CHAPTER 30: A TIME
OF SOCIAL CHANGE
BIG IDEA: Inspired by the African American
civil rights movement, women, Native
Americans, and Latinos all stood up against
social, political, and economic inequality in
the 1960s. At the same time a youthful
counterculture turned its back on
mainstream society in search of a new way
of life.
CHAPTER 30 SECTION 1:
WOMEN AND NATIVE
AMERICANS FIGHT FOR
CHANGE
MAIN IDEA: In the 1960s women
and Native Americans struggled
to achieve social justice.
Revival of the Women’s Movement
Experiences at work and home
Consciousness Raising
• Throughout the 1950s-60s, increasing
numbers of women joined the workforce
(1/3 of workers were women in 1963)
• Women earned about 60% of what men
made and were excluded from many
types of work
• 1961 President Kennedy ordered a report
about the status of women at work the
proved they were being discriminated
against
• Women still married young (20 was the
average) and frequently did not work
when they married
• Not all women were happy to stay home;
Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine
Mystique in 1963 detailing how trapped
many women felt by being homemakers
and mothers
• Women organized groups called
consciousness raising groups to
discuss problems unique to middle
class women and common
patterns of discrimination
• Many were upset to find
discrimination even in movements
to end discrimination like the
African American Civil Rights
Movement.
The Women’s Liberation Movement
NOW
The Equal Rights Amendment
• Women began organizing around
an idea known as feminism: women
should be socially, politically, and
economically equal
• NOW actively campaigned for
passage of the Equal Rights
Amendment (ERA) that would
guarantee equality in all spheres of
life, not just employment
• It passed Congress and had to be
ratified by at least 38 states
• After making good gains initially, it
ran into opposition with
conservatives, especially in the
South
• Phyllis Schlafly was an outspoken
critic who was concerned that
women would loose privileges they
held if the amendment passed
• the ERA was unable to get enough
votes to ratify it by the 1982
deadline, and it was not added
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned
discrimination based on sex but
was not well enforced
• 1966: a group of feminists led by
Betty Friedan formed the National
Organization for Women (NOW) to
fight discrimination, end violence
against women, and fight for
abortion rights
• They work to pass laws, filed
lawsuits, and staged rallies and
marches
The Women’s Liberation Movement
Roe v. Wade
Effects of the women’s movement
• 1973: Supreme Court strikes down
state laws banning abortion as a
violation to the constitutional right
to privacy
• This case remains one of the most
controversial decisions ever
rendered by the court
• By the end of the 1970s the
number of women holding
professional jobs increased, but
most still had low wages
• 1970 5% of lawyers women and by
1980, 12% of lawyers women
• Women started running for and
winning seats in Congress
• Many perceived the movement as
only benefiting white middle and
upper class women
The Lives of Native Americans
• Native Americans did not share in the prosperity of most Americans
in the 1950s and had the highest unemployment rate in the nation
• Most lived in poverty and rates of disease and alcoholism were high
as well
• During the Eisenhower administration, the federal government
tried end the reservation system through a policy called
termination: ended the reservation system and encouraged Native
Americans to move to cities and join mainstream society
• Was a failure because the government did not provide services to
support them; they often ended up worse off
• Native Americans met in 1961 to organize a movement to oppose
termination and other polices that harmed Native Americans
Native Americans Fight for Fairness
Occupation of Alcatrez & AIM
Other Organizations & Assessing Progress
• President Johnson supported selfdetermination for Native Americans
(created National Council on Indian
Opportunity)
• 1969 Native American activists tried
to reclaim Alcatrez Island, an
abandoned federal prison (held for
18 months and forcibly removed by
police)
• Led to the creation of American
Indian Movement (AIM): wanted a
renewal of traditional culture,
economic independence, and better
education) led by Russell Means
• Most of the protests were
nonviolent, but some like an
occupation of Wounded Knee ended
violently
• Other groups emerged to work
towards other needs for Native
Americans
• There were many legislative
victories (increased health care,
education, religious freedom, and
educational opportunity)
• Despite these accomplishments,
unemployment remained high as
was the high school drop out rate
CHAPTER 30 SECTION
2: LATINOS FIGHT FOR
RIGHTS
MAIN IDEA: In the 1960s Latinos
struggled to achieve social justice.
