Chapter 29 Commentary by,

Hayley Stevens, Brian McAvoy, Scott Tillem, Kevin Farenetta, Christie Pereira, and Casey Friedman

 

*=Commentary

I.        The Black Struggle for Equality

A.     Mid-Twentieth Century Roots

1.      African Americans started making substantial demands equal rights back in the 1930s/1940s. In response to these demands, significant advances were made on this front during WWII and post WWII era (see corresponding chapters for more details).

2.       When the Cold War came around more and more American’s became involved the racial issues. This was partially done to gain sympathy with Asia and Africa, in a hope to gain allies during the war.

3.      Though Truman was reluctant to support the Civil Rights movement, he did so by creating the Committee on Civil Rights, presenting a bill to congress that proposed and 10 point civil rights program, and ordering equal treatment of all individuals employed in the military regardless of their race.

4.      African Americans efforts to achieve equality were also supported by the Justice Department for the very first time in the 1940s.

*It seems that those who started to first support the Civil Rights movement did so with much less than noble reasons motives.  However, it was still the first step down the road of the Civil Rights movement and ultimately a more just America.*

B.     Integrating the Schools

1.      During the 1950s, the Supreme Court played a major role in the success of the Civil Rights movement.

a)      With the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the case of Plessy v. Ferguson was overturn saying that separate but equal schooling was, in fact, not equal, and therefore it was unconstitutional.

b)      Eisenhower was then given the responsibility of mandating an executive order to implement this Supreme Court decision, and, eventually, desegregate all public schools.

2.      The Supreme Court decision was met with a lot of resistance, mainly originating from the South, and it took federal intervention to see that it was implemented in many towns through out the South.

*Though it was the met with a lot of hostility, desegregation of schools was by far the most significant reform that had yet occurred at this point and time.  This reform was what opened to door for all future reforms.*

C.     Back Gain on Other Fronts

1.      While the government slowly worked on civil reform, the African American community started to organize themselves in an effort to advance their own civil rights.

a)      Several African American leaders came forward to rally country in support of their cause.  These leaders’ names are still incredibly well known today; names like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, etc.

b)      Some of the methods the African American community used to achieve their goal were a series of campaigns to bring the African American community together, and a several boycotts of racist establishments (the most while know of which was against the bus companies). 

c)      Several months after these boycotts the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.

2.      While all this was going on, a significant effort was being made to give African Americans voting rights equal to Caucasian voting rights. 

a)      This effort resulted in congress passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. 

b)      These acts gave the Justice Department to use the judicial system to give voting rights to African Americans who had denied these rights in the past, and instilled stiff punishments for anyone who interfered with this process.

*Voting rights are perhaps the most important rights for any one group of people to possess in our country.  By having the right to vote, an incentive is provided to officials up for election to protect African American rights to guarantee their vote.  For this reason the several pieces of civil rights legislation that guaranteed voting rights to African Americans are often looked to as the most important pieces of legislation that were created during this movement.*

D.     Confrontation Continues

1.      Several organizations continued to push forward for even more civil rights reform, into the 1960’s.

2.      These organizations used a very varied array of methods in an attempt to achieve their goal, including but no limited to: more protests and boycotts, campaigns to rally support, and student sit-ins.

a)      These continued effort for civil rights reform resulted in nationwide racial tension and some far less than savory incidents from governmental agencies.

b)      One of these incidents was when the Birmingham police allowed members of the KKK to 15 minutes uninterrupted to beat some of the Freedom Riders (members of one of the many pro-Civil Rights movement groups).

c)      If one corrupt government agency wasn’t enough, it is believed that the FBI knew about this plan and yet did nothing to prevent it.

d)      This was just one example of when racial tension lead to violence. As time progressed more and more instances of violence, originating from police and private citizens alike, occurred in response to civil rights activists nonviolent methods.

*One might find it very ironic that those people who held themselves up as higher than everyone else, were the ones that resorted to violence first.  The irony is only furthered by the governmental agencies that endorsed these violent actions.*

 

          E.  Kennedy's Response

1.     To start out, John Kennedy claimed that there was nothing that he could do to stop the problems, even after the problem in Birmingham.

2.     He was nervous about the next election, especially after this one was so close, so he felt he shouldn't lose votes through bad legislation.

