THE SIXTIES

OVERVIEW• Civil Rights• Presidents• John F. Kennedy• Lyndon B. Johnson• Richard Nixon

• The Vietnam War• The Counterculture

Civil Rights Protesters Marching From Selma to Montgomery, AL

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Phases of the Movement• Legalization• mid-1950s to early 1960

• Non-Violent Direct Action• 1960 – 1965

• Black Nationalism• 1965-1970

LEGALIZATION• What is legalization?

• African-Americans relying on legal means to achieve civil rights goals

• Brown v. Board of Education• 1954 – ruled segregation unconstitutional in public schools• Separate facilities inherently make them unequal

• NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)• Formed in 1909• Originally focused on legislation to end lynching (the Jesse

Washington case was paramount to their cause)• In the 1950s and 1960s, the NAACP championed

legalization

NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION

• The idea that legalization is moving too slow; not enough is getting done.

• Peacefully and non-violently disobeying laws that African-Americans felt were immoral, unfair, and unjust.

• Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56• This put non-violent direct action on the radar for

minorities throughout the United States

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.• Non-violent direct action is most commonly associated with

him• Demonstration in Birmingham, AL• March on Washington D.C. – August 1963

• “I have a dream speech”

NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION

• SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee)• Played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides of the Civil

Rights movement• Especially crucial in organizing voter registration in the South• Freedom Summer of 1964 – got both whites and blacks involved

with protesting Civil Rights in the South• Attempting to register as many African-American voters as possible in

Mississippi

• Sit-in• Protesters would go to restaurants for whites only and sit there all

day (typically drug stores with lunch counters)• Goal was to sit and wait for service• Activists were completely passive. They would not resist any

action taken against them by law enforcement• Attempting to appeal to the nation’s conscience

• Freedom Rides• Civil Rights activists who rode on interstate buses into the

segregated South• Goal was to challenge segregated local and state laws by

attempting to ride all forms of transportation and break these laws

Birmingham Protesters

Civil Rights Protestor Attacked by Dog

BLACK NATIONALISM• The next step after Non-Violent Direct Action

• Activists begin to believe non-violence is not doing enough• Black nationalism incorporates resistance to the

accommodation of European cultural and social ways• Essentially, extreme pride in African-American heritage

• Nation of Islam• W.D. Fard created the new black nationalist version of the

Nation of Islam• Black people were the very first humans and that whites

had emerged out of scientific experiments of mad scientists

• The mad scientists were attempting to use these experiments to dilute the strength of the original African people

• Basically, whites are the mutant devils of this experiment• Elijah Poole – gets converted by W.D. Fard and takes over

the movement; takes the name “Elijah Mohammed”• Poole is the individual who converts Malcom X

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X

BLACK NATIONALISM• Nation of Islam / Black Nationalism combined

• Movement picks up in the latter half of the 1960s• The massive decolonization of African countries in the 1940s and

1950s greatly enhances the idea that Africa is worthy of activists’ attention, pride, and respect

• This generates the idea that African-Americans controlling their political destiny should be a significant pillar of the Civil Rights movement

• Black Power• Was not a program, but is a representative mood of disillusionment

and alienation from a white-dominated America• June 1966 – James Meredith wants to prove that conditions are

different in Mississippi• Planned to march through Mississippi in an attempt to convince blacks

that they can vote• Meredith gets attacked when he crosses the Mississippi state line; gets

severely injured• MLK and Stogley Carmichael decided to continue Meredith’s march

• Run into hostile whites throughout their journey• King attempts to stay non-violent• Carmichael calls for black power

BLACK NATIONALISM• Black Power (continued)

• African-Americans should have independent action in politics

• They should control their political destiny• Political power in Southern, rural areas must be controlled

by African-Americans• Emphasized

• Self-help• Racial solidarity• Retaliatory violence

• MLK’s assassination• April 4, 1968• Black power becomes synonymous with the Civil Rights

movement• Led to a nationwide wave of riots in over 100 cities

Watt Riots, Los Angeles, CA (1965)

CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION• Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment

• Included women and mentions whites• Introduced by Kennedy in his civil rights speech on 11 June

