The Politics of Protest 1960 - 1980

Chapter 26

Main Idea

During the 1960s, many of the country’s young people raised their voices in protest against numerous aspects of American society.

Section 1-5

The Growth of the Youth Movement

• In the 1960s, a youth movement developed that challenged American politics, social system, and the values of the time.

• By 1970, 58.4 percent of the American population was 34 years old or younger ….why?

• The economic boom of the 1950s led to a dramatic increase in college enrollment.

Section 1-8

Student Protests

• The University of California at Berkeley, was a hotbed of student discontent Hundreds of protests.

• Example:

* A sit-in at the administration bldg.

* 700 protesters were arrested; campus- wide strike stopped classes for two days.

Section 1-9

• The Administration gave in to students’ demands.

• Supreme Court validated students’ rights to freedom of speech and assembly on campus. (Remember...the liberal Warren court.)

• Berkeley revolt - model for college demonstrations around the country.

1969 anti-war demonstration at the University of Texas

Section 1-11

The Counterculture

• Some young Americans sought to create their own society.

• The counterculture (hippies) were mostly white youths from middle- and upper-class backgrounds.

• Flamboyant dress, rock music, drug use, and free- style living.

• Counterculture - a utopian ideal of living, or the ideal of a society that was:

* Free

* Closer to nature

* Full of love, empathy, tolerance, and cooperation.

• Long hair, Native American headbands, shabby jeans, and drugs were common.

Section 1-13

• Hippies “dropped out” of society.

• Communes - group living in which members shared everything and worked together.

• One of the most popular hippie destinations was the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco.

• Some hippie communities were high crime areas downfall of counterculture.

• Drug use declined as the excitement faded and as more young people became addicted or died from overdoses.

Section 1-16

Impact of the Counterculture

• Mainstream America adopted some of their ideas.

• New fashions with more color and comfort.

• Military, worn-out, and ethnic clothing was popular.

• What was once clothing of defiance became mainstream. Today.....

Section 1-17

• During the 1960s pop art was HOT in the art world.

• Andy Warhol was the artist at the center of this new movement.

• The new generation of music added to the gap between parents and youth.

• Musicians like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Janis Joplin used lyrics to describe the fears and hopes of the new generation.

From World Book © 2002 World Book, Inc., 233 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60601. All rights reserved.AP/Wide World

From World Book © 2002 World Book, Inc., 233 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60601. All rights reserved.AP/Wide World Photos

Moment in History 1

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Section 2-5

A Weakened Women’s Movement

• A new feminist movement began in the 1960s.

• Feminism - belief that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially.

Gloria Steinem

Section 2-8

The Women’s Movement Reawakens

• By early 1960s, women were resentful of old stereotypes.

• Protests increased.

• Women’s movement was brought back to life by:

* Protests

* JFK’s President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

* Birth control pills.

Section 2-10a

• In 1963 The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan stirred up women all across the country.

• Her research found that while women reported that they had everything they could want, they still felt unfulfilled.

• The book became a best-seller and fueled the women’s liberation movement.

Section 2-12

• A new women’s group named the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed.

• It demanded greater educational opportunities for women.

Section 2-16

• Late 1960s, some states began adopting liberal abortion laws.

• Abortions were easier to get, because they were now legal.

• The biggest change came with the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

• The Court ruled that states could no longer regulate abortion during the first three months of pregnancy.

Section 2-17

• This gave rise to the right-to-life movement, whose members consider abortion morally wrong.

Section 2-17a

• In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which protected against discrimination based on gender.

• In order for it to become part of the Constitution, 38 states had to ratify it.

• Opposition grew as many saw the act as a threat to traditional rights, such as the right to alimony.

• The ERA was never ratified.

Section 3-5

Fighting for Greater Opportunity

• 1960s and 1970s - minority groups organized to improve their positions in society.

• Black leaders looked to affirmative action to gain good jobs and adequate housing.

• Required companies and institutions doing business with the federal government to actively recruit African American employees.

• Later included other minorities groups and women.

