First Amendment

VII. Women’s Rights Movement and the Sexual Revolution A. The Sexual Revolution (early ‘60s) 1. Birth control pill and antibiotics encouraged freer sexual practices -- Promiscuity increased among the younger generation, especially after the Counterculture emerged 2. Challenged the traditional values of pre-marital sex as taboo

B. Betty Friedan 1. The Feminine Mystique (1963) is considered a classic of women’s protest literature -- Criticized the plight of women with domestic duties who also had to work full-time at jobs that paid women less then men

2. National Organization for Women (NOW) a. Called for equal employment opportunities and equal pay b. Sought changes in divorce laws to make settlements more fair for women c. Sought legalization of abortion

d. Sought an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) extending same 14th Amendment guarantees to women • Passed Congress in 1972 but failed to get ¾ of states to ratify by the early 1980s • Failed to pass as the movement was limited to middle-class women while pro-life groups argued against it • Opposition led • by Phyllis Schlafly

D. Gains for women 1. 1972, gov’t mandated affirmative action which helped women 2. Several corporations forced to provide back wages for female employees who had not received equal pay for equal work 3. Roe v. Wade (1973) legalized abortion nationally a. Polarized Americans politically for the next 40 years b. Before, states had determined legality of abortion 4. Increased inclusion in the military

5. Title IX in 1972 guaranteed equal access for girls to programs boys benefited from (e.g. high school and college sports) 6. Ms. Magazine became women’s liberation most influential publication -- Founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem

7. Women began breaking important barriers a. Sally Ride: first female astronaut in early 1980s b. Sandra Day O’Connor: first female Supreme Court justice (appointed by Reagan in 1981) c. Geraldine Ferraro: first female vice presidential candidate for a major party (Democratic party in 1984)

IX. Other Minorities fight for rights A. Chicanos (Mexican-Americans) 1. Cesar Chavez led the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) and succeeded in gaining improved working conditions for Chicano migrant workers

B. Native Americans 1. Occupy Alcatraz (1969-71) inspired numerous incidents of civil disobedience 2. American Indian Movement founded in 1968 a. 1972, AIM seized the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. protesting desperate conditions on reservations

b. 1973, Wounded Knee, South • Dakota occupied by AIM and Oglala Sioux • Held it for two months and gained national publicity • Several died and 300 were arrested • Leaders eventually acquitted • Gained fishing rights and millions of dollars for lost lands

C. Gay rights 1. Emerged in the late 1960s and used civil rights laws to win discrimination cases over the next four decades 2. Stonewall Inn incident began the movement where police arrested gay patrons in Greenwich Village, New York City The Stonewall Inn in 1969. The sign in the window reads: "We homosexuals plead with our people to please help maintain peaceful and quiet conduct on the streets of the Village”

Johnson’s “Great Society”