1963

• Voting Rights Act of 1965• Outlawed discriminatory practices against minorities at the

polls• Echoed the 15th amendment• Specifically aimed at literacy tests and poll taxes that were

common in the South

• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965• Abolished the nation-origin quotas that had been a staple

since 1924

• Civil Rights Act of 1968• Prohibited racial discrimination in housing (sale, rental, or

financing)• Equal opportunity based on race, religion, and national

origin• Passed during Johnson’s administration

JOHN F. KENNEDY

JOHN F. KENNEDY• Kennedy’s Agenda

• Cold War mentality; new initiatives aimed at countering communist influence throughout the world• Space program• Peace Corps• Attempts to oust Castro from Cuba (Bay of Pigs Incident)

• Did little for Civil Rights• Too worried about reelection

• The Cuban Missile Crisis• October 1962 – American spy planes discover that the

Soviet Union was installing missiles in Cuba that were capable of reaching the United States (fear of nuclear warfare)

• Ends with an agreement with the Soviet Union• Soviets take missiles out of Cuba• Americans take missiles out of Turkey

• Kennedy spins this to appear that he confronted Castro and made him back down

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

LYNDON B. JOHNSON• Kennedy’s assassination

• 22 November 1963 – Kennedy is shot down in Dallas• Johnson takes the oath of office on Air Force One 2 hours

and 8 minutes after Kennedy was shot

• The Great Society• The most sweeping proposal for government action to

promote welfare since the New Deal• Unlike the New Deal, the Great Society was a response to

prosperity, not depression• Items:

• Federal funding for education• “War on Poverty”• Medicare and Medicaid

• The Vietnam War was greatly responsible for the Great Society’s demise• Johnson ended up spending all his time and funding on the war

RICHARD NIXON

RICHARD NIXON• Campaign of 1968

• Ran on a platform of law and order, appealing to the “Silent Majority”

• Backlash to the anti-war movement, Civil Rights movement, and the counterculture (and all the riots associated with all of the above)

• The Imperial Presidency• Acted much less like a president and more like an emperor• Over time, Americans have become accustomed to a president

with great power over many issues• Imperial presidents decided their job was not just carry out laws,

but to decide which laws should be carried out• Richard Nixon typifies this

• Foreign Policy• Conservatives saw Nixon’s policies as dangerously soft towards

communism• Nixon and Henry Kissinger were a strong foreign policy team

that continued the policies of their predecessors, attempting to undermine governments deemed dangerous to democracy

Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger

THE VIETNAM WAR

VIETNAM WAR OVERVIEW• North Vietnam

• Communist, ruled by Ho Chi Minh• Attempting to take over South Vietnam• Often used conventional warfare, also used guerilla tactics

• South Vietnam• Anti-communist; supported by the United States• Attempting to resist communist take-over by North

Vietnam• Relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to

counter North Vietnam’s large number of troops

• Why does the United States get involved?• Communist containment• U.S. involvement escalates in 1960• Number of committed U.S. troops triple in 1961 and triple

again in 1962

VIETNAM WARThe Vietnam War in the Kennedy Administration

• Functioning under the Cold War mentality

• Fears the “Domino effect”• If South Vietnam falls to communism, Laos, Cambodia, and

Thailand would fall to communism• This would effectively ruin anti-communist efforts in East

Asia

• Rationalization for the war• The United States wanted to protect national interests and

its security• Used the idealistic and moralistic approach

• “Helping the good of humanity through the spread of democracy”

• Kennedy was hesitant to act on Vietnam as he was worried about reelection• This occurred throughout his entire administration

VIETNAM WARThe Vietnam War in the Johnson Administration

• Johnson escalates the war occurring in four steps• Johnson’s hands-on approach – we will win the war• Bombing of North Vietnam• Ground Troops• Full Commitment

• Johnson had a machismo mentality toward the Vietnam War

• Still very committed to the Cold War mentality• He over estimated the appeal of democratic principles in the face of

communism• Also afraid of the Domino Effect• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) – assist any country against communist

aggression

• He did not want to be the first president to lose a war

• Both he and Kennedy ignored the Vietnamese culture and their resistance to imperial powers

• Kennedy and Johnson waged the war as a limited war• Not keen on adopting the guerilla tactics of the Vietnamese

• The real victim of the Vietnam War under the Johnson administration was his Great Society legislation• His funding and attention was focused squarely on the war (Tet Offensive)

VIETNAM WARThe Vietnam War in the Nixon Administration

• The Vietnam War was at the center of the nation’s political life at the time of Nixon’s election

• During his campaign, Nixon claimed he had a “secret plan” to end the war if he was elected• Didn’t have one; just a campaign ploy

