American Studies 1960s

            As Susan Douglas quotes, “We hungered for ‘the truth’”. (150). Young people wanted to know what was happening in their world, especially women, so turned to different genres of music that spoke through their lyrics. She relates that she was not at an age to understand all of the movements going on and the changes women were asking for, but knew they were needed especially after her freshman year of college. Her focus on the year 1968, flowed throughout and showed that was a year in a decade full of change but also a year that sparked many to become involved in movements across the country. People were still skeptical of challenging authority and did not want to face the same brutality, college students and other activists underwent, as depicted on the news. College students and young people, members of the baby boomer generation, across the country protested and focused on group-centered leadership, which was a threat to “democratic America”. The media was not sure how to cover such stories and why young people did not elect leaders, but the main turning point was how women changed the movement. Women played an integral part by challenging all societal norms placed on them, especially at the Miss America pageant.

            On a side note, the pictures Douglas chose to incorporate in the book play a strong role in the understanding of women in society. Women’s roles have significantly changed since the sitcom mom on Leave it to Beaver but they still struggle to earn equality, in the workplace and in male-dominated spheres.

Question: How many women truly wanted to fit the Miss America or Playboy ideal of beauty?

The uncivil wars in the United States continued throughout several administrations and students did not slow down in their protests outside the gates of the White House and on college campuses. At the end of the 1960s with President Nixon in office turmoil hit a new level. Nixon had announced he would bring the United States out of Vietnam and did not want his presidency to turn out the same as Lyndon Johnson’s. Vietnam had gained heavy media coverage starting in 1965 but with the Nixon administration television footage was cut far back, making citizens think the war had ended or was coming to a close.  In Mark Lytle’s, America’s Uncivil Wars, he quoted one journalist who stated, “the war was over, because you didn’t see it on the tube anymore.” (342). President Nixon was able to hide his military advances from the media simply to not agitate anti-war protestors but he was not able to stop the building takeover and did not stop states from calling in their National Guard units to stop insurrections.

            With all of the turmoil of the 1960s there was a lot of free love and a sense of community between people. The organization of Woodstock in New York proved to be a unifying event for people, with no real “pig force” or anyone to shut the people down, they kept peace between themselves and became a community that could share sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. Woodstock proved to be an effective event but the west coast version, even though it was only a day event, proved to be a disaster with deaths, beatings, and people leaving without a sense of unification. Music was a bonding force between people but could not always keep them in check during the Nixon administration.

Question: Was the television broadcast of the war cut back due to an influence/pressure from the Nixon administration or did the newscasters and public truly believe the war was ending?

            The question of “Post racial or post racist America?” was the underlying theme of Michael Eric Dyson’s lecture tonight. After he did not show up to the scheduled question and answer session I was uncertain about what would be discussed at the lecture but I was captured by his energetic and attention-grabbing speech. Dyson was quick to address what Mary Washington had to offer the community through the employment of one of the major Civil Rights leaders, James Farmer and how at such a young age Farmer was able to achieve a masters and lead the national organization, CORE. Farmer was able to as Dyson phrased it, “Join together young people as they never had been before no matter what color they were for the freedom rides.” This was a changing moment in the Civil Rights Movement and he also addressed the women’s rights movement through the acknowledgement of his wife, Marcia and how the movement is still struggling with the idea of post racist America. Dyson through his acknowledgement of her expressed the equality all minorities or second-class citizens want and deserve. Dyson delved into topics such as the election of President Obama and his vision for a “United states of America” and how he brought together the great differences in America thus challenging all racist attitudes in America.

Dyson wants American pride to be celebrated and quoted Frederick Douglas saying, “When you learn something, it cannot be taken from you.” So no one can take away a person’s pride, when they have the ability to learn they are enlightened and nothing can stop it. Through this he brought up the much-debated declaration of April as Confederate month in Virginia and expressed how he was against it, yet not celebrating familial pride in ancestors who were drafted to fight for either side seems wrong. The causes of the Civil War are discussed but ignoring something a person learns about their ancestry and by not enlightening people about their ancestor’s stories would not be a correct interpretation of Douglas’s quote. 

