63-72 Protest And Reaction Flashcards
Protest groups
Gay rights
Women’s movement
Black power and black panthers
Hippies
Why mighttheelection of Kennedy encourage protest
In the new frontier speech he spoke about passing the torch to new generations and promised an era of change
He was a young president people could look up to
Why do you think this generation wanted to prostest
Young people rebelling against status quo-bwanted change
Pushing back to conformity -wanted more from life
More people at unis
Pushing back against Vietnam
Succes of civil rights movement (bringing down segregation where it had before bee so ingrained)
What changes in post war American society would have helped them
Disposable income
Cars
Where would have protest movements have drawn their inspiration from
Jfk
Mlk
Malcolm X
Religious groups
Betty fried and
Music (beatles and rolling stones)
What did Betty friedan say about levittowns
‘Comfortable concentration camps’
What was the New left
Political opposition centred on universities, questioning the rejection of communism and socialism in America. They criticised wealth inequalities and formed the Student for a Democratic Society [SDS] in 1960.
SDS
students for a democratic society
Who was involved with the new left
SDS 1960
it began at the University of Michigan but only spread among elite university’s.
Members tended to be from wealthy backgrounds
At the uni of california a new new left group emerged called Free speech movement after they were baned from handing leaflets out on campus
Legacy of the new left
Became more influential after the Vietnam war. In 1969 a splinter group formed called the weatherman underground organisation, taking their name from bob Dylan lyrics.b
In 1970 they made a declaration of state war calling for revolution and overthrow the American government
Attitudes to vietnam
Anti vietnam mentality grew from 1967 onwards, before energies had been focused on the civil rights movement.
In 1965 the Gallup poll found 70% of Americans in favour of vietnam as there was a general acceptance of domino theory.
However by 1968 the death toll was 16,500
In 1969 the My Lai massacre made it even more unpopular and caused many to protest
By 1969 a poll taken showed most people did not know what the aim of the war was
Draft for vietnam
Many felt it disproportionately hit working class families and black men.
80% of the drafted soldiers were working class as students in colleges and unis were exempt
Morale among the soldiers were low, with 20% deserting during initial training
Aim of the anti war movement
Anti war movement primarily involved the middle class, but they wanted to expand to the young working class as they were more likely too be drafted. Often people would slam doors in their faces as they wanted to hear less about vietnam and note more
In October 1970 Therewas a demonstration in Washington attracting 100,000 and it became the largest anti war demonstration to date
Tactics in the anti vietnam movements
SDS students arranged a teach in at the university of michigan
1967 Vietna Summer
Attending demonstrations
Wearing armbands
Handing out leaflets
Divides in the anti vietnam movement
Divides in tactics and reasons for opposing the war
It was never organised properly
People moved in and out of the movement (due to weather, state of the war and time of the academic year)
For radicals the warshowed theneed for a revolution, in the states and the rest of the world.
For moderates they opposed the war bc they wantednto support traditional American values and called for responsible protest
Kent state university
In response to Nixon invading Cambodia and continuing the war in Vietnam
Kent state uni, ohio there was a student demonstration which resulted in the governor sending in the national guard to ‘eradicate the communist element’
On may 4th 2000 students demonstrated against the presence of the national guard. Without warning the gunmen opened fire killing four students
Success of anti vietnam
Limited, Americas involvement continued until 1973
By 1968 only 28% of Americans would consider themselves ‘doves’a person who wanted to avoid war
The american media refused to show the more upsetting footage of the warand instead stereotyped those protesting as radical hippies
Barriers to gay rights
The fifties had a ‘lavender scare’
The federal government under Eisenhower banned homosexuals for working for the government (alongside alcoholic and neurotics)
In 1953 the American Psychriatic Association listed uomosexuality as a sociopathic personality disorder
An obscurely from 1845 was used to target trans people, it banned face panted or concealed in public. It was used to justify the 3 item role used by police which meant an individual had to be wearing 3 items of their birth assigned gender
(One of the) first gay activist groups
1950- Mattachine Society
What did the Mattachine society do
In 1966 they staged a sip in. Bars would have e their liquor licenes revoked if they served a gay person. So people a week would go to a bar and declare they are gay to be refused service. They used this to challenge discrimatory laws,
The Humans Right Commission ended discrimatory laws
How many were arrested weekly for being gay
In 1966 100 men a week were being arrested in NY through raids on barsbut also entrpament
Stonewall
In 1969 the police raided a working class gay bar in Greenwich village, manhattan, called stonewall. It was one of the few places gay ppl could openly meet partly due to being protected by the mafia.
The customers fought back and 3 days of rioting followed
State laws regarding homosexuality
In 49/50 states it was illegal to be gay in,in 1961 illinois decriminalised homosexuality
Succes for the gay rights
By 1973there were 800 gay organisations across America
The Haight Ashbury djsrptrict in San Francisco became openly gay
In 1977 Harvey Milk became the first openly gay official elected in San frasisco
Harvey milk
Th3 first openly gay official elected in San Francisco,
However he was assisted in 1979 by Anite Bryant for anti gay reasons
Chicano Movement school protest.
Started in Lincoln highschool. students felt unrepresented on the curriculum and in the staff so they went on strike.
They formed the La Raza Unida party, which won elections if only because of the high concentration of Mexicans in the area.
They also won representation in school boards and city councils.
Cesar Chavez
formed the United Farm Workers, in the 1970 mechinazation meant they were out of jobs
political ally with Robert Kennedy and Bobby supports him in the grape strike, then Chavez got his supporters to vote for Bobby which helped him win the California primaries.
A famous Mexican American leader.
Why was the Chicano Movement not as impactful as the Civil Rights Movement.
-they had good local successes, but nothing national meaning they did not have the support or attention that Civil Rights movement did.
-Many Mexicans hoped one day to return to Mexico and didnt want to get to invested in US politics. Alternatively some were worried about being deported
-the Movement rested greatly on Chavezs shoulders so when he stepped back the movement crumbled.
