1.2 Flashcards

Question

In Kennedy’s 1963 speech on civil rights, what stat did he mention

Answer 1

57% of African Americans lived in unacceptable housing | Average life expectancy for African Americans was 7 years less than whites

Answer 2

Significant number of black politicians by 1980 Socio-economic employment score of black American men moved from an average of 16 in 1940, to 21 in 1960, to 31 in 1980 Score for black women went from 13 to 21 to 36 More black Americans voted - between 1965 and 1966, a further 230000 black people registered to vote

Answer 3

Affirmative action orders, although followed, resulted in a ‘minority quota’ way of thinking - (‘we’ve got enough minority employees now’) The death of King made some people turn from black civil rights to other issues The poor were getting poorer - more of them were falling below the poverty line than in 1959 - the American census of 1960 reported that 46% of America’s black population were living in ‘unsound’ accommodation More black children in schools, but most of these schools were in the poorest areas and some were still segregated In 1968, 58% of black school children in southern states remained in segregated schools Crime rates were higher - in 1980, 75% of black high school dropouts, aged 25-34, had criminal records

Answer 4

Deportation - Operation Wetback Workers rights Discrimination Land

Answer 5

Reies Tijerina organised protests about Mexican land rights in New Mexico Cesar Chavez had a non-violent campaign for the rights of farm workers, focusing on working conditions Cesar Chavez also set up the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 Jose Gutierrez led the La Rama Unida party and set out to encourage Hispanic people to register to vote Young Puerto Ricans in Chicago set up the Young Lords Organisation in 1969, modelled on the Black Panthers, even down to providing breakfast clubs for local school children The Brown Berets were a young, militant organisation set up in 1967 that campaigned against police brutality

Answer 6

In 1973, there were widespread strikes and demonstrations in response to 1970 farm worker contracts not being renewed 1968, Chavez went on a 25-day hunger fast, in which Robert Kennedy joined him for the end of the fast 1968, over 10000 students walk out of mainly Mexican schools in East LA, protesting the conditions - 13 activists are arrested 1971 - Brown Berets march 1000 miles to protest against police brutality and all forms of discrimination

Answer 7

1954 Supreme Court ruled that Hispanic people were equal citizens 1968 Mexican American Legal Defense and Education set up to pursue civil rights in the courts 1966 Congress’ Cuban American Adjustment Act said all Cubans who had lived in the USA for a year were permanent residents 1975 Voting Rights Act extension provided language assistance to Hispanic groups

Answer 8

Although local campaigning improved schools and housing, the level of change varied from place to place, as did the levels of enforcement of these legal rights

Answer 9

Tribal homelands | Self-determination

Answer 10

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) American Indian Movement (AIM) - ‘Red Power’ National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Nixon rejected both termination and forced assimilation, and sympathised with Native American rights campaigners

Answer 11

1972 - AIM Trail of Broken Treaties, a protest drive to Washington to protest outside the BIA about BIA management of many issues. 1973 - AIM occupies the village of Wounded Knee and declares independence as the Oglala Sioux Nation. The government sends in US Marshall’s and the state police - the siege lasts 71 days and AIM only withdrew once the government agreed to an investigation of its demands and grievances 1978 - The Longest Walk from San Francisco to Washington to protest about the forced removal of American Indians from their homelands and against Congress’ unwillingness to renegotiate treaties

Answer 12

1970 Congress returned land at Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo Tribe 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act transferred 40 million acres of land and $462500000 to Native Alaskans 1972 Indian Education Act - funded tribal schools 1974 Indian Financing Act - lent tribes funding 1975 Voting Rights Act extension provided language assistance to Native Americans when voting 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act gave Native Americans more control over the adoption of Native American Children

Answer 13

Nixon’s administration did not reform the BIA, nor did Nixon renegotiate about Native American sacred sites There was no overall solution to the land issues, and various states such as Hawaii in 1971, continued to evict Indians from land if the state wanted it for building or other use

Answer 14

The ‘Lavender Scare’ rooted out homosexuals; thousands lost their jobs Homosexuality was not decriminalised across the USA until 2003 In the 1950s, Congress said that homosexuality was a mental illness Certain groups were very anti gay, for example the KKK

Answer 15

Gay Liberation Front Gay Rights Movement 1977 Harvey Milk was elected to office in San Francisco - was assassinated in 1978 1974 Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay candidate elected to public office

Answer 16

Gay Pride marches were held in several cities in 1970 - the New York March alone had about 10000 marchers 1979 - Dan White, Milk’s assassin, is given only 7 years in prison for the killing. As a result, over 5000 protestors march on San Francisco’s city hall and rioting breaks out - over 120 people injured 1980, Democratic Party says it will not discriminate against gays and will campaign for their rights

Answer 17

Between 1979-81, the governor of California appointed four openly gay state judges 1980, a gay teenage boy sued his high school for the right to bring a male date to the school prom - he won

Answer 18

Gay support at a federal level was slow coming Religious right opposed gay rights and gained support from conservatives and some republicans, even Ronald Reagan Proposition 6 - a law proposed in California in 1978 to ban gays, lesbians and supporters of their rights from working in state-funded schools in California In 1977, a law was proposed to stop discrimination in housing, public facilities and employment - Anita Bryan set up Save Our Children (SOC) and collected petitions against the law, saying gay integration meant ‘normal’ children would become corrupted. The law was rejected