Dyson was effective in relaying important issues into modern terms through the usage of hip-hop language and reenacting the much talked about incident at the VMA’s between Kayne West and Taylor Swift. Through his examples he is correct in stating America still needs to move towards a post-racist society and much work still needs to be done to achieve equality but strides have been made, and through strong leaders more will be achieved.

            “Revolution is not a one-time event.” According to the article Learning from the 60s, revolution is constantly changing and needing to evolve in order to be effective, African Americans need to learn from the 1960s and realize that without learning from history they will repeat the same mistakes. African Americans in the United States realized they could not take the teachings or words from the leaders of the 1960s and ignore them but also knew they could not wait for the next Martin Luther King Jr. to take action. Blacks were just as oppressed internally as externally and in some cases caused their own brutality and did not just suffer from police brutality. African Americans fought against one another but also could not fight for equality among themselves when women and anyone who had a different sexual orientation was prejudiced against or pushed aside as subordinate. Black women faced the same indifferences as white women they had to endure the ideals set for them by men. They could never fit their own standard but had to measure up to men and what they viewed as, beautiful, sexy, proper for house-hold care etc.

The Women’s Liberation Movement was powerful and while not as militant as other reform movements were, they were able to bring women together in language only they understood. Each woman could come out of her shell and realize she was not alone in the struggle, it was powerful and as one stated, they fought to free their sisters!

Question: How influential do we think Robin Morgan’s piece was? Did she truly express women’s sentiments at the time or was she too radical causing women to stay back and proceed with caution?

            “I want something more than my husband and my children and my home.” (Bloom & Breines, 393). This was the cry of women in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. They did not understand how the lives they were brought up to cherish and embrace unfulfilled them. Women, some not all, did have modern appliances, suburban lives, committees they chaired, and for the most part the family they wanted but deep down knew it was not enough and the ever-changing role of women on television emphasized that point. Women were starting to come together not just through movements but also as a group to discuss “the problem”. “The problem” was around every corner and in every facet of life, from employment, to leadership roles, to the role they played as wives and mothers and the prescription of tranquilizers was not going to make any of the issues disappear. Women in droves were responding to this need for work outside the home or a way to better themselves to feel whole. With the widespread use of the television in suburban homes women were able to watch shows such as I love Lucy, Bewitched, or I Dream of Jeannie and see a world in which women were superior to their male counterparts whether through looks, knowledge, or magical powers. Women were undergoing a revolution and calling for a change in how they were perceived, which also led to women trying to be like the models in ads and the shapely women on television, but that was not the focus towards a revolution. Women were making a mark on society and through several organizations they were able to make a change.

Question: Did any men join the women through the revolutions did they protest or did any step-down to let women work alongside them?

            “But had there ever really been such a time? Hadn’t the people on that airplane always been there, holding us with hatred in their eyes, preying upon our lives?” (73). Angela Davis’s, An Autobiography was a key piece of literature for the Civil Rights Movement. Her experience of fighting for Black Rights and involvement in the Communist Party made her one of the top “criminals” in the United States and all she wanted to do was fight for liberation. Ms. Davis was not violent nor sought attention for just herself but she quickly gained it and helped the jail system throughout her efforts. Her time in the New York, House of Detention was not without controversy and she was able to make gains through her hunger strike, smuggling of books, and use of money at the Commissary for the pregnant inmates. Ms. Davis was also able to make gains through her visits, from lawyers and family and through them extended her message outside the cement walls. Angela Davis’s experience in the “House of D” discussed black women workers in the jail system and how some of them were actually sympathetic to the movement while others like the women in California took severe measures to watch over Angela. The jail system appeared to be of highest security and brings up the question of all prisoners, Did all high-security prisoners get the same treatment as Angela and did color interfere with how they were handled?

