“America in Transition”

Economic, Cultural and Social Change in the late Twentieth Century

I. A Changing People

A. An Aging Population

• After 1970, lower birth rates and delayed marriages

• Median age of the U.S. population consequently grew

• The “graying of America” has proven to be both a blessing and a burden

B. The Rise of the Sunbelt

• Between 1970-1990, 90% of the nation’s population growth came in the South and the West

• 1980 Census: More people in the south and west than in the north and east

B. The Rise of the Sunbelt (cont.)

• Conservative, sunbelt coalition elects Reagan

• South now has a 2-party system

• Reasons for this demographic shift

• The “Gunbelt”

• Government spending in the space program also promoted Sunbelt growth

C. New Immigration

• After 1970, Asia and Latin America become the major source of U.S. immigrants

• Dramatic increase in immigration after 1880

• Asian-Americans = fastest growing segment of the U.S. population

• The Refugee Act of 1980

C. New Immigration (cont.)

• Immigrants clustered in a handful of states and cities

• Rising conflict between old and new ethnic groups

• Irony in the fact that new immigrants were often very industrious and successful

• Increased Black-White tension

• Disappearing sense of “American community”

D. New Patterns of Urbanization

• By 1990, a majority of Americans lived in cities of a million people or more

• Suburbs melded into “urban corridors”

• “Edge Cities” rival the central cities that gave them birth

E. Changing Family Patterns

• Number of women in the work force continued to grow

• Women = better educated

• Decline in the traditional 2-parent family unit

• Many more people living alone—25% of U.S. households in 1990

• Problems for Black males

II. Economic Transformations

A. New Technologies

• During the 1970’s, sales of home computers soared

--Apple vs. IBM

• Artificial Intelligence capabilities

• An “Information Revolution”

--E-mail, fax machines, voice mail, World Wide Web, cellular phones

B. Big Business

• Computerized communications transformed the way of doing business forever

• Bank Cards, private debt and personal bankruptcies soared

• The ATM revolution

B. Big Business (cont.)

• Franchising and chain stores change the way consumer products are bought and sold

--Chili’s and Starbucks

--Sam Walton and Wal-Mart

• American chains expand overseas

• International production

B. Big Business (cont.)

• Foreign interests buy U.S. companies

• The “globalization” of industrial giants

• After 1970, postindustrial restructuring became a fact of life

• Union membership declines

• “De-skilling” of the American labor force

III. The Environment

• The “Environmental Movement”--1st Earth Day (1970)

• Congressional Action during the 1970’s--The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA—1970)

• Environmentalism prompted heated public debate

III. The Environment (cont.)

• New standards brought some significant improvements

• Creation of a cleanup “Superfund”

• Reagan tries to reverse government environmentalism--Secretary of the Interior James Watt

• Environmental debates lessens in the 1990’s

III. The Environment (cont.)

• Growing focus on international ecological dangers

-- “global warming”

• International meetings on environmental issues became frequent

• Concerns over U.S. dependence on fossil fuels as an energy source

III. The Environment (cont.)

• Creation of the Department of Energy (1977)

• The Perils of Nuclear power

--Three Mile Island (1979)

• Battles with OPEC over the cost of oil

• Tapping new oil supplies and OPEC rivalries help

IV. Media and Culture

A. The Video Revolution

• By the 1990’s, the video screen became the symbol of the nation’s mass culture

• The omnipresence of the video monitor

• 1970’s were the last decade of dominance by the 3 major television networks

A. The Video Revolution (cont.)

• Original strategy of offering general-interest programming to attract a mass audience

• CBS jettisons this strategy in the 1970’s to attract viewers more likely to spend money on new products

A. The Video Revolution (cont.)

• CBS also used its comedy lineup to address more controversial programming

-- “All in the Family”

-- “Mary Tyler Moore Show”

-- “M*A*S*H”

-- “Saturday Night Live” (1975)

A. The Video Revolution (cont.)

• ABC begins to cultivate the teen audience during the 1970’s-- “Charlie’s Angels”-- “Three’s Company”-- “Kojak”-- “Happy Days”-- “Fantasy Island”

A. The Video Revolution (cont.)

• Rising Profits for the 3 major networks during the 1970’s

• During the 1980’s, the major networks confronted a slow, steady loss of viewers-- “The Bill Cosby Show”-- “Cheers”

• Independent stations begin to compete in local markets

A. The Video Revolution (cont.)

• Debut of the Fox Network (1988)

-- “The Simpsons”

• The impact of remote-control and the VCR

• Cable television further fragments TV viewership

--65% of U.S. homes wired for cable by 1995

--Ted Turner and CNN

B. The Movies

• Ticket prices for movies rise after 1970

• Hollywood focuses on producing a few blockbuster epics-- “Star Wars” (1977)-- “Rocky” (1976)

• Many box office duds, too

B. The Movies (cont.)

• Because of the duds, Hollywood plays it safe with story lines and special effects that have worked in the past-- “Batman” and “Jurassic Park” (1993)

• Video rental stores and multiplex suburban theaters in the 80’s & 90’s

• MTV is launched in 1981

C. The New Mass Culture Debate

• Mass culture studies at U.S. universities during the 80’s & 90’s

• Subculture creation by some shows

• Controversy over university cultural studies

-- The Closing of the American Mind (1987)

-- “Politically Correct”

C. The New Mass Culture Debate (cont.)

• Studies show baby-boomers wanted stronger family and religious ties in the 80’s

• Yet, they displayed more tolerance for cultural diversity

• Controversy over the NEA and the NEH

• The conservative attack on “secular humanism”

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics

• Social ferment intensifies after the 1960’s

• The importance of the mass demonstration

-- “Million Man March” (1995)

-- Promise Keepers march on Washington (1997)

• Mass demonstrations fail to draw media attention

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics (cont.)

• “Consciousness-raising” in the 1970’s

• Growing concerns among women over economic self-sufficiency and equal pay

• The “feminization” of poverty

• Diversity in the women’s movement proves to be a strength

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics (cont.)

• Sexual harassment becomes a contemporary issue--Anita Hill-- “Tailhook” convention (1991)

• “Afrocentrism as a movement during the 1970’s

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics (cont.)

• “Malcolmania”

--Spike Lee

• Racial pride in rap and hip-hop music

• Reconciling Black pride with the American “melting pot”

• NAACP debate over integration versus separate Black schools (1997)

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics (cont.)

• Gap between Blacks and Whites continues to a greater degree than most would like to acknowledge

--O.J. Simpson Murder Trial

• Native Americans and gambling casinos

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics (cont.)

• The media proclaimed the 1980’s the decade of the Hispanics

• Enormous diversity within this designation

• Diversity among Asian Americans

• Quotas and the “Politics of Group Identity”

-- “Affirmative Action”

V. Social Activism and Conservative Politics (cont.)

• Affirmative Action sparked tremendous controversy

• The rise of racial and ethnic inter-marriage

• The “New Right” with evangelical Christian roots

--Pat Robertson’s 700 Club

--Rush Limbaugh