Chapter 25

1. Chapter 25 Norton Media Library Give Me Liberty! An American History Second EditionVolume 2 by Eric Foner

2. I. Escalation of civil rights protest • High points • Sit-in campaigns • Origins at Greensboro • Spread across South • Founding of Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • Freedom Rides • Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) • Purpose • Experience • Outcome: desegregation of interstate bus travel

3. I. Escalation of civil rights protest (cont’d) • Birmingham desegregation campaign • Climax of region-wide demonstrations • Leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. • Letter from Birmingham Jail • Deployment of black school children • Brutal response of “Bull” Connor; widespread revulsion over • Impact on public opinion • Growing sympathy for civil rights • Presidential endorsement of movement • Outcome: adoption of desegregation plan

4. I. Escalation of civil rights protest (cont’d) • Themes and characteristics • Growing involvement of college students, youth • Vision of empowerment of ordinary blacks • Commitment to nonviolent resistance • Multiplicity of organizations, settings, and strategies • Escalation of violent response • Perpetrators • Ordinary citizens • Local and state officials

5. I. Escalation of civil rights protest (cont’d) • Targets, episodes • Firebombing, beatings of Freedom Riders • Mob violence, against desegregation of University of Mississippi • Use of fire hoses, dogs, beatings against Birmingham protesters • Assassination of Medgar Evers • Deadly bombing of Birmingham church

6. I. Escalation of civil rights protest (cont’d) • March on Washington (August 1863) • Magnitude: 250,000 • As peak of nonviolent civil rights coalition • Breadth of demands • Unemployment, minimum wage, employment discrimination • King’s “I Have a Dream” speech • Glimpses of movement’s limitations and fault lines • All-male roster of speakers • Toning down of John Lewis’s speech • Sherman’s “march to the sea”

7. The Kennedy Presidency • John F. Kennedy (JFK) • Image of glamour, dynamism • Inaugural themes • “…new generation…” • “…pay any price…” • “…do for your country.” • JFK and the world • New Cold War initiatives • Peace Corps • Space race; call for moon landing • Alliance for Progress (Latin America) • Bay of Pigs fiasco

8. II. The Kennedy Presidency (cont’d) • Cuban missile crisis • Narrative • Discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba • U.S. “quarantine” of Cuba • Soviet withdrawal of missiles • Significance and aftermath • Imminence of nuclear war • Sobering effect on JFK • American University speech (quote, pg. 920) • Nuclear test ban treaty • JFK and civil rights • Initial disengagement: wiretapping of King; local nature of civil rights • Growing support: Birmingham!

9. II. The Kennedy Presidency (cont’d) • Assassination of JFK • Shock to nation • Succession of Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) to presidency

10. III. The Johnson presidency • LBJ • Personal background • New Deal outlook • Civil rights under LBJ • Civil Rights Act (1964) • Support from LBJ (quote on page 922) • Provisions • Prohibited racial discrimination in employment • Prohibited racial discrimination in public institutions • Banned gender discrimination • Voter registration drive in Mississippi: Freedom Summer • Concerted civil rights initiative: SNCC, CORE, NAACP • Influx of white college students • Violent reception • Bombings, beatings • Murder of three activists: Schwerner, Goodman, Chaney • Widespread revulsion over

11. III. The Johnson presidency (cont’d) • Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party • Crusade for representation at Democratic convention • Fannie Lou Hamer • Bitterness over Democrats’ response • Voting Rights Act • Background • Selma-to-Montgomery march (1965) • LBJ address to Congress • Provisions • Twenty-Fourth Amendment • Immigration reform: Hart-Cellar Act • Links to civil rights reform • Provisions • Long-term consequences

12. III. The Johnson presidency (cont’d) • 1964 election • Right-wing views of Republican Barry Goldwater • Aggressive Cold War stance (nuclear war) • Anti-New Deal: Social Security, graduated income tax • Emergence of Sixties conservatism • Young Americans for Freedom • Sharon Statement • Ideas • Prominence in Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign • New conservative constituencies • Expanding suburbs of southern California, Southwest • Sun Belt entrepreneurs • Deep South whites • Racial overtones of conservative appeal • 1962 YAF Freedom Award to Strom Thurmond • LBJ’s landslide reelection victory • Seeds of conservative resurgence