3.     In November 1962, Kennedy signed an executive order ending segregation in federally financed housing.

4.     Just like Eisenhower, Kennedy was forced to send federal troops to restore control.  Kennedy and his administration desegregated the University of Alabama, and desegregating Birmingham.  When white bombings toward black leaders in Birmingham started, Kennedy readied the troops for some violence.

5.     Kennedy then when public about the issue, calling it a "moral issue" and stated support for the blacks.  Just after, a black leader, Medgar Evers was murdered.

6.     Kennedy then sent out a new bill, stronger than the previous one.  It banned segregation in public places, wherever federal money was involved, and school integration.  Polls showed 63 percent of the nation supporting his stand.

a.     To advertise the passing of the bill, black leaders planned a march on Washington.  In August 1963, more than 200,000 gathered and demonstrated enthusiastically for the bill (Ex. Jackie Robinson, Bob Dylan, etc.)

b.     At this demonstration, the high point was Martin Luther King Jr. saying his "I have a Dream" speech, with support from thousands of blacks and whites, too.

c.     Not all people were moved by the speech, with some people unimpressed, and with Congress not too much moved.  By November, the bill still wasn't passed.

* "Despite the great stretched in the two Acts passed by Kennedy and Johnson in this section, the blacks gained barely anything.  This really lead to the riots in the future.  The failures just piling on and on.  The president's continued a trend they have followed all throughout the civil rights fight, over it's whole history.  They did things on paper, to gain votes and support, and to hopefully end the resistance, but they never meant any of it morally, and never fully enforced their bills."*  

F.    Legislative Success in the Johnson Years

1.     When Johnson took over the presidency, he worked primarily on civil rights.  He used Kennedy's assassination as a persuasion factor to get Congress to pass the bill "in memory of Kennedy."  In 1964, he finally had the bill passed.

2.     The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned all discrimination in public places.  It made the justice department act with more authority in school and voting matters.  It also prohibited discriminatory hiring's, and discrimination in religion.

3.     To improve black voting rights in the South, Johnson sent a group of students to work for black rights.  80 workers were beaten, 1,000 arrests were made, and 37 churches had been bombed.

4.     After more unsuccessful demonstrations and marches, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.  It singled out the South for their unfairness to blacks, despite their new rights.  Then blacks really started to vote, with over a million people in 1968.

* "As violence seemed more and more available, Johnson started to finally get things going.  Maybe to stop the violence, or maybe to gain support.  All the president's during this era gained support by whites and blacks it seems.  Now since blacks voted, the president's did things to help them, but never actually enforced anything, which came off as positive for the blacks.  That gained blacks votes.  By never actually fixing the situation and keeping whites dominant over blacks, these presidents won white votes there.  All these bills seemed to be for personal gain, never for actual progression.  These fake help really sparked a lot of future violence, and only made things worse for the future." *

G.    Black Power Challenges Liberal Reform

1.     Despite all of the advances and bills passed, blacks were still discriminated against in the North and South.  It was still nonviolent, with Martin Luther King Jr. as the leader. 

2.     People started to doubt King Jr.'s nonviolent ways, seeing their situation improved.  Anne moody, and other people started to act against the abuse in a new way.

3.     In Atlantic City, a convention was held in 1964, it started the changing attitude:

a.     Fannie Lou Hamer reported how she had been beaten and jailed, just over the right to vote. 

b.     The government still said that the whites would have power of the vote in the South. 

c.     This angered the blacks, showing how there was no hope, that militant action was needed.  They changed from civil rights as a goal, to "liberation."

4.     Blacks started to argue that America was going against it's founding credo.  Blacks said that an action must be taken immediately.

5.     Malcolm X then rose to the stand, saying that whites were responsible for the blacks condition and that blacks needed to help themselves. 

a.     Malcolm X talked of how he grew tired of this nonviolent approach, and how blacks needed to fight racism "by any means necessary."

b.     Murdered in 1965, Malcolm X became the leader of the fight against racism, the most dynamic spokesperson since Garvey in the 20s.

6.     Stokely Carmichael then rose to the stage.  While at Howard University he was jailed and beaten after demonstrations.  He started urging blacks to carry weapons as self-defense.

7.     In a June 1966 demonstration, Carmichael's followers challenged King's followers.  Carmichael preached about how he has been arrested so many times and he isn't going back to jail.  He preached that the only way is to gain power.