            The struggle of Mexican Americans in the United States is easily identified with the Civil Rights Movement. They faced the same injustices but in ways it was worse, for one they did not have one unifying identity to tie them all together and two they did not fit into the American system of black or white. Interestingly enough Mexican Americans were able to unify under different pretenses through the leadership of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Mexican Americans believed in both leaders but even more so in Dolores because she was a woman and was a strong leader within their organizations. Many of the demonstrations Chavez and other Mexican American groups organized were similar to those college student organizations such as SDS staged with the walkouts and non-violent protests. They like many other minorities wanted their rights recognized and believed by being an American citizen they should be born with them since they did make the effort to assimilate into American culture. Mexican Americans or Chicanos wanted their identity to be recognized even if it composed of several different people they wanted a revival of who they were and what they represented. They expressed themselves through several manifestos and through the chosen leaders of the organizations who brought to light the heritage of Mexicans and that not only Cubans deserved respect in the barrios inside the United States.

Question: Did all Chicano’s have the same experience Rendon had growing up or were some heavily influenced by families to keep their heritage alive? Did it differ based on the occupation their parents had, working in the fields versus a more professional job?

            According to Mark Lytle’s, America’s Uncivil Wars, black liberation in America would not be easily won but should not of been something African Americans had to fight for first through non-violence and secondly through rioting of white businesses and their own; “So in reality, the riots led to more repression than liberation.” (238). Civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to continue the struggle through nonviolence and did not approve of the words Malcolm X and other strong willed leaders preached. King knew of the horror the government put blacks through and watched them try to destroy him and his reputation through the work of J. Edgar Hoover but still wanted blacks to work together and not intimidate the few white supporters he had gained. Much to white surprise blacks were able to come together and organize and they organized against police. The riots in Newark and Detroit were not unprecedented; they could be seen through the unrest between leaders and unrest between blacks and police in the cities. Police did not find African Americans a challenge and with an administration full of criminals they were able to have a full rein of terror, always killing or injuring more blacks in riots than whites. As Malcolm X stated, “I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare…” this was the life of blacks in the mid-1960s. (Bloom and Breines, 107).

Question: When Malcolm X stated, “We shall overcome.” (108) did that help the riots speed along? Were his words more effective than Martin Luther King Jrs in forming anti-white sentiment?

            Vietnam and Lyndon Johnson’s administration changed the United States and foreign policy. Americans started disbelieving in their government through all of the images the media portrayed and the lies they were being fed for years. They also were disgruntled with the acts of violence internally, if the United States troops and police could beat protestors on the Pentagon steps with clubs and rifles what were they doing abroad? This scared Americans and made them wonder about their foreign policies and how we could ignore other previous Cold War conflicts and solely focus on one country.

            Many Americans were thrilled with Johnson’s announcement that he would not run for re-election but not all Americans saw this as a victory and many wondered if the U.S. could finally focus on internal affairs, namely the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement took a dramatic turn with the death of non-violent leader Martin Luther King Jr. who would be forever recognized but also with his death would bring an end to the non-violent protests throughout the nation. Americans saw through media footage the same barbaric tactics used abroad used at home with universities and other institutions turning into places of conflict and not serving their true purposes. The police expressed any anger they had by beating any and all protestors proving the 1968 election would be pivotal to the salvation of the country.

Question: Did the American public as a whole know with the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy that political movements would slide downward? And that state administrators would take issues of national importance into their own and police forces hands?

            Vietnam created turmoil throughout the United States and the citizens did not even know the half of the story. They believed minimum amounts of troops were being sent over and were used as advisors and Americans believed the bombing had ended. Neither was true and Lyndon Johnson’s government began to divide and voice opinions to the papers and the citizens to rally anti-war sentiment. Supporters of the anti-war movement acknowledge that it is good to protest and fight back against the administration’s decisions but words are not enough, strong action must take place. Professors and teachers furthered the movement with universities participating in teach-ins and using tactics from the Civil Rights Movement all over the country. SDS, the leaders of the anti-war movement, did not think President Johnson and the administration wanted to harm innocent civilians but they did not do anything to protect their freedom either, the main argument for the war. The Vietnamese people nor Americans were free from the administration, each set of people were lied to, taken advantage of, and in some cases died fighting for something neither side understood. The draft was not taken lightly and many fought against going to a war they did not believe in. Vietnam created many problems in the United States but also challenged its authority as a world leader.

Question: Did President Johnson ever really listen to the citizens or the protests? Were letters written to the administration as during the Depression?