Chapter 29: Civil Rights, Vietnam, & the Ordeal of Liberalism Flashcards
(46 cards)
New Frontier
JFK had campaigned promising a set of domestic reforms described as the New Frontier
Congress dominated by Republicans and conservative Democrats posed challenges to him, though
managed a tariff reduction and began building an agenda that called for significant tax cut to help the economy
Kennedy Assassinated
November 22, 1963 in Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
VP Lyndon Johnson replaced him
Great Society
a reform program made by Lyndon Johnson, much of it approved thanks to his skillful lobbying in Congress
reflected Johnson’s belief in active use of power (between 1963 and 66, Johnson compiled most impressive legislative effort since FDR)
Barry Goldwater
conservative right wing senator from Arizona who ran against Johnson in the 1964 presidential elections
was beat by Johnson by a lot, and elections also resulted in record democratic majorities in both houses of congress, ensuring Johnson would be able to fulfill many of his goals
Medicare & Medicaid
1965: medicare: a program to provide federal aid to the elderly for medical expenses
1966: medicaid: program by Johnson which extended federal medical assistance to welfare recipients and other indigent people of all ages
importance: smaller steps in a much larger war on poverty, and first time since 1930’s that the fed. government took steps to create new social welfare programs
war on poverty
program planned by Kennedy, enacted by Johnson
at the centerpiece of this was the Office of Economic Opportunity, which created an array of new educational, employment, housing, and health-care programs. But OEO was controversial b/c of its commitment to the idea of “community action”
Community Action programs
comm. action was an effort to involve members of poor communities themselves in the planning and administration of the programs designed to help them
provided jobs for many poor and gave them experience in political work
many who went on to have successful careers (black, hispanic, Indian politicians) got their start in Comm. Action programs
despite success, was impossible to sustain b/c of administrative failures and excesses of a few agencies damaging the pop. image of CA programs . helped reduce poverty, but didn’t eliminate it.
Dep’t of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
1966: a new cabinet agency, established by Johnson
reflected federal efforts to promote the revitalization of decaying cities and to strengthen the nation’s schools
Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965
JFK had long previously fought for federal aid to public education, but failed b/c of two obstacles: fear that this would lead to federal control of the schools, and Catholics insisted that fed. assistance must extend to parochial schools also
bill created by Johnson, bills extended aid to both private and parochial schools and based the aid on the economic conditions of the students, not on the needs of the schools themselves
important results: total federal expenditures for education rose from 5 billion to 12 billion between 1964 and 1967
Immigration Act of 1965
one of most important pieces of legislation of 1960’s
law maintained strict limit on the number of newcomers admitted to the country each year (170,000) but eliminated “national origins” system established in the 20’s, which gave preference to immigrants from N Europe
continued to restrict from Latin America, but gave equal access to Europe, Asia, and Africa
effects: by early 1970’s, character of US immigration had changed, with members of new national groups, particularly large groups of Asians, entering US and changing character of US population
legacies of the Great Society
negative views:
Great Society reforms meant increase in federal spending, and for a time, rising tax revenues from growing economy compensated. Great Society programs began to multiply, however, and as they began to compete with escalating costs of military ventures, federal spending rapidly outpaced increases in revenue.
high costs, failures of many of the programs contributed to growing disillusionment in later years with the idea of federal efforts to solve social problems
funding for Great Society competed with funding for Vietnam
positive views:
despite many failures, it was also responsible for significant achievements
reduced hunger, made medical care available to elderly and poor who wouldn’t have been able to afford it, greatest reduction in poverty in US history, and it affected blacks and whites in about the same proportion
statistic: 1959: 21% of Americans live below poverty line… 1969: 12% remain below the line
Greensboro sit-in
Feb. 1960: black college students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter, and in following weeks, similar demonstrations spread throughout the South, forcing many merchants to integrate their facilities
a cry for fundamental change in response to Kennedy being sympathetic to the cause, but not a committed crusader (his help in bailing out MLK from prison in 1960 gained him many black voters, but he was hesitant to go full force because he didn’t want to alienate southern Democrat voters. he strove for modest progress without creating politically damaging division.)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
formed in fall of 1960, worked to keep the spirit of resistance alive
freedom rides
1961: interracial group of students, working with the CORE, began freedom rides (reviving a tactic that was unsuccessful in the 1940’s)
tried to force the desegregation of bus stations, but traveling by bus throughout the south
met with such violence that Kennedy had to dispatch federal marshals to keep the peace, and he ordered integration of all bus/train stations
Birmingham, Alabama 1963
events here helped bring the growing movement to something of a climax, and signaled to the president that the issue of race could no longer be avoided. Birmingham = heavily committed to segregation
- MLK launched series of nonviolent demonstrations. Police Commissioner Eugene Bull Connor supervised brutal effort to break up peaceful marches with dogs, tear gas, electric cattle prods, fire hoses, which was televised.