8.     Black Power grew on the demands to the end of abuse to black women.  They argued that how can men fight, when the women are also being abused.  This movement brought a rise in black pride and had many different figures rise to the stage.

9.     Black Power led to more drastic action.  New militant groups were formed.  Violence was found all over the country, as blacks talked about the problem as an American one, not a Southern one. 

* "Now blacks started to gain things around this time, because violence actually broke out, forcing Congress to actually step in.  The promise of "all men created equal" in our Constitution was once again contradicted." *

 

H. I  H.  “Southern Strategy” and Showdown on Civil Rights

 

     1. Richard M. Nixon elected president in 1968 (Republican)

          a.     receiving only 12% of black vote, therefore does not try to gain black support at risk of losing white southern support

          b.    Administration attempts to scale back Federal commitment to Civil Rights

               i.      reduce appropriations for fair-housing enforcement

               ii.     block extension of Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Congress still extends)

               iii.   support of southern delays to meet desegregation deadlines (Supreme Court enforces ruling)

*Administration particularly determined to delay any more advances in the Civil Rights Movement; continually publicly defying Congress and/or the Supreme Court’s rulings on hot-button issues.

     2.  School Integration

          a.     Segregation

               i.      De facto segregation due to residential patterns and locations of race in a community

               ii.     De jure segregation legislated by the legal systems of the South

          b.    Busing

               i.      Over 18 million students (40% of U.S. students) ride buses

               ii.     Buses had aided segregation of schools by transporting students up to 50 miles (Selma, Alabama) to segregated schools

               iii.   Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system of North Carolina, 1971 Supreme Court ruling ordered desegregation by busing (if necessary)

               iv.   Nixon publicly disagrees with busing, however Congress supports actions of desegregation

               v.     Mississippi senator John C. Stennis proposes requirement of desegregation throughout country, not just South

               vi.   South Boston High, Boston, Massachusetts does not react well to integration.  1500 anticipated students on first day, while only 100 were present. Buses were stoned, students injured

*These experiences in Boston showed the country that not only the south was segregated/racist

          c.     Levels of Schooling

               i.      Elementary school integration went, for the most part, smoothly (exceptions: Ruby Bridges, 1960)

               ii.     High school integration was difficult process due to prejudice towards students, violence

*Elementary level students were able to adapt easily to the changes in school segregation while high school level students were more set in their opinions on the matter; violence and dangerous protests came from students and parents alike.

3. Reverse Discrimination

          a.     The prejudice ignorance of a white majority due to quota requirements to admit a certain percentage of minority groups

          b.    Bakke decision

               i.      Allan Bakke rejected twice from medical school at the Univeristy of California at Davis

               ii.     Sues on basis of “reverse discrimination”  due to 16 out of 100 seats reserved for minority students

               iii.   1978 Supreme Court requires Bakke’s admission to the medical program

*However in Bakke’s Decision the Supreme Court upholds the consideration of race in admissions policies but quota cannot be enforced

II. Pressure from the Women's Movement

 

     A.   Attacking the Feminine Mystique

          1.    Social Change leading up to Women’s Movement (1950s-1960s)

               a.     More women enter labor force

               b.    More young women attend college (Women earned 41% of all B.A. degrees by 1970)

          2.    Reform Legislation

               a.     First draft Title 7 of Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited racial discrimination changed to include gender discrimination

               b.    Equal Employment Opportunities Commission less sympathetic to gender discrimination as opposed to racial discrimination

          3.    National Organization for Women (NOW)

               a.     Pressure group founded in 1966 by 28 professional women (15,000 members by 1970)

               b.    Goals included promoting fair pay, equal opportunity, different form of marriage

               c.     “Consciousness raising”- explain women’s oppression on personal and political level because “the personal was political”

               d.    Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ September, 1968*

                                                                              i.         “Announced our existence to the world” –Robin Morgan, author

                                                                             ii.         Nominated sheep for candidate of Miss America

                                                                           iii.         “Freedom trash can” included “instruments of torture” like bras, girdles, hair curlers, high heels, promiscuous magazines

                                                                           iv.         Chanted and hung banners promoting “Freedom for Women” and “Women’s Liberation”

B.   Feminism at High Tide

     1.    Helen Reddy’s 1971 hit song “I Am Woman”

*This song expressed the strong, individual pride women felt about themselves and their goals in the women’s movement.

