Changes and Counterculture Early 1960 s Civil Rights

Changes and Counterculture

Early 1960 s Civil Rights � 1960 Greensboro Woolworth Sit-in � 1961 Freedom Riders �CORE – Congress of Racial Equality �Attacks on people brought national attention � 1962 James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss �Why is this a big deal?

Election Equality �Baker v. Carr – (1961 - Warren Court) declared that State House districts must be based on population counts � - Shifted political power away from rural areas � - Gave urban and suburban areas more political representation � - “One-person, One-vote” concept

1963 Civil Rights April – Birmingham Marches. MLK jailed. TV cameras caught Bull Connor’s police actions June – Gov. George Wallace’s Doorstep speech at ‘Bama June – NAACP leader Medgar Evers murdered June – JFK asks for Civil Rights Bill. What does Congress do? August – March on Washington – “I have a dream” speech

1964 � 24 th Amendment – Outlawed Poll taxes �Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson �Outlawed segregation (De jure – “by law”) �How did he use the death of JFK? �Heart of Atlanta Motel vs. U. S �Upholds Civil Rights Act using Commerce Clause �MLK wins Nobel Peace prize �Freedom Summer �Student volunteers went to South to register voters

1965 �Selma March (Alabama) garners national attention �“bloody Sunday” �Voting Rights Act �Eliminates many barriers to voting �Monitors many areas known to suppress the vote � 1963 -1965 was basically the height of the Civil Rights movement

Late 60 s Civil Rights – Northern problems � Urban Riots – mainly in northern cities �Harlem ’ 64, Watts ’ 65, 43 in 1966, 8 major ones in ’ 67 (Detroit) � 1968, MLK assassinated by James Earl Ray (over 60 cities riot) � Kerner Commission established by Congress to study why �Conclusion- racism/segregation � De Facto Segregation – by practice/custom � White flight, redlining, police brutality � Civil Rights Act 1968 �Aimed to end discrimination in housing �How can the Civil Rights Act of 1964 be seen as a battle against South racism and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 against northern racism?

If it does not change fast enough… �Many blacks felt that civil rights progress was too slow with passive resistance. Some groups advocated selfdefense and racial pride. �Nation of Islam �Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm (Little) X �Black Panthers �Huey Newton and Bobby Seale �“Black Power” – Stokely Carmichael �Urban riots, Idea of Separate Nation, Reparations

Firsts � First African-American Senator – Hirem Revels (1870) �Second – Blanche Bruce � First African-American Cabinet Member – Robert Weaver (1966) � First African-American Supreme Court Justice – Thurgood Marshall (1967) �What did he do before? �Second – Clarence Thomas

Counter-Culture Movement �Started in 1950 s with Beatniks �Haight-Ashbury district in San Fran, Greenwich Village in NYC �“Flower Children” to later “hippies” �Movement marked by rock-n-roll, hallucinogenic drugs, and their hope for and idyllic community (“communes”) �Tim Leary’s Credo – “Tune in, Turn on, Drop out. ” �Culture declined, but left its mark with the sexual revolution and changed attitudes (do your own thing).

Music �Folk Songs – Vietnam Protests � 1969 – Woodstock �Idealist festival soon challenged by violence at Altamont (SF) festival �Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix

The New Left emerges in the 1960 s �Mixture of groups �Anti-Vietnam (SDS – Students for Democratic Society) �Anti-war / Anti-Nukes �Free Speech Movement – Berkley (People’s Park) �Feminists �Civil Rights – African-American, Native American, Hispanics �Environmentalists �Gay Liberation � 1968 Election �Richard Nixon campaigns as “Law and Order Man” �RFK’s assassination / Democratic Convention in Chicago

Feminism �Betty Friedan’s book – The Femine Mystique launches movement �NOW – National Organization for Woman created in 1966 �Fought for Equal Pay Act �Fought for ERA – Equal Rights Amendment �Never ratified by the 38 required states by the 1982 deadline. �Why not? �Pro-Choice – Roe v. Wade (1973) �Title IX – equality in school programs

Other women to know �Gloria Steinem – journalist, voice in feminist movement �Phyllis Schlafly – conservative woman who opposed ERA �Those who broke the “glass ceiling” �Sandra Day O’Connor – first female Supreme Court Justice � Ruth Bader Ginsberg - second �Sally Ride – first female astronaut �Geraldine Ferrero – 1 st female on major party ticket (’ 84 Dems VP) � Sarah Palin - second

Other Movements �Stonewall – 1969 �Stonewall Club Riots (NY) �Started the Gay Liberation front �By mid-1970 s, Homosexuality no longer classified as mental illness �Environmental Movement �Inspired by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring � 1 st Earth Day – 1970 �Environment Protection Agency (EPA) started in 1970 �Clean Water Act 1972 �Clean Air Acts

Latinos / Hispanics �Cesar Chavez started the United Farm Workers (1975) �Led boycotts �Won rights for bilingual education Native Americans �AIM – American Indian Movement (1968) �Militant actions �Occupied Alcatraz (1969) �Indian Bureau (1972) �Wounded Knee (1973) �Won many rights in the ’ 70 s and ’ 80 s

Conservative Reaction � 1968 Election and 1980 Election – Nixon and Reagan gather support in reaction to the “New Left” Groups � Neo Cons (New Conservatives) �“Pro-family” movement �Nixon – “Silent Majority” � Moral Majority – by Jerry Farwell � Christian Coalition – Pat Robertson � Reagan tried to change policies with appointments to federal courts � Judicial Federalism

Correcting History � Affirmative Action Programs �Started in the 1960 s to help minorities �Not supposed to use quotas, but why did some use them? �Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) � University could use race as a factor, but not quotas � Reverse Discrimination �Proposition 209 (California- 1996) – Prohibited gov’t agencies from considering race, gender, or ethnicity in hiring or admissions