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Digital History ID 3830

Tumultuous 1960s

Interpreting Primary Sources

Civil Rights

The separate but equal doctrine has failed in three important respects. First it is inconsistent with the fundamental equalitarianism of the American way of life in that it marks groups with the brand of inferior status. Secondly, where it has been followed, the results have been separate and unequal facilities for minority peoples. Finally, it has kept people apart despite incontrovertible evidence that an environment favorable to civil rights is fostered whenever groups are permitted to live and work together.

President's Committee on Civil Rights, 1947

The New Left

Loneliness, estrangement, isolation describe the vast distance between man and man today....We would replace power rooted in possession, privilege, or circumstance by power and uniqueness rooted in love, reflectiveness, reason and creativity. As a social system we seek the establishment of a democracy of individual participation, governed by two central aims: that the individual share in those social decisions determining the quality and direction of his life; that society be organized to encourage independence in men and provide the media for their common participation.

Port Huron Statement of Students for a Democratic Society, 1962

Women's Liberation

We reject the current assumption that a man must carry the sole burden of supporting himself, his wife, and family, and that a woman is automatically entitled to lifelong support by a man upon her marriage, or that marriage, home and family are primarily woman's world and responsibility--hers, to dominate--his to support. We believe that a true partnership between the sexes demands a different concept of marriage, an equitable sharing of the responsibilities of home and children and of the economic burdens of their support....

In the interests of the human dignity of women, we will protest and endeavor to change the false image of women now prevalent in the mass media, and in the texts, ceremonies, laws, and practices of the major social institutions. Such images perpetuate contempt for women by society and by women for themselves.

National Organization for Women's Statement of Purpose, 1966

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Equal Rights Amendment

Questions To Think About

1. Examine the origins of the struggles of blacks, students, and women for equal rights. What factors contributed to growing radicalization of these groups during the 1960s?

2. Which strategy--court battles, non-violent protest, or violent confrontation--was most effective in bringing about social change?

3. What do you think was the major goal of the struggles of blacks, students, and women for equal rights--a transformation of American society or equal participation within the existing order?

American Foreign Policy

Interpreting Primary Sources

Why are we in South Vietnam? We are there because we have a promise to keep. Since 1954 every American President has offered support to the people of South Vietnam....We have made a national pledge to help South Vietnam defend its independence. And I intend to keep our promise....

We are also there to strengthen world order. Around the globe, from Berlin to Thailand, are people whose well-being rests, in part, on the belief that they can count on us if they are attacked. To leave Vietnam to its fate would shake the confidence of all these people in the value of American commitment, the value of America's word. The result would be increased unrest and instability, and even wider war.

We are also there because there are great stakes in the balance. Let no one think for a moment that retreat from Vietnam would being an end to conflict. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another. The central lesson of our time is that the appetite of aggression is never
satisfied.

President Johnson defends the American role in Vietnam, 1965

Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clearcut preference for those societies, which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights....Our commitment to human rights must be absolute.

President Carter, 1977

Through the 1950s and on into the 1960s our national security was coupled with a sense of national unity and purpose. But that changed. The Soviet Union has now forged ahead in producing nuclear and conventional weapons....Let us not be satisfied with a foreign policy whose principal accomplishment seems to be our acquisition of the right to sell Pepsi-Cola in Siberia. It is time that we, the people of the United States, demand a policy that puts our own nation's interests as the first priority....Our foreign policy in recent years seems to be a matter of placating potential adversaries. Does our government fear that the American people lack willpower?

Ronald Reagan, 1976

Questions To Think About

1. Why did the United States intervene in Vietnam according to President Johnson?

2. Were vital American interests at stake in the Vietnam War?

3. On what grounds did anti-war critics protest American involvement in Vietnam?

4. Are American interests best served by a foreign policy emphasizing human rights or a policy emphasizing more concrete national interests?

5. Should the United States conduct its foreign policy unilaterally or through multilateral organizations?

Study Aid

The Civil Rights Revolution

Interpreting Statistics

African American Voter Registration Before and After Voting Rights Act of 1965
	1960	1966	Percent Increase
Alabama	66,000	250,000	278.8
Arkansas	73,000	115,000	57.5
Florida	183,000	303,000	65.6
Georgia	180,000	300,000	66.7
Louisiana	159,000	243,000	52.8
Mississippi	22,000	175,000	695.4
North Carolina	210,000	282,000	34.3
South Carolina	58,000	191,000	229.3
Tennessee	185,000	225,000	21.6
Texas	227,000	400,000	76.2
Virginia	100,000	205,000	105.0

Questions To Think About

1. What difference did the Voting Rights Act make in black voter participation?

2. In which states was the impact greatest?

Interpreting Statistics

Median Income of Families by Race Ratio of Non-white to White Incomes
1939	37 percent
1950	54 percent
1955	55 percent
1960	55percent
1965	55 percent
1970	64 percent
1975	65 percent
1980	58 percent

African American Family Incomes, 1947 and 1974 (in 1974 dollars)
	1947	1974
Less than $3,000	42	14
$3,000 to $6,999	41	31
$7,000 to $9,999	9	16
$10,000 and more	8	38

Employment as Professional, Managerial, Technical, or Administrative Workers
	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980
Black males	3	4	5	8	20
White males	17	19	23	25	32
Black females	5	7	8	11	20
White females	19	18	17	19	25

Percentage of Families at Various Income Levels by Ethnicity, 1980
	Black	Hispanic	White
$25,000+	20	23	42
$15,000-25,000	23	26	28
$ 7,500-15,000	27	29	20
$ 0-7,500	30	22	10

Years of Schooling
	Blacks	Whites
1950	6.8	9.3
1981	12.1	12.6

Proportion of Americans 25-29 Completing High School
	All Americans	African Americans
1940	38.1	11.6
1950	52.8	22.2
1960	60.7	37.7
1970	73.8	55.4
1980	84.5	75.2

Percentage with four or more years of college
	Blacks	Whites
1950	2.1	6.2
1981	8.2	17.8

Proportion of Families Below the Poverty Level
	All Americans	African Americans
1959	18.5	48.1
1965	11.8	35.5
1971	10.0	28.8
1976	9.4	27.9
1981	11.2	30.8

Questions To Think About

1. Compare black and white income distributions and educational attainment over time.

2. Which changes offer evidence of improvement? Which statistics indicate little improvement?