Women’s Movement
- (1960s)
- Renewal of the movement was caused by increased education and employment of women in the 1950s, the civil rights movement, and the sexual revolution. Some feminists who participated in the countercultures of the 1960s rejected many of the social, economic, and political values of their parents’ generation and advocated changes in sexual Norms.
- fundamental changes in attitudes and hiring practices.
- Women increasingly moved into professions previously dominated by men: business, law, medicine, and politics.
- “glass ceiling” (metaphorical barrier to prevent promotion) in the corporate world still existed but it was better
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
- (1963)
- Encouraged middle-class women to seek fulfillment in professional careers in addition to filling the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker.
National Organization for Women (NOW)
- (1966)
- Friedan founded. Organization that adopted the activist tactics of other civil rights movements to secure equal treatment of women, especially for job opportunities.
Equal Pay Act of 1963 & Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Prohibited discrimination in employment and compensation on the basis of sex but had been poorly enforced.
Title IX
- (1972)
- A legislation to end sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. Best known for its requirement that schools provide girls with equal athletic opportunities. People saw this as a step towards women equality.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
- (1972)
- “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Rejected because of growing reaction against feminism by conservatives who feared the movement threatened the traditional roles of women.
Latino Americans
Most Latino Americans before World War II lived in the Southwestern states, but in the postwar years new arrivals from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and South and Central America increasingly settled in the East and Midwest.
Boycotts led by César Chávez and United Farm Workers Association
- Latin Americans were exploited for agriculture labor following their return after the Great Depression. Boycotts eventually gained collective bargaining rights in 1975.
Bilingual Education
Activists won a federal mandate for bilingual education requiring schools to teach Hispanic children in both English and Spanish.
Change for Latino Americans
- 1980s
- A growing number of Hispanic Americans were elected to public office, including as mayors of Miami, San Antonio, and other large cities. Census revealed they were the largest minority group.
Native Americans assimilation
- 1950s
- The Eisenhower administration made an unsuccessful attempt to encourage American Indians to leave reservations and assimilate into urban America. The leaders resisted because it would lead to the loss of cultural identity
American Indian Movement (AIM)
- (1968) - Made to achieve self-determination and revival of tribal traditions.
- 1969 - Takeover of the abandoned prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
- 1973 - occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota, which was the site of the infamous massacre of American Indians by the U.S. cavalry in 1890.
- Overall increased Native American population
Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975
- Gave reservations and tribal lands greater control over internal programs, education, and law enforcement.
Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978
- Solved unemployment and poverty on reservations by improving education and building industries and gambling casinos on reservations
Asian Americans
Fastest growing ethnic minority by the 1980s. The largest group of Asian Americans were of Chinese ancestry, followed by Filipinos, Japanese, Indians, Koreans, and Vietnamese. A strong dedication to education resulted in representation in the best colleges and universities. However, they also suffered from discrimination, envy, and Japan-bashing, while the less-educated immigrants earned well below the national average.
Gay Rights Movement
- Began in 1969, after a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. Gay activists urged homosexuals to be open about their identity and to work to end discrimination and violent abuse.
Homosexual Acceptance
Mid-1970s - Homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental illness, and the federal Civil Service dropped its ban on employment of homosexuals.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
- (1993)
- President Clinton attempted to end discrimination against homosexuals in the military, but settled for a compromise where people would not be asked their sexual identity, but the military could still expel people for being gay or lesbian.
Earl Warren
- Chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969. Comparable to John Marshall.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
- (1954)
- desegregation in public schools.
Warren Court
- Before the Supreme Court had concentrated on protecting property rights but during and after Warren, the Court focused more on protecting individual rights.
Mapp v. Ohio
- (1961)
- ruled that evidence seized illegally cannot be used against the accused in court.
Gideon v. Wainwright
- (1963)
- required that state courts provide counsel (services of an attorney) for indigent (poor) defendants.
Escobedo v. Illinois
- (1964)
- extended the ruling in Gideon, giving suspects the right to have a lawyer present during questioning by the police.