• Nixon expands the war less than two months after he was elected• Approved a bombing campaign in Cambodia• Nixon either destroyed or falsified most of the records on this campaign

• After the New York Times reported on this campaign, Nixon becomes paranoid of leaks in his administration• Begins wire-tapping

• Nov. 3, 1969 – Nixon announces that American defeat in Vietnam would lead to a communist massacre and a collapse of confidence in American leadership (becomes a justification to escalate the war)

• Anti-War protest was at an all-time high• Nixon attempts to quell this by pulling troops out of Vietnam• Subsequently, he sends in troops to Cambodia

THE COUNTERCULTURE

THE COUNTER CULTURE• American culture prior to the 1960s

• World War II / Cold War mentality• Television and mass media are becoming common

(creating a national culture)• Emergence of a consumer culture (shift from the 1920s)• Nationalism• Prosperity and affluence• Social mobility• Baby boomers (more people = more consumption)

• The national culture is linked with consumption• Television is the medium for this progression• Affluence: most items are within price ranges that people

can afford

• The Counterculture emerges as an alternative to the typical American culture

THE COUNTER CULTURE• Society was not a comfortable place for those in the

counterculture

• They felt disaffected and alienated

• Most participants were white, middle-class Americans and products of the baby boom• Primarily reared in the 1950s with the traditional focus on

conformity and social values

• They came of age when there was great pressure for change politically

• They identified with Kennedy because of his youth• After his assassination, they felt separated from the

government

• If the Kennedy and Johnson administrations could not bring about change, they had to do it themselves

• Education• They thought the structure of the universities were too

rigid

THE COUNTER CULTURE• The “Technocracy” and/or “THE MAN” and/or “The

Establishment”• Fairly interchangeable terms• Everything is controlled by a team of “experts” (sprung up

out of the Cold War mentality where everything is intellectually and technologically superior)

• In the technocracy, the individual should defer to “the experts” who “know better”

• Students started to seek some control over their university lives

• Democracy and the Technocracy• Students attempting to reconcile democratic ideals within

the context that they should be taking orders and not thinking for themselves

• Trinity of the Counterculture• Sex• Drugs• Rock n’ Roll

THE COUNTER CULTURE• Divisions in the Counterculture

• Political Rebels• Social/Cultural Rebels

• Political Rebels• Those who became involved with anti-war movement and

the Civil Rights movement• Those who primarily conduct the protests in the late 1960s

• Social/Cultural Rebels• Basic “hippies”• The goal of happiness is a goal in itself• Haight-Ashbury – hippies attempt to create their own

culture in San Francisco (large-scale hippie commune)• “Return to Nature” – hippies that would drop out of society

all together• Sort of a throwback to Transcendentalism

THE COUNTER CULTURE• The Counterculture was not a majority of the American

population• However, it got a lot of media attention

• Families, especially children and mothers suffered from the “free love” mentality

• Anti-War Movement• Takes a while for full-scale protests to emerge• Starts in 1967-68• Protesters were tired of the Vietnam War

• Kent State Shootings• Protesting after Nixon finally announced he was expanding the

war into Cambodia• Thousands of protesters (residents of the town and students)• SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) came in to help protest• National Guard was called in to break up the riots• Rioters marched to Blanket Hill; National Guard opens fire

• 13 students shot, 4 fatally wounded

Kent State Shootings at Blanket Hill (1970)

THE COUNTER CULTURE• Free Speech Movement

• Grew out of protests at U.C. Berkeley• 1964 – administration decided that students could no

longer set up tables on campus to support off-campus causes• Civil rights• Capital punishment• Nuclear disarmament

• 21 September 1964 – nearly all the campus organizations decided to unite and violate the table ban (under the argument of freedom of speech)

• One of the leaders was confronted and told to come to the office• Over 500 stage a sit-in at the administration building

• University president suspends 8 students• This only increases the ill will between students and

administration• Causes more protests

THE COUNTER CULTURE• Free Speech Movement

• Jack Wineberg – organizes students to set up tables over civil rights and political agendas• Refuses to leave when ordered to do so; gets arrested

• Over 100 other students show up in a free speech rally; demand to be arrested• Crowd around the police cruiser; stage a sit-in around the car

which grows to 3000 people• Lasted for 30 hours; ended when the Berkeley president

decides to meet with students• It was the first massive campus demonstration in the

1960s• Most people thought that U.C. Berkeley had fallen into

chaos