13. Map 97

14. III. The Johnson presidency (cont’d) • Great Society • Goals and philosophies • Government action to promote general welfare • Fulfillment and expansion of New Deal agenda • Eradication of poverty • Broadening of opportunity • Lessening of inequality • New conception of freedom • Key measures • Medicaid and Medicare • Increased funding for education, urban development • Increased funding for the arts, humanities, public broadcasting

15. III. The Johnson presidency (cont’d) • War on Poverty (see figure 25.1 on page 928) • Outlook • Influence of Michael Harrington’s The Other America • Emphasis on fostering skills, work habits • De-emphasis on direct aid, structural remedies • Input of poor into local programs • Key measures • Food stamps • Office of Economic Opportunity initiatives • Achievements • Affirmation of social citizenship • Substantial reduction of poverty • Limitations • Inadequate funding • Long-term persistence of poverty, inequality

16. IV. Evolution of black movement • Emerging challenges to civil rights movement • Persistence of racial inequality and injustice, North and South • Diverging perspectives of whites and blacks on racial issues • Ghetto uprisings around nation • Leading episodes: Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit • Kerner Report: blamed violence on segregation and poverty • Growing attention to economic issues • King’s “Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged” (see quote, page 930) • A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin’s Freedom Budget • $100 billion over 10 years • King’s Chicago Freedom Movement • Demands: equal access to mortgages, integration of public housing, and availability of low-income housing • Mayor Richard J. Daley’s political machine • Ineffectiveness of mass protest tactics • Radicalization of King (see quote, page 931)

17. IV. Evolution of black movement (cont’d) C. Malcolm X • Background • Black Muslims • Message (see quote on page 931) • Black self-determination • Rejection of integration, nonviolence • Assassination • Legacy • Lack of consistent ideology or coherent movement • Enduring appeal of call for black self-reliance

18. IV. Evolution of black movement (cont’d) • Black Power • Introduction by Stokely Carmichael, SNCC leader • Imprecision and multiplicity of meanings • Resonance among militant youth • Place in wider spirit of self-assertion; “black is beautiful” • Militant directions of SNCC, CORE • Black Panther Party (Oakland, CA) • Emergence: 1966 • Demands and programs • Demise • Internal divisions • Assault by government

19. V. Birth of New Left • Arena: college campuses • Following: white middle-class youth • Spirit and ideology • Departure from Old Left and New Deal liberal models • Aspects of postwar society brought under challenge • Personal alienation • Social and political conformity • Bureaucratization • Corporate, Cold War outlook of American institutions • Material acquisitiveness • Social and economic inequality • Gulfs between national values and realities • Visions and inspirations • “Authenticity”: American values v. American reality • “Participatory democracy” • Black freedom struggle

20. V. Birth of New Left • Key moments • Influential social critiques • James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time • Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring • Michael Harrington’s The Other America • Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities • Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) • Emergence and growth • Port Huron Statement • Free Speech Movement at Berkeley • See quote on page 935

21. VI. War in Vietnam • America’s growing involvement (pre-LBJ) • Outlook of policymakers (see quote on page 935) • Cold War assumptions • Ignorance of Vietnamese history, culture • Fear of “losing” Vietnam • Key developments • Defeat of French colonialism • Fostering of Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam • Dispatch of counter-insurgency “advisers” • Collapse of Diem regime; U.S.-backed coup (October 1963)

22. VI. War in Vietnam (cont’d) • Johnson’s war • LBJ’s initial outlook (see quote on page 938) • Escalation • Gulf of Tonkin resolution (August 1964) • Initiation of air strikes • Introduction of ground troops • Increasing magnitude of troop presence, bombing • Brutality • Bombing • Chemical defoliation, napalm • “Search and destroy” missions; “body counts” • Lack of progress • Resilience of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces • Failings of South Vietnamese government

23. Map 98

24. VI. War in Vietnam (cont’d) • Opposition at home • Emerging critiques • Antiwar movement • Early stirrings • SDS rallies • Themes • Growth • Draft resistance • 1967 Washington rally

