Unit 11
Unit 11
 During the late 1960’s some African-American’s
became more militant, felt non-violence wasn’t
working fast enough
 Led to The Black Power Movement that believed
African Americans should rely more on themselves
-control their own communities to free themselves from
the domination of white culture
 Searched for a new identity by rejecting American white
culture and developing their own style, Afro haircuts and
African based fashion
-Created new groups like the Black Panthers who demanded
equal opportunities and reparations for past oppression
-Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee barred white
participation and wanted immediate action
 Black Muslims-believed African Americans should adopt
Islam and form their own black state
-Malcolm X –a leading black Muslim, believed that violence
might be necessary to achieve equal rights, and wanted
blacks to control their own businesses
 In the North, African Americans faced segregation in living patterns
not state laws
-most blacks were confined to ghettos
-In 1968, African American frustration led to rioting in cities after the
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
-Commission looked into cause of unrest and found a lack of job
opportunities, urban poverty, and racism
-Showed the country that a lot of work lay ahead to achieve equality
 In the 1960’s The Chicano Movement emerged in the
US in which Mexican Americans sought to correct past
discrimination and racism
-began with migrant farm workers in California
 Cesar Chavez--fought for the rights of Mexican American
migrant farm workers, to get better pay and working conditions
-he started the United Farm Workers with Dolores Huerta who also
wanted to extend aid to families of farm workers
-they used nonviolent protests, nation wide boycotts, and hunger
strikes until laws were passed
 Mexican Americans also
struggled for equality in
voting, employment and
politics
-Hector Perez Garciafought discrimination
against Mexican
Americans in public
facilities and jobs
-became the first MexicanAmerican to serve on the
US Commission on Civil
Rights
 The Chicano Mural Movement
-Chicano Wall murals began as a celebration of Mexican
American culture
-Spread throughout US giving a visual presence for
people who lacked representation in public life
 A series of court cases ended the Segregation of Mexican
Americans in the US. These Court Cases expanded equal rights
to more minorities.
-Mendez v Westminster ISD (1947)—no segregation of MexicanAmerican children without specific state law
-Delgado v Bastrop ISD (1948)-Segregation of Mexican-American
children in schools in Texas is illegal
-Hernandez v Texas (1954)—Mexican-Americans cannot be
excluded in practice from juries, and given “class” protection
under the 14th amendment
-White v Register (1973)—Required single member voting
districts so local groups could elect their own representatives
-Edgewood v Kirby (1984)—states must revise its school funding
system to increase funding for poorer districts
 The American Indian Movement (AIM)-began as a
response to state sponsoring and control of reservations
-states couldn’t provide necessary services so “Red Power”
movement was created to raise respect in the US for
Indians
-Used the occupation of government monuments Alcatraz
Island/Wounded Knee to bring attention
-wanted federal govt help, use of term Native-American, and
a respect for their heritage and against anti-Native
American bias in the media
 The “Youth Culture” of the Sixties was created by the
influences of the baby boom generation
-In the 1960’s American youths rebelled against the
conforming behavior of their parents and wanted greater
personal freedoms
-Challenged the materialism and establishment they saw in
influencing American society
 Youth culture of the 1960’s was influenced by many generations
of music, art and literature
-The Beat Generation of the 1950’s rebelled against the conformity
of their era and produced poets and writers, like Allen Ginsburg
and Jack Kerouac who were forerunners of this new counterculture of the 60’s
-music began to influence the young people beginning with Rock
and Roll and Elvis Pressley in the 1950’s
-In the 1960’s Joseph Heller
and Kurt Vonnegut
wrote books about the
absurdity of armed
conflict
-Rock music and the
Beatles helped to fuel
the youth culture and
antiwar movement of
the 1960’s
-Artists like Jackson
Pollock and Andy
Warhol created art
rebelling against the
mass consumer culture
of the 1950’s
Hippies became symbol for the youth movement in the
1960’s
-had long hair, new fashions, experimented openly with
drugs and sex, some even left mainstream society for
self sufficient communities
 The “Youth Culture” of the Sixties also begins the antiwar
movement during Vietnam
-Led to the Twenty Sixth Amendment which lowered the
voting age from 21 to 18
-The right to vote is given to all citizens 18 years & older