     2.    Education and Employment Changes

          a.     1970-1975 ratio changed from 8:1 to 3:1 in men:women interested in certain fields their first year in college

          b.    Women entering law school increased by four from 1969-1973

          c.     Women entered military academies, held senior officer ranks (no combat)

          d.    1950-1980 four times amount of working mothers

*Although the drastic increase in education and employment opportunities was a big step forward in the women’s movement, women still were restricted to “female” jobs like secretaries, sales, clerks, etc. and pay was not equal to men’s.)

     3.    Legislation Specific to Women’s Movement

          a.     Title 9 of the Education Amendment expands on Civil Rights Act of 1964 by banning gender bias in federally assisted educational activities and programs          

          b.    1972-1980 15% increase in women’s intercollegiate sports participation (to 30%)

     4.    Media

          a.     1972 publication of Ms. Magazine subscribed by 200,000 in a year

          b.    The New Woman’s Survival Catalogue

          c.     Our Bodies, Ourselves

          d.    Focus on feminist issues, abortion, employment, discrimination

          e.     Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal focus on domestic subjects

*Media from feminists and traditional housewives contrasted greatly, with the women’s movement addressing current issues on the front of their fight. Also feminists promoted acceptance and pride in their bodies and minds rather than restricting themselves to the accepted fashions, body types, and other restrictions they felt were pressed on them.

5.    Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

     a.             Attempts to ratify ERA to the constitution after passage by Congress in 1972

     b.    Opposition led by Phyllis Schlafly

          i.      Predicts ERA will take away certain rights of women

          ii.     Lead to liberal changes in government and society (legalization of homosexual marriage, coed bathrooms, elimination of alimony)

*Certain rights Schlafly predicted would be taken away were rights of women to be supported by husband, exemption from military combat, and the right to attend a single-sex college-all issues that could be solved in legislative changes.

     c.     ERA dies in 1982 without enough states supporting Amendment

6.    Radical Feminists

     a.     Demanded change of traditional gender and family roles

     b.    Blamed women’s oppression on capitalist society

     c.     Supported change through revolution

*Supported idea of strong, independent women equal to or sometimes above men.

7.             Black Women’s Feelings towards Women’s Movement

     a.            Some joined feminists; others saw racial equality as a more realistic, necessary goal

     b.            Race: source of their oppression

*Many black women saw the Women’s Movement as an unnecessary fight for “bored” women with no real problems.

8.            Opposition from Women

     a.             Marabel Morgan wrote The Total Woman in 1973 (promotes her 4A approach: accept, admire, adapt, appreciate)

     b.            Sells about 500,000 copies

*This opposition promoted/supported the submission of women to their husbands in everyday life, avowing women are dependent on men.

9.            Accomplishments

     a.             More opportunities for women in higher education, employment

     b.            national attention on issues like sexual discrimination, harassment, and independence of women

III. Latino Mobilization

     A. Early Efforts for Equality

          1. Latinos struggle even before WWII

          2.. Protested against unfair rulings and issues

               a. Mendez vs. school system

                    *Equality in the school system is a persistant issue that appears in all facets of reform. This case was groundbreaking

                     in terms of Chicano education, but this battle had already been fought repeatedly with Black cases.

          3. New Organizations

               a. The Community Service Organization, Asociacion Nacional Mexico-Americana, Leauge of United Latin American Citizens

          4. Los Angeles Racial Tensions

               a. "Bloody Christmas"

                    i. Prisoners taken from cells and brutally beaten

                         *As horrible as this incident was, after further study, these officers were punished for their brutallity, yet the primary concern was for the reputation of a political party that wanted the police to become more accountable

and respected. This act was unjust, but its resolution could be equally unjust. *

               b. House Break-ins and assaults

     B. Cesar Chavez and the Politics of Confrontation

          1. Latinos help Kennedy win office and many latinos are elected into political positions

          2. Cesar Chavez

               a. Founder of United Farm Workers

                    i. Migrant field workers

                    ii. Grape growers of California

               b. Wanted workers to strike and be heard - ended up in full nation-wide boycott of goods

               c. Won workers the right to bargain collectively with growers

               d. Helped bring higher wages, better conditions to Latinos of the fields

                    *To this day, Chavez is still a popular figure in Latino households for his empowering work.

