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American Social Movements of the 1960s
I Introduction
The first of American social movement in the 1960s began with the quiet “sit-in”.On February 1, 1960, 4 black students from a black college in Greensboro, North Carolina, began their protest against the racial segregation laws by tactics such as sit-ins, thus beginning the civil movement, which spread from the south to the north.The followings, the civil rights movement together with the youth anti-war and the women’s liberation movements, had deep roots in United States history.All these social movements have two basic characteristics: “structure” and “spontaneity”.“We shall overcome!” “Let it all hang out!” and “Speak your heart without interruption.” expreed their attitude and goals in these movements.II.The Three Social Movements of the 1960s
1.The Civil Rights Movement
During the World War II, many American Negroes were diatisfied with the segregation in Southern states.Black and white children couldn’t go to the same school and most Negroes were not allowed to vote.They were prevented from good jobs and education, which was not the American way of life and couldn’t fulfill their American dreams.The civil rights movements began when black people spontaneously protested segregation laws and created organizations to make the segregation protests succeful.In 1995, the spontaneous action of Rosa Parks, who refused to give her seat to a white man on the bus, was believed to be the true beginning of the civil rights movement.She was jailed by police because she disobeyed the segregation laws.NAACP members raised money to release her from jail;also, they informed other organization about her act of civil disobedience.Black people began to boycott the bus system.The civil rights movement gained support for protest against segregation from Negro churches, community and political organizations, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee(SNCC), the Congre of Racial Equality1
(CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC).Those who worked in the civil rights movement included Negro leaders, blackand white young people, and some profeionals and some housewives.Civil right activists used different direct action tactics.They firstly used “sit-ins” to fight segregation.Later, “freedom rides”, voter registration were added..In the summer of 1963, hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators, marched to Washington, D.C, where Martin Luther King, gave the famous speech “I have a dream.” In 1965, as racial violence continued, black people began to change their nonviolence in fighting discrimination into violence.Stokeley Carmichael was elected new chairman of the SNCC, who spoke about “black power” and organized the Black Panther Party for self-Defense in Oakland in 1966.In September 1961, the federal government declared segregation illegal in all interstate bus stations.In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was paed by Congre and signed into law by Preside-nt Johnson in order to improve the racial relations.The movement had brought several changes.During the first half of the decade, civil rights organizations like SNCC, CORE and SCLC struggled for racial integration by providing leadership, tactics, network and the people.In the half of the decade, some black organizations changed their nonviolent tactics, and emphasized on
more radical means to end discrimination and raised the self-image of the blacks.The civil rights movement produced such great leaders as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X,who inspired a generation of both blacks and whites to devote their lives to fighting for racial equality in the U.S.In June, 1966, the first student to enter the University of Miiippi began a “march against fear” to end the violence against black and white civil rights workers.As a result, segregation was broken down in the 1960s.Southern Afro-American can vote.The black leaders in other parts of the country spoke in favor of black separatism and against nonviolence in fighting discrimination and racism.And many of members in SNCC began to think the tactic of nonviolence was wrong.2.The Youth Movement/Anti-War Movement
Many young people were involved in the social movements of the 1960 because
they resented traditional white values in U.S.society.They believe their fathers were selfish and they don’t want to follow their mothers’ examples either.Young people believed they had the rights to choose the way they would live their lives.They wanted to work at jobs which were interesting, not just to make money.When the Vietnam began, many people thought it was wrong.Young people, black and white, didn’t want to join the army.Mothers didn’t want their sons drafted into the army.Many white students from the North changed a lot after working in the Southduring “Freedom Summer” 1964.They attempted to change the situation at thattime.They gave speeches about the civil rights movement, about nonviolence , and the need to change society and worked to gain support for the civil rights movement.In1964 , a CORE organizer distributed information and collected money, and stated that university authorities should not keep CORE from recruiting new workers for the civil rights movement in the South and that the university’s rule was illegal.Then he was arrested.The students sat around the car for 32 hours in spontaneous, nonviolent, direct action.At last, the teachers and profeors voted to change the rule that violated the 1st and 14th Amendments.The young people’s Free Speech Movement began with succe.In the wake of the Free Speech Movement and the New Left appeared a phenomenon that historians called the “counterculture”.Counterculture rejected capitalism and other American principles.They had morals different from taught by their parents.Some groups of youth tried to construct different ways of life.They
looked for happine and called Hippies which represented a new culture they created.The anti-war movement became more organized as a loose coalition of many organizations and leaders was formed under a series of “Mobilization Committees to End the War in Vietnam.” The organization’s direct action strategies included teach-ins on college campuses, protest marches and rallies, and attacks on federaloffices to destroy draft records by radical anti-war groups.Though most people in the US did not support radical acts of violence, public support for the anti-war movement grew stronger.The president Johnson decided not to run for re-election in 1968 because of the anger of people.In 1973, the US signed a
peace treaty.3.The Women’s Movement
Middle-cla women were well-educated and had the opportunity to work in responsible jobs during WWⅡ.But when men returned from war, they were given the good jobs.Thus, women earned le and had fewer opportunities.They became housewives, isolated at home with their children.The three groups of women and an accident began the women’s movement.The women who formed the movement included profeionals educated women of coloryoung or middle-aged white housewives and mothers , and young activists.The first was a group of profeional women who were appointed to a Commiion on theStatus of Women by President Kennedy in 1961.The second group were mostly white housewives and mothers who read Betty Friedan’s book.The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963.The third group were young activists in the civil rights and anti-war movement ,known as the “women’s liberation group, or “women’s lib”.The accident was a word in the Civil Right Act, which made discrimination in employment based on race or sex illegal.The changes women worked for included changes in economic practices and in social practices and attitudes.To educate the public and gain support, women used many of the same tactics used by the civil rights and anti-war movements and added some of their own tactics.As well, women worked hard in the 1970s to change the image of being feminine.III Conclusion
The social movements of 1960s had a profound effect on the way people thinkand act, and caused changes in many laws.The result of the Civil Rights Movement was that Legal segregation ended in the South.And for the anti-war movement, most of people in US wanted to end the war in Vietnam.The US signed a peace treaty in 1973.The women’s movement continued to gain more rights and opportunities for women.But there still have many problems like these need to be solved in USsociety.
