The 1960’s

Women’s Movement  Spurred by increasing employment opportunities and increasing numbers of educated women  The Movement questioned “traditional” definitions of women’s roles  There became increased opportunities for women in work, education, and business  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination by employers on the basis of gender  National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in 1966 to create equality between the sexes

Betty Friedan  Author and Activists  Published The Feminine Mystique in 1963, which attacked the belief that a women’s sole satisfaction comes through homemaking  Friedan was one of the founders of the National Organization of Women (NOW) to advance women’s rights and causes

Civil Rights Act of 1964  Passed by Lyndon Johnson, who followed Kennedy’s Political agenda  The March on Washington in 1963 aided passage of the Act  The Act strengthened voting rights protection  Prohibited discrimination in places of public accommodations (stores, restaurants, and hotels)  Required the federal government to withdraw support form any state or program that discriminated  Established equal employment Commission to watch hiring practices

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S  A motel operator refused to serve an African- American customer  The Supreme Court upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Which outlawed discrimination in schools, places of work, voting sites, public accommodations, and public areas

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution  North Vietnamese supposedly fired on Americans ships in the Gulf of Tonkin  Congress passed resolution allowing President Johnson to use military action in Vietnam  Johnson retaliated against the Vietcong with bombing attacks in the North, followed by ground troops

Ralph Nader  Political activist and advocate for consumers  His book, Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), shed light on poor safety standards for automobiles, leading Congress to pass auto safety measures  Unsuccessfully ran as a third-party candidate for the United States presidency in 1996, 2000, and 2004

Voting Rights Act of 1965  Signed into law by Lyndon Johnson  Resulted after demonstrations against the measures used to prevent African-Americans from voting; these measures including violence  Voters could no longer be forced to take literacy tests  Provided federal registration of African- American voters in areas that had less than fifty percent of eligible voters registered

Watts Riots  Six-day riot in Watts, a depressed African- American section of Los Angeles  Causes included a drunk-driving arrest of a young African American and claims and of police brutality  Thirty-four deaths and over 200 million worth of property damage resulted  Sparked other riots throughout the country

Malcolm X  African-American advocate and leader who moved away from Martin Luther King’s non-violent methods of civil disobedience  While in prison, he became a Black Muslim and later a minister in the Nation of Islam  The leader of the Black Muslims, Elijah Muhammad, suspended Malcolm X when he made derogatory remarks about Presidents Kennedy’s assassination  Malcolm X formed a new organization, the Muslim Mosque  After a pilgrimage to Mecca, he converted to Orthodox Islam and began publicly accepting the idea of cooperation between blacks and whites  Assassinated in New York City during a speech; assailants were said to be with the Black Muslim group But this has never been confirmed

Black Panthers  Founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in California  Called for African-Americans to become liberated through violence  Provided free lunches to African-American children  Have been involved in various violent over the years

Robert F. Kennedy  Brother of President John F. Kennedy  Served as Attorney General under President Kennedy  Elected as senator from New York in 1964  Pushed for desegregation and elections regulations  Presidential candidate in 1968  Assassinated in California by Sirhan Sirhan in June 1968

Cesar Chavez  Migrant Farmer who founded the National Farm Workers Association  His goal was to defeat persecution throughout the migrant worker system  Used strikes, picketing, and marches to help workers

Counter Culture Movement  Began at Berkeley with free speech movement  Belief included women’s liberation, anti-materialism, and opposition of the war in Vietnam  Experimented with Drugs and sex  Young people who favored the counterculture were called “hippies”  The Woodstock Music and Art Festival in New York State (1969) marked the culmination of the counterculture movement