Section 3-7

• In 1974 Allan Bakke, a white applicant, was turned down for admission to the University of California Medical School.

• Slots had been set aside for minorities.

• 1978 - University of California Regents v. Bakke: Supreme Court ruled that the university had violated Bakke’s rights and had used reverse discrimination against him.

• Schools could no longer set quotas.

Section 3-9

• Early 1970s - a push for improved education for African Americans.

• Schools in white neighborhoods had better supplies, facilities, and teachers.

• To desegregate schools, local governments implemented a policy known as busing, where children were transported to schools outside their neighborhoods to gain racial balance.

Section 3-14

Hispanic Americans Organize

• By the 1970s, 9 million Hispanic Americans lived in the United States.

• Some Hispanic Americans faced the same prejudice as other immigrant groups.

• Began to organize their own protest movement.

Section 3-15

• Rights of farm workers:

* Early 1960s, Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta organized a boycott of grapes (over living and working conditions of migrant farm workers).

* Formed the United Farm Workers (migrant farmers’ union).

Section 3-18

Native Americans Raise Their Voices

• Native Americans began to organize in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a result of grievances:

* Low income

* High unemployment

* Discrimination

* Limited education

* Short life expectancy

• Formed militant groups such as the American Indian Movement (AIM).

Section 4-5

The Beginnings of Environmentalism

• During the 1960s and 1970s, Americans began to focus on environmental issues.

• Some argued that the use of pesticides had damaged wildlife and that pollution had fouled air and water.

Section 4-6

• Marine biologist Rachel Carson wrote about pesticides in her book Silent Spring.

• She argued that pesticides were also killing birds and fish.

Section 4-8

The Environmental Movement

• Environmental concerns:

* Cutting down trees in the Northwest

* Smog from factories, power plants, and

cars in the cities

* Oil spills

* Pollution and garbage in Lake Erie.

Houston

Santa Barbara

oil spill

Section 4-9

• April 1970 - first Earth Day to focus on the country’s environmental concerns.

• Citizens formed local environmental groups:

* Sierra Club

* Audubon Society

* Wilderness Society

Section 4-10

• 1970 - Pres. Nixon signed a law creating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

• EPA’s purpose:

* Sets pollution standards

* Promotes research

* Coordinates anti- pollution activities with state and local governments.

Section 4-14

• March 1979 - reactors at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility overheated, causing low levels of radiation to escape.

• Although the plant was eventually declared safe, the incident left the public in doubt about the safety of nuclear energy.

Section 4-16

The Consumer Movement

• 1960s and 1970s - Americans demanded product safety.

• Leader in the consumer protection movement - Ralph Nader. Wrote Unsafe at Any Speed.

• Results: seat belts, safer cars, toys, clothes, etc.

Chapter Assessment 1

Reviewing Key TermsDefine Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.

__ 1. section of the 1972 Educational Amendments prohibiting federally funded schools from discriminating against girls and young women in nearly all aspects of their operations

__ 2. a group living arrangement in which members share everything and work together

__ 3. fog made heavier and darker by smoke and chemical fumes

__ 4. a fuel formed in the earth from decayed plant or animal remains

A. counterculture

B. commune

C. feminism

D. Title IX

E. affirmative action

F. busing

G. bilingualism

H. smog

I. fossil fuel

B

H

D

I

Chapter Assessment 2

Reviewing Key Terms (cont.)

Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.

__ 5. a culture with values and beliefs different than the mainstream

__ 6. an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for minorities

__ 7. the belief that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially

__ 8. a policy of transporting children to schools outside their neighborhoods to achieve greater racial balance

E

C

A

F

A. counterculture

B. commune

C. feminism

D. Title IX

E. affirmative action

F. busing

G. bilingualism

H. smog

I. fossil fuel

Chapter Assessment 3

Reviewing Key Terms (cont.)

Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.

__ 9. the practice of teaching immigrant students in their own language

G A. counterculture

B. commune

C. feminism

D. Title IX

E. affirmative action

F. busing

G. bilingualism

H. smog

I. fossil fuel