- Souther governor George Wallace, pro-segregation, refused to allow court-ordered enrollment of several black students. Arrival of federal Marshals and JFK made him budge, but his stunt made him popular with whites uncomfortable with integration.
- NAACP official Medgar Evers was murdered in Mississippi.
leader-centered vs. grassroots narratives of the civil rights movement
tbd
March on Washington
August 1963: more than 200,000 demonstrators marched down the Mall in Washington D.C. and gathered before the Lincoln memorial for greatest civil rights demonstration in the nation’s history.
Afterwards, MLK gave his “I have a dream” speech
march = high mark of peaceful, interracial civil rights movement
Civil Rights Act of 1964
after JFK assassinated, Johnson applied both public and private pressure, and the Senate passed the most comprehensive civil rights bill in the nation’s history
outlawed public segregation and discrimination, also discrim in the workplace
“freedom summer”
a campaign for black voting rights during the summer of 1964
thousands of civil rights workers, black and white, N and S, spread throughout S to work on behalf of black voter registration and participation.
produced a violent response from some S whites: 3 freedom workers murdered by KKK with the support of Mississippi police
produced also the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party, and integrated alternative to the regular state party organization
Voting Rights Act of 1965
1965: King organized major demonstration in Selma, Alabama to press the demand for voting rights - met with brutal violence which was televised
national outrage helped push LBJ to propose and win passage for Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided federal protection to blacks attempting to exercise their right to vote
de jure v. de facto segregation
de jure: segregation by law
de facto: segregation in practice, as through residential patterns
the battle against school segregation bad moved beyond the initial de jure segregation to an attack on de facto segregation, thus carrying the fight into N cities
affirmative action
an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination
LBJ gave his support of this in 1965, and over the next decade, affirmative action guidelines gradually extended to all institutions doing business with or receiving funds from the federal government (including schools/universities)
Watts riot
summer of 1965: urban poverty was thrust into national attention when violence broke out in neighborhoods of major cities, revealed deep anger blacks had toward local police
Watts, LA: white police officer struck black with his club → triggered storm of anger and a week of violence
10,000 ppl involved in violence : attacking white motorists, burning buildings, looting stores, sniping @ policemen
in summer of 66: 43 additional outbreaks, esp. in Chicago and Cleveland
importance: 1. Commission on Civil Disorders in 1968 recommended massive spending to eliminate the abysmal conditions of the ghettos, and 2. to many white Americans, the lesson of riots was the need for stern measures to be taken against violence
black power
disillusionment with ideal of peaceful change in cooperation with whites → turn to philosophy: “black power,” which could mean many things, but essentially was a move away from interracial cooperation and toward increased awareness of racial distinctiveness
movement had roots in slavery and 20th expression in Garvey movement of 20’s
social impacts:
instill racial pride in AA’s
growth of black studies in schools
stimulate black literary/artistic movements
new interest among AA’s in their roots
rejection of cultural practices borrowed from whites… (afros replaced refined hair)
political impacts:
create deep schism within civil rights movement
NAACP, Urban League, SCLC = sympathetic with whites, now faced competition from radical groups
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and SNCC calling for radical action (sometimes violence) against white racist society
Black Panther Party founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, operating outside civil rights movement, promised to defend black rights even if it required violence