25. VII. Wider currents of dissent • Counterculture • Spread among youth • College students • Working class • Spirit and vision • Rejection of mainstream values • Challenge to authority • Community, creativity, pleasure over pursuit of wealth • Cultural “liberation” • “Sexual revolution”

26. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • Symbols and manifestations • Physical appearance, fashion • “Sex, drugs, rock and roll” • Be-Ins • Timothy Leary; LSD • “Turn on, tune in, drop out” • New forms of radical action • Underground newspapers • Youth International Party (“Yippies”) • Communes • Rock festivals; Woodstock • Hair

27. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • Reawakening of feminism • Status of women at outset of 1960s • Legal subordination • Barriers to power, opportunity • Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique • Steps toward equal rights • Equal Pay Act • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission • Founding of National Organization for Women • Range of demands • Middle-class character

28. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • Rise of “women’s liberation” • Roots in civil rights and student movements • Inspiration of movements’ ideals • Indignation against movements’ inequalities • Key initiatives • Protests within SNCC, SDS • “Consciousness-raising” groups • Miss America beauty pageant protest • Impact on public consciousness • Expansion of idea of freedom • Introduction of “sexism,” “sexual politics,” “the personal is political” • Campaigns and demands • Abortion rights; reproductive freedom • Wide-ranging issues; Sisterhood is Powerful • Growing acceptance of feminist ideas

29. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • Rise of gay liberation • Traditional oppression of gays • Legal and cultural stigmatization • Harassment of gay subcultures • Stonewall revolt • Emergence of militant movement • “Out of the closet” • Gay pride marches • Latino activism • Chicano pride movement • United Farm Workers • Cesar Chavez • Blend of civil rights and labor struggles • Grape strike, boycott • Young Lords Organization (New York) • Feminist current

30. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • Indian militancy • Background: shifting Indian policies of postwar administrations • Demands • Material aid • Self-determination • Initiatives • Founding of American Indian Movement • Occupation of Alcatraz; Red Power movement • Impact

31. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • New environmentalism • Themes • Critique of prevailing notions of progress, social welfare • Activist, youth-oriented style • Language of citizen empowerment • Initiatives • Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring • Campaign to ban DDT • Expanding range of causes, organizations • Progress • Bipartisan appeal • Clean Air and Clean Water Acts • Endangered Species Act • Inauguration of Earth Day

32. VII. Wider currents of dissent (cont’d) • Consumer activism • Ralph Nader • Unsafe at Any Speed • Subsequent investigations • Spread of consumer protection laws, regulations

33. VIII. Rights revolution under Warren Court • Warren Court • Reaffirmation of civil liberties • Curtailing of McCarthyite persecution • Intertwining of civil liberties and civil rights • NAACP v. Alabama • New York Times v. Sullivan • Loving v. Virginia • Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. • Imposition of Bill of Rights protections on states • Bars on illegal search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment • Right of defendant to speedy trial, legal representation • Miranda v. Arizona

34. VIII. Rights revolution under Warren Court (cont’d) • Political reapportionment: Baker v. Carr • Reinforcement of separation of church and state • Establishment of right to privacy • Griswold v. Connecticut • Roe v. Wade • Implications for women’s rights • Source of ongoing controversy

35. IX. 1968: climax of Sixties turmoil • Momentous events around nation • Tet offensive (January); repercussions at home • Eugene McCarthy’s (anti-war) challenge to LBJ for nomination • New Hampshire primary • Withdrawal of LBJ (March) • Assassination of King (April); subsequent urban unrest • Student revolt at Columbia University • Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (June) • Antiwar protests, police riot at Chicago Democratic convention (August) • Weather Underground

36. IX. 1968: climax of Sixties turmoil (cont’d) • Momentous events around the world • Worker-student uprising in France • Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia • Killing of student protesters at Mexico City Olympics • Comeback of Richard Nixon • Stages • Attainment of Republican nomination • Narrow election victory over Hubert Humphrey (43.4 – 42.7 %) • Independent campaign of George Wallace (13.5%) • Sources • Conservative backlash • Resonance of appeals to “silent majority,” “law and order”

37. Map 99