AKS 53: Social Change Movements of the 1960s

1. AKS 53: Social Change Movements of the 1960s

2. The wave of liberalism in the 1960s, best illustrated with the Civil Rights Movement, Great Society, and Warren Court, inspired many marginalized (disadvantaged) groups to push for their own rights in power movements • Women: a second wave of feminism swept the country in the 1960s

3. Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique (1963) • This book helped launch the modern feminist movement. • Her research revealed that “the feminine mystique” forced women to focus on family alone, not on careers • “Feminine mystique” = the idea that women were naturally fulfilled by devoting their lives to being housewives and mothers • Main point = women were frustrated at barriers that society places in their paths and at societal expectations that women should focus on family, not careers • It inspired suburban women to question their lives, since many felt isolated and unfulfilled.

4. Betty Friedan: inspired the new movement by publishing the Feminine Mystique • “feminine mystique:” the myth that all women were content being housewives • Argued that the home had become a “comfortable concentration camp” for women

6. Another Spark of the Women’s Movement • Women working in the 1960s civil rights and antiwar movements sometimes experienced discrimination • This raised awareness of their own disadvantaged position

7. NOW (National Organization for Women) / 1966 • Started by Betty Friedan, who was its first president • Founded in 1966 specifically to challenge sex discrimination in the workplace • Became the main women’s rights group

8. National Organization for Women (NOW): co-founded by Friedan • Advocated economic and legal equality • Feminists like the ones in NOW brought national attention to women’s issues • “consciousness raising:” make women aware of their societal oppression • demanded improved education, job opportunities, healthcare, childcare facilities, legal and safe abortion, and shared parenting

9. Title VII and Title IX • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination against women in employment and prohibited sexual harassment. • Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program receiving federal funds, including athletic programs. • Title IX said, “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.”

10. Title IX

11. ERA (Equal Rights Amendment for Women) • First proposed by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923 • Said, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” • A major goal of the 1960s/1970s women’s movement = to get the ERA ratified • Stop-ERA group formed in opposition; led by Phyllis Schafly • In 1972, Congress passed the ERA and sent it to the states for ratification, but the vote by states fell 3 short, so THE ERA WAS NOT RATIFIED

12. ERA (Equal Rights Amendment)

13. Had a radical element----bra burning, occasionally militant against male power, questioned marriage—but not representative of most mainstream feminists • conservative opponents implied all feminists behaved like radical feminists, represented breakdown of traditional family unit and morals

14. AIM (American Indian Movement) • Many young Native Americans were dissatisfied with the slow pace of reform, and their discontent fueled the growth of the American Indian Movement in 1968, an often militant Native American right organization. • Activists demanded that Indian lands, burial grounds, and fishing & timber rights be restored. • AIM members had violent clashes with the government, most notably in 1973 at Wounded Knee, S.D., where a massacre occurred in 1890. • Indians have won back lands in various states.

15. Mexican-Americans: worked to improve the lives of Chicanos, especially migrant farm workers • embraced terms like “Chicano” and “La Raza” (the race) to emphasize cultural pride

16. César Chávez: organized the United Farm Workers (UFW) --union to help migrant laborers • against low wages, unsafe working conditions, and long hours • organized nonviolent protests, using boycott strategies

17. Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers’ Movement • Chavez helped Mexican farm workers to unionize; most were migrant workers, and many picked grapes. • Used nonviolence, hunger strikes, & boycotts, including many in front of grocery stores • In 1962, Chavez & Dolores Huerta established the National Farm Workers Association. • In 1966 they formed the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee. • They won better pay and conditions.

18. Many additional groups had a power movement in the 1960s • Native Americans, Asian-Americans, Gay Liberation

19. The environment had a “power movement” of its own as well • Rachel Carson: biologist, published Silent Spring • exposed dangers of pesticides (DDT) on the environment

20. Rachel Carson and Silent Spring (1962) • She was a biologist who warned against the use of pesticides, explaining how they affect the delicate balance of nature. • Sparked the environmentalist movement • Title = silent skies due to dying birds

21. Sparks of the Environmentalist Movement • Publication of Silent Spring • Counterculture’s concern for nature and Mother Earth • First Earth Day in 1970

22. Earth Day • First one held on April 22, 1970 • Main significance: heightened public awareness of environmental problems and led to programs and acts to combat them

23. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) • Formed in 1970 under the Nixon administration • Is in charge of setting and enforcing pollution standards and conducting environmental research • EPA = the government has a major role as a regulator of pollution laws

24. Modern Environmental Movement • The environmental movement that blossomed in the 1970s became in the 1980s and 1990s a struggle to balance environmental concerns with jobs and progress. • In the years since the first Earth Day, environmental issues have gained increasing attention and support. • Encouraged by environmentalists, the government has passed clean air & water acts and passed the Endangered Species Act.