     C. Student Protests

          *Films do these protests credit - what you see on screen is actually realistic to these demonstrations. They ranged from

          compassionate and dignified to enraged and dangerous.

     D. Radical Leaders and Their Organizations (Brown Berets)

          1. Young Citizens for Community Action

               a. Service club to assist neighborhood

               b. Now known as Young Chicanos for Community Action, a defensive organization

          2. La Raza Unida

               a. Jose Angel Gutierrez

               b. Promoted Chicanos to political office

          3. La Alianza Federal de Mercedes

               a. Reis Lopez Tijerina - "El Tigre"

               b. Stated that US gov. had denied Chicanos village lands

               c. Marched on Santa Fe

                    *Marches and sit-ins became popular tactics during this era to demonstrate the power of the devoted.

          4. Crusade for Justice

               a. Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, who later became District captain of Democratic Party in Denver

               b. Helped poverty programs

               c. Fired for enthusiasm in Chicano community

                    *As a city official, was his firing technically just?

     E. Latinos and the Vietnam War

         1. Protests

               a. Brown Beret's lead demonstrations

               b. Chicano death rate was higher than that of the population at large

               c. National Chicano Moratorium Commitee

               d. Considered Vietnam a racial war

     F. Nixon

          1. Nixon wanted Latino support

          2. Cubans shifted to GOP side for they thought it would intervene in Fidel Castro's Cuba

          3. Nixon used gov. jobs and better programs for Chicanos

               *Could this be a sort of 'reverse bribe,' where the politican dangles opportunities as bait for self-interest?

          4. Latinos still faced racial, economic, and political problems

IV. Native American Protest

     A. Origins of the Struggle

          1. Indian Claims Commision

               a. Right after WWII

               b. To review cases where lands had been taken from tribes, violating treaties with some land or cash returned

          2. Eisenhower's Reverse Indian Reorganization Act

               a. "Termination Policy" - Settling outstanding claims and removing reservations as entities

               b. Gov. offered subsidies in return

               c. Caused great protest

               *Where have similar dilemmas come up before? The Native American issue is basically cyclical - it just keeps repeating, from

               land disputes, to revolt, to peace, and back again.

          3. Increased Activisim

               a. National Congress of American Indians

               b. Opposed new program

               c. Whites realized that Indians wanted to preserve heritage

      B. Tribal Voices

          1. Native American assertion in 60s

              a. Requesting input in the Kennedy administration

              b. Learned from and used protest to their advantage (American Indian Historical Society)

              c. Promoted culture successfully *Possibly superficial success?*

                    ~N. Scott Momaday - won Pulitzer Prize for House Made of Dawn (1968)

                    ~Vine Deloria, Jr. - Custer Died for Your Sins (1969)

                    ~Little Big Man (1970) - movie portrayal of Indian history

     **The Native Americans started getting the attention they wanted through organizations, books and movies.  Both negative and positive feelings towards these "voices" was worth it because that meant their attempts were noticed.  As long as their problems were heard, the US would slowly take the side of the innocent, native people.

      C. Confrontational Tactics

          1. Seneca lost an Allegany reservation in NY for Kinzua Dam

          2. Seneca used the legal system in 70s to keep different land and inspire across the nation

          3. American Indian Movement (AIM)

               a. Founded by George Mitchell and Dennis banks

               b. Sought to help neglected Indians in the city

          4. Native Americans provided education and legal skills

               a. Native American scholarship program in New Mexico Law School (1968)

     **After using organizations, books, and movies to originally get attention, Indians took the next step.  After putting their problems out on the table, the follow up was protesting which would gain even more support.  This was just part of their way to get fair treatment from all Americans.

      D. Government Response 

          1. Kennedy and Johnson admins. tried to persuade private industries to locate on reservations

                a. "termination by corporation" fear swept natives

          2. Indian involvement in "Great Society" program

                a. Area Redevelopment Administration

                b. Office of Economic Opportunity

          3. Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Acts (1975)

                a. Limited laws, reflecting government's position on the matter

                b. Created a framework to guide federal policy in decades ahead

     **Obviously the attempts at attention and protests were successful.  Even though they were not completely equal, the government recognized their attempts by giving them more.  Native Americans were receiving much more than they originally started with, so the protesting was worth it.  As of today, Native American tribes are still not treated the same as white americans but the gap between the two has slowly been closing.

