The Third American Revolution

The Third American Revolution

Unfree in the Free World

• Jim Crow = international embarrassment• Feminist revival

Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique

• Published 1963• Discontent of suburban housewife• “The problem without a name”

Gender Inequality

• Discrimination• Unequal wages• Lack of access to

contraception, birth control, abortion

• Expected to be mother

Rise of 2nd Wave Feminism

• Revival of ERA• 1966: Nat’l Organization for Women• No-fault divorce• 1973: Roe v. Wade

The Long Road to Civil Rights

• Brown v. Board of Education (1955)• Southern resistance

“Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever!”

• Gov. George Wallace (D-AL)• ATL: “Too Busy to Hate”?

Busing• Inspires opposition throughout country• Including North• 1970: Boston busing riots

MLK• Baptist Pastor in ATL• Organized 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott• 1963 March on Washington• Influenced by Gandhi

• Puts pressure on Ike, JFK• Progress is slow• Southern Democrats oppose

The Breakthrough

• LBJ takes office after JFK assassination in 1963• Wins massive reelection in 1964• Pushes through Civil Rights Act (1964) and

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Equality?

• African Americans riot in LA, New York, Detroit, Newark, etc.

• Lack of jobs, housing• Police brutality

Black Power

• Groups such as SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) become more militant

• Frustrated by resistance to integration, white violence

• Led by Stokely Carmichael

“If Washington don’t come around, burn it down”

• H. Rap Brown: “Violence is as American as cherry pie.”

1968: Year of Horror

• MLK still pushes justice for the poor, end of Vietnam War

• In Memphis to support garbage workers strike• Shot: 4/4/1968

RFK• JFK’s younger brother• Adopts message of social justice, antiwar• Runs for 1968 Dem nomination• Shot 6/5/1968

Other Movements

• Gay rights• Sparked by Stonewall Riot, NY (1969)• Uprising against police harassment

American Indian Movement

• Founded 1968• Fights poverty, unequal treatment by govt• Armed standoff at Wounded Knee, SD (1973)

The Revolution of Rising Expectations

1. Progress seems possible2. People seek greater reform3. Disappointed by lack of progress4. New Right reacts…