Civil Rights and Counter- Culture 1950s: The “Age of Affluence”: unprecedented economic advancement The End of World War II: The G.I. Bill; creation of suburban America; new affordability of houses and more access to education “Happy Days”: television paced 50s culture with images of America as successful, placid, even – Father Knows Best and the Andy Griffith’s Show

1950s: the Communist Menace Successful detonation of a nuclear device by the Soviets in 1949 began the Arms Race Arms manufacture in the US: Enormous role in the economic success of the 50s Communism provided Americans with a powerful narrative of national identity Renewal of faith in American Dream: individualism, hard work, opportunity, patriotism the only way to deflect the spread of communism.

1950s: the Critique of Complacency “The Power Elite”: concentration of economic and political power in the hands of the few Sexual Revolution: the Kinsey Report disclosed difference between public and private behavior The Selling of Sex The Pill

1950s: The Feminine Mystique Friedan: attack on conservative vision of gender relations employed by both sociologists and popular “authorities” Vision of contented women contrasted to reality of bored, frustrated women Kinsey, the Pill, offered a new form of agency to women otherwise “mystified” by the conservative, 50s vision of the contented housewife and mother.

The challenge of feminism Feminism: women’s lives should not be defined by their function in society “Functionalism”: suggests that women are not individuals because their “role” is so important to a contented society Women should claim their individual worth on their own terms, rather than perform a social or political function

Another Challenge: Civil Rights Jim Crow and Legal Segregation 1954: Brown vs. Board of Education Little Rock: enforced de-segregation Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott “Freedom Rides” JFK Election and Southern Democrats 1963: March on Washington: August 1963: Assassination of MLK: November 1964: Civil Rights Act

Black Power New positive affirmation of black identity “Black is beautiful” Malcolm X: Violence is necessary Watts riot (1965); Newark (1967); Detroit (1967)

Black Power and Liberal Politics Black activism of the 60s insisted on importance of race Legal Racism no longer allowed; replaced with “Economic Racism” American political culture could no longer pretend that race isn’t part of the nation’s political order.

Role of Government in America Old Debate: does the government exist to protect individual liberty, or rather to minimize the social problems created by capitalism? Tension between individual liberty, and the government’s ability to check it. Country split over Civil Rights not something radically new