The 1960s and Beyond

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

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

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."

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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

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)

Détente (Nixon) Easing of tensions

with Soviets and Communist Chinese

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I)

People's Republic of China

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)

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”

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

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

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

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”

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.

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

Postindustrial Restructuring

Downsizing and mergers

Increase in service sector jobs

Decrease in union jobs Cesar Chavez

United Farm Workers (UFW)

Microsoft Bill Gates

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”

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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