AntiWar Protest Vietnam as Proxy War France conquered

Anti-War Protest

Vietnam as Proxy War • • France conquered Vietnam in 1880 s – 1940, WWII - Japan takes over French fight to regain control in 1946 – Nationalist Independence Movement (Communist) - leader: Ho Chi Minh – USA stayed out: Ho Chi Minh stated he only wanted independence • • 1949 Mao Zedong won control of China and USA fears Minh is China’s puppet government USA pays France $ Millions/year to help with the war and set up rival government in South. Eventually, French are crushed at the battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954) Geneva Peace Conference: French agreed to leave and Vietnam was left divided

Escalation and the Gulf of Tonkin • Troop deployment continues to increase throughout 1961 -62 • U. S. ship attacked in Gulf of Tonkin in 1965 • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, gives President Johnson power to increase troop presence • Combat units deployed in 1965

Tet Offensive: 1968 • Major offensive launched by North Vietnamese Army • U. S. and South Vietnamese forces surprised, but eventually beat back attacks • U. S. public surprised by size of attack

Opposition to Vietnam • American public increasingly opposed to the war, especially after the Tet Offensive • Opposition to the Draft – – Kennedy Husbands Baby Boomers Hippies Drew from lower and middle classes

My Lai Massacre • Mass killing of 347 -504 civilians in 1968 by U. S. forces • “it was necessary to destroy the village to save it” • Winning the hearts and minds

Kent State: 1970 • Student protest increased after four students shot by Ohio Army National Guard • Nationwide student protests to war

Role of Media • American civilians exposed to the conflict like never before • American support for war decreased after exposure to atrocities • Citizens questioned purpose of war

“If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read ‘Vietnam’. ” - Martin Luther King Jr. , 1967

Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Board of Education: 1954 • Ruling in 1954 that segregation of black and white students was unconstitutional • Resistance was mixed, some schools closed rather than integrate • White Flight became common in schools in both the North and South

Montgomery Bus Boycott: 1955 -56 • Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus • Highlighted the strategy of non-violent resistance • Became a focal point for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and civil rights

Freedom Rides: 1961 • Awareness campaign of desegregation by black and white activists through the South • Riders were frequently attacked, the bus was fire bombed • Organized opposition between law enforcement and KKK

March on Washington: 1963 • Demanded: – – – Civil rights laws Federal works programs Decent housing Full and fair employment The right to vote Adequate integrated education • “I have a dream…”

Civil Rights Act: 1964 • President Lyndon B. Johnson carries on JFK’s social reforms after the latter is assassination • The act banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Selma/Voting Rights Act: 1965 • • • Campaigning to register black voters met with resistance Jim Crow laws March organized from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama State and local law enforcement attacked marchers with clubs, tear gas, tubes wrapped in barbed wire, and whips National attention drawn when white activists killed following march Act suspended poll taxes, literacy tests, and other pre-requisite requirements for voting

Women’s Rights/Roe v. Wade: 1973 • Supreme court case that upheld woman’s right to decide on having an abortion • Women have right to privacy in making decision to have abortion

Idle No More • A continuing protest begun in 2012 • Grassroots movement of Aboriginal peoples in Canada • Reaction to omnibus bill C-45 that was seen as abusing Indigenous treaty rights

Occupy Wall Street • Protest started on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, NY • Meant to draw attention to social and economic inequality worldwide, influence of corporations on government • Initiated by Canadian anticonsumerist group Adbusters

Black Lives Matter • International activist movement drawing attention to systemic racism toward black people • Begun with #blacklivesmatter after a white security guard was acquitted for shooting an unarmed black teenager • Largely a decentralized movement with no formal structure

Standing Rock • #No. DAPL • Grassroots protest regarding the building of a pipeline • Threat to clean water source and traditional burial grounds • Water Protectors