Johnson Social Divisions Flashcards
1
Q
Why were students protesting during the 60s?
A
- civil rights movement
- environment following the opposition to pesticides begun by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring
- Vietnam War
- criticisms of the universities themselves
- first half of 1968 alone: 221 major demonstrations at universities
2
Q
Why were students protesting in Berkeley?
A
- university didn’t allow fund raising or political activity on campus so 1000s protested against this infringement of their constitutional rights for free speech
- known as the ‘Berkeley free speech movement’ and slogan was ‘you can’t trust anyone over 30’
3
Q
What happened during the Berkeley student protest?
A
- students occupied the administrative building until police ejected them and arrested 800
- protests gained support from teaching staff so the uni authorities backed down and allowed political discussion on campus
4
Q
Why were students protesting in Yale?
A
- against the Vietnam war: also feared being drafted
- some believed the Vietnam government should run their own affairs without US interference and some opposed the bombing
5
Q
What happened while students at Yale protested?
A
- 1000 Yale students staged a protest march to NYC
- in 1965, many unis held ‘teach-ins’ with anti war lectures and debates: 20,000 students attended Berkeley teach-ins
- cars and buildings were vandalised by students
6
Q
Why were students protesting at Columbia?
A
- the university was involved in weapons research, which assisted the government with the Vietnam war
- relationship between the uni and the black and hispanic populations in adjacent Harlem: Columbia’s expansion programmes led to the eviction of 1000s of residents from uni owned properties, Harlem pop. could only access proposed new gym through separate door
7
Q
What happened at the Columbia student protest?
A
- students seized 5 uni buildings and covered the walls with pictures of Malcolm X and Karl Marx
- police used clubs and made 692 arrests
- Columbia shut down that term and abandoned the gym and many defence contracts
8
Q
Why was there a ‘generation gap’ emerging?
A
- those who had lived through the war could no longer understand the music, movies, art, fashion, literature etc. of the young
- 1955 James Dean film ‘rebel without a cause’ highlighted this alienation between young people and parents
- ‘British Invasion’ of culture led by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones - explored sexuality and drugs in their music, encouraging young people to experiment
9
Q
What did NOW stand for and what did they achieve?
A
- National Organisation for Women
- over 5yrs won $30million for women from companies who had ignored the 1963 Equal Pay Act
10
Q
What were Radical Women against?
A
- Miss America beauty pageant
- crowned a sheep as Miss America in Atlantic City
- believed it upheld unrealistic beauty standards, objectified women, was racist as there had never been a black MIss American
- also an anti-war agenda as the winner had to go to Vietnam to ‘entertain’ the troops
11
Q
What feminist books enhanced the movement?
A
- 1962 Helen Gurley ‘Sex and the Single Girl’ - sold 2million copies in 3 weeks
- Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique’s first paperback run sold 1.4million
12
Q
When was Griswold v Connecticut and what did it do?
A
- 1965
- made the contraceptive pill legal in all states
- gave women control over their own fertility, giving them more potential to have a successful career
- also associated with the ‘free love’ movement in the 60s
13
Q
What tactics were used to attract media attention in the feminist movement?
A
- protesters discarded items of ‘female oppression’ into a ‘freedom trash can’, such as bras, playboys and makeup
- parallels drawn betweening burning of bras and draft cards
14
Q
What did the rise in the feminist movement prompt Johnson to do?
A
- signed Executive Order 11375
- added sex to the list of race, colour, religion or national origin that the 1964 Civil Rights Act had barred organisations from discriminating on
15
Q
What role did the media have in the feminist movement?
A
- Media provided exhaustive coverage of protest movements: may have ridiculed feminism, but still gave them a national platform to help change attitudes
- by 1968, 24% households had colour TVs and 100million had been sold - increased coverage