 

V. Social and Cultural Protest

     A. Student Activism

          1. Baby boomers came of age

               a. In 1970 there were 4x as many college students as in 1940s

               b. Gave students a training ground for industry and corporate life

          2. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) (1960) 

               a. Port Huron Statement - Tom Hayden:: condemned the isolation and estrangement of modern life

          3. Free Speech Movement

               a. Began in 1964 when U Cal Berkeley prohibited protesting

               b. Plea for traditional liberal reform

               c. Sought reaffirmation of free spech, directly at the university

          4. Hundreds of thousands of students - 221 major demos - 100 educational institutions

          5. Columbia University incident (April 1968)

          6. Activists became a powerful force

     B. The Counterculture

          1. Hippies

          2. Sexuality came out

               a. Access to "the pill" for the first time allowed for free experimentation

               b. Separated sex from its traditinoal ties to family life

          3. Arts reflected the sexual revolution

               a. Many suppressed works were now allowed back

               b. More nudity on stage and screen

          4. Paintings reflected mood of dissent and urge to innovate

          5. Hallucinogenic drugs

               a. Present everywhere in society, from bottom to top

          6. Music connected with the drugs and other changes

               a. Rock and Roll, Folk music of 50s changed to new kind of rock

     C. Gay and Lesbian Rights

 

Recovering the Past: Popular Music

     2.) Popular Music is Reflective of the Era

          A. Folk

               1. Start of the 60s

               2. Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Weavers, Joan Betz, Bob Dylan

               3. Ballads, laments, and spirituals

               4. Pushed image of protest and resistence in war

          B. British Invasion

               1. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, The Doors

               2. Intense rock music carried by passion

          C. Rhythm and Blues

               1. Motown Records

               2. Gospel-pop-soul combination     

               3. Black-owned

               4. Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Supremes

          *Some of the best sources on 60s music are your parents! This music revolution effected everyone, and they most likely will prove

          to be fascinating musical historians!

   

 

ID-

     Boycott—to stop buying a product or using a service in an effort to produce reform

     President Truman

     NAACP

     The Justice Department

     Plessy v. Ferguson

     Brown v. Board of Education

     “Separate but equal”

     “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work”

     “We Die Together. Let’s Eat Together”

     Rosa Parks

     E. D. Nixon

     Martin Luther King Jr.

     Lyndon B. Johnson

     Civil Rights Act of 1957

     Civil Rights Act of 1960

     President Eisenhower

     CORE

     SCLC

     Mendez vs. School System

     League of United Latin American Citizens

     "Bloody Christmas"

     Cesar Chavez

     United Farm Workers

     "El Tigre"

     "Corky" Rodriguez

     Brown Berets

     Indian Claims Commision

     Termination Policy

     Fidel Castro

     John Kennedy

     Birmingham Riots

     "I Have a Dream" Speech

     Martin Luther King, Jr.

     Anne Moody

     Civil Rights Act of 1964

     Voting Rights Act of 1965

     Malcolm X

     "Black Power" Movement

     Black Panthers

  - Indian Claims Commission:  review tribal cases arguing that ancestral lands had been illegally seized and federal treaties violated    

    - National Indian Youth Council:  aimed to reestablish Indian national pride

    - "Uncle Tomahawks"/"Apples":  tribal leaders

    - House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

    - Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria, Jr.

    - Little Big Man:  popular film portraying Indian history

    - American Indian Historical Society:  protested traditional textbook treatment of Indians

    - Seneca Nation's Allegany reservation:  protest of taking Indian land for a superhighway

    - American Indian Movement:  founded by George Mitchell and Dennis Banks to help neglected Indians in the city

    - Oglala Sioux:  tribal community who founded the Oglala Lakota College in South Dakota

    - Area Redevelopment Administration:  responded to Indian pressure by allowing Indians to devise programs and budgets and administer programs themselves

    - Office of Economic Opportunity:  responded to Indian pressure by allowing Indians to devise programs and budgets and administer programs themselves

    - Great Society:  provided housing, health and education to Indians

 

Locations -

     California

     Santa Fe

     Birmingham

     Atlantic City

     Washington D.C.

