The Politics of Protest Chapter 18

Roots of the Student Movement ◊ Beatniks criticized and rebelled against the uniformity and consumerism of the 1950s ◊ JFK encouraged young people to become active in social causes ◊ Increase in college enrollment

Student Movements ◊ Students for a Democratic (SDS)  Port Huron Statement – set agenda for SDS  Protested the Vietnam War, poverty, campus regulations, nuclear arms, and racism  held an 8 day sit-in at Columbia University ◊ Free Speech Movement  Protest at UC Berkeley over policies that limited the political speech of students

The Counterculture ◊Some young adults gave up on changing American society and opted to leave it = hippies  Rejected: traditional values of the middle class, law and order  Promoted: love, nature, empathy, tolerance and cooperation  Experimented with LSD and eastern religions  Lived in communes

The Summer of Love San Francisco

Impact of the Counterculture Fashion: Rejection of materialism, recycling, Native-American and eastern influence (milt surplus, worn-out, recycled, patched, colorful, comfortable, beaded, fringed, tie dyed) Art: Pop art that used popular images and bright primary colors (Andy Warhol and Ray Lichtenstein) Music: Rock-n-Roll, protest music, festivals (Beatles, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix)

Feminist Movement Begins  1960s -70s women began rebelling against the inequality they faced in American society  Equal Pay Act-men and women must make the same pay for the same job  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-federal agency to fight gender and racial bias in the workplace  Feminism – the belief that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially “The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls.”

The Feminist Movement Begins  Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) exposed the dissatisfaction that many women felt about their lives. “The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women…each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries… chauffeured Cub Souts and Brownies… she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question-‘Is this all?’”

N.O.W.  In 1966, Betty Friedan founded the National Organization of Women (NOW).  Greater educational opportunities  End gender discrimination  Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) “The time has come to confront with concrete action the conditions which now prevent women from enjoying equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right as individual Americans and as human beings.”

Successes and Failures of NOW Title IX (1972)-prohibited public schools from discriminating against girls and women in admissions, academics, and athletics Roe v. Wade (1973)-prohibited State’s from regulating abortion during the first three months of pregnancy under right to privacy Equal Rights Amendment failed to gain the required votes to pass Income gap and the Glass Ceiling-women continued to make less than men and had a difficult time getting promotions

Affirmative Action  In the late 1960s, civil rights leaders turned to affirmative action initiatives to improve the lives of minorities.  Companies and institutions recruit minority employees and students  Bakke v. UC Regents (1978)- upheld affirmative action programs  Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ. (1971)-upheld forced busing to integrate public schools

Hispanic Americans Organize  million Hispanics and growing in the US  Many lacked legal protections and were exploited by employers  Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta organized groups to fight for Hispanic farmworkers  1965-Organized strike against CA growers to recognize farm workers union  Chavez enlisted help from college students, churches and civil rights organizations  The United Farm Workers Union (UFW) successfully led a national grape boycott encouraging 17 million citizens to stop buying grapes = forced CA growers to recognize the union and sign new contracts with better wages and working conditions.

Hispanic Activism and Change La Raza Unida (1969)-mobilized Mexican American voters to push for civil rights, job training, and access to financial institutions Bilingual Education Act (1968)-allowed hispanic students to be taught in their native language LAUSD Walkout (1968)-Hispanic students successfully protested for access to equal education

Native American Activism  American Indian Movement (AIM) organized to fight for economic opportunity, end racism and recognition of govt. treaties  Occupied Alcatraz Is., CA for 19 mos.  Seized Wounded Knee, SD for 70 days

Native American Gains Indian Self Determination Act More Native American in the BIA Land and water rights Electric plants, resorts, cattle ranches and gaming enterprises

Environmental Movement  Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson sparked the modern environmental movement by revealing to America the dangers of pesticides  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded in 1970 to enforce pollution standards, promoting research and legislation to protect our environment