 

Vocabulary -

     Sit-Ins - Where protesters physically refused to move from a spot where they were technically not allowed

 

    

 

 

 

ST, BM, HS, CF, KF, CP

 

Gay and Lesbian Rights CP

 

A. 1969- a nightlong riot of a homosexual bar in New York City started a new social consciousness of gay and lesbian rights

 

B.  Blatant forms of discrimination were abolished by the gay liberation movement

1.      American Psychiatric Association ruled that homosexuality was not considered a mental illness

2.      U.S. Civil Service Commission lifted its ban on employment of homosexual

3.      both changes had widespread support in Congress

 

C.  The acceptance of alternative lifestyles sparked many homosexuals to “come out of the closet” 

 

D.  Before the “climate of acceptance” many men and women hid their homosexuality for their entire lives

 

I.D.'s

U.S. Civil Service Commission

 

Locations

Greenwich village, New York City

Stonewall Inn- location of inciting incident

 

 

 

*The Greenwich Riot can be seen as the inciting incident (holy alliteration) to the gay and lesbian rights of the 1970s.  This increased demand for gay and lesbian rights and end their discrimination stemmed from the revolution in sexual norms and family life.  Society was now more excepting of the alternative lifestyles.  However, many religious groups and churches opposed the movements and homosexuals were still largely ostracized from society.

 

Environmental and Consumer Agitation CP

A.     Revival of the environmental issues of the Progressive era

B.     Social movement stemmed from America’s desire to improve their quality of life

C.     Silent Spring by Rachel Carson sparked concerns for clean air and water and unspoiled wilderness

D.     Causes for concern

a.       Pesticides, exhaust fumes, industrial waste

b.      Chemicals in foods became a caused a cycle of poisoning and death

c.       The dumping of wastes, thermal pollution, and oil spills destroying life

d.      Nuclear accident fears

                                                                           i.      Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania a reactor leaked coolant into the water and became highly radioactive

                                                                         ii.      The China Syndrome

                                                                        iii.      The Clamshell Alliance and the Abalone Alliance heavily campaigned to stop licensing of new nuclear plants

                                                                       iv.      No new plants were authorized after 1978

e.       Danger of losing water supply

                                                                           i.      Americans used 3x as much water per capita as the world’s average

                                                                         ii.      Ogalala aquifer

1.      massive amounts of water had been drawn during the 1950s and 1960s

2.      lands were becoming infertile during the 70s due to all the drainage

                                                                        iii.      California

1.      naturally dry lands relied on massive irrigation projects

2.      such massive irrigation left many rivers dry

3.      Environmentalist Marc Reisner led the movement toward rectification

E.      Legislation

a.       Lyndon Johnson achieved legislation halting the drying up of the nation’s resources

b.      Richard Nixon

                                                                           i.      Clean Air Act

                                                                         ii.      Water Quality Improvement Act

                                                                        iii.      Resource Recovery Act

                                                                       iv.      Environmental Protection Act

                                                                         v.      Began as a tool to rectify problems in industry, later became tools in promoting health and social justice

c.       Endangered Species Act

                                                                           i.      Ignited much debate between environmentalists and capitalists

                                                                         ii.      Act prohibited Congress from supporting projects that harmed endangered animals

                                                                        iii.      Olympic Pennisula loggers cut down trees, endangering the spotted owl

d.      Sagebrush Rebellion

                                                                           i.      Westerners wanted the federal landholdings in the West to go to the states because it gave the East an advantage in the economic competition

                                                                         ii.      Western leaders were lost the debate and did not receive that lands

                                                                        iii.      More relaxed policy on grazing was adopted

F.      Ralph Nadar

a.       Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed in Dangers of the American Automobile

b.      Sparked a movement of protecting interests of consumers

*The sudden interest in the environment during the 1970s stems from the economic stability experienced during this time period.  No longer were people simply worrying about how they will pay for their next meal and their fears of a recession had long been cured.  They were free to focus on problems outside of their basic needs.  Perhaps this is why we see popular culture flourish at this time as well.

ID’s

Rachel Carson

The China Syndrome

Richard Nixon

Clean Air Act

Water Quality Improvement Act

Resource Recovery Act

Environmental Protection Act

Endangered Species Act

Sagebrush Rebellion

Ralph Nadar

Vocabulary

Aquifer- any geological formation containing or conducting ground water, esp. one that supplies the water for wells, springs, etc.

Geographic Locations

Ogalala aquifer (Great Plains)

California

 Clamshell Alliance  (New Hampshire)

Abalone Alliance (California)