The Lives of Latinos
• 1960: 900,000 Latinos lived in the US
• Immigration increases because the Immigration Act of 1965 gave
preference to immigrants with relatives already in the US
• 1/3 lived below the poverty line; 80% worked in low-paying unskilled
work like farm labor, construction, and factory work
• There was discrimination in schools and 75% of Latino students
dropped out of high school
• District lines were drawn to limit the political power of Latinos and
they were often excluded from juries
Launching the Struggle for Social Justice
• Latinos began organizing for social justice: fair distribution of
advantages in society
• Migrant farm workers are the first to organize
• 1965 farmer workers led by Cesar Chavez led a strike and a national
boycott on grapes to force the farm owners to recognize the farm
workers’ union
• They wanted better pay and better working conditions
• Their strike was successful and encouraged other Latino Americans
to fight for rights
Movements for Latino Rights
Defining the Chicano Movement
Alianza
• Some Latinos adopted rhetoric like
the Black Power movement and
called themselves Chicanos (a
shortened form of Mexicanos) to
convey ethnic pride and political
activism
• They thought the term Mexican
American indicated assimilation
• Some leaders focused on land
issues
• Alianza Federal de Mercedes
worked to get land that had been
seized from Mexican Americans by
the federal government at the end
of the Mexican American War
• Their leader was arrested and the
movement broke up
Movements for Latino Rights
The Crusade for Justice
• Led by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez,
the Crusade for Justice promoted
Mexican American nationalism
• They provided legal assistance,
cultural awareness, a Spanish
language newspaper, and ran a
school with free bilingual and
culture classes
MAYO
• 1967 College students in Texas
form Mexican American Youth
Organization
• They wanted economic
independence, local control of
education for Hispanic children,
and power for Latinos through a
3rd party
• They organized mass walkouts in
schools to protest discrimination
• Many schools began to reform as a
result of the protests
Movements for Latino Rights
La Raza Unida
The Brown Berets
• After working with MAYO, Jose
Gutierrez formed La Raza Unia
(the United People)
• They campaigned for bilingual
education, public services,
education for children of migrant
workers, and an end to job
discrimination
• It spread throughout the
Southwest and some branches
were able to elect members to
local government
• Formed in the late 1960s, the
Brown Berets were the most
militant of the groups that formed
• Founded by working-class Latinos
in LA in 1967, they focused protest
on police brutality and later
adopted other causes like ending
discrimination in schools
• They disbanded in 1972 after a
series of violent demonstrations
Movements for Latino Rights
The Boricua Movement
Cuban Americans
• Boricua is a term for Puerto Ricans
• This term also expresses ethnic
pride and support for political
activism
• Many Puerto Ricans migrated to
mainland US after World War II
(9% of NYC population by 1964)
• Their goals included independence
for Puerto Rico, but that did not
gain much support, even among
Puerto Ricans
• They fared better with
antidiscrimination goals
• After the communist revolution,
many well-to-do Cubans fled to the
US and many more continued to
flee Cuba
• Most came to the US for political
reasons, not economic ones
• Most of their movements focused
not on social justice, but for the
overthrow of Castro and an end to
communism in Cuba
CHAPTER 30 SECTION
3: CULTURE AND
COUNTERCULTURE
MAIN IDEA: The counterculture
that emerged in the 1960s and
1970s left a lasting impact on
American life.
Rise of the Counterculture
The Youth Culture
Rising Student Activism
• Counterculture: a rebellion by
teens and young adults against
mainstream American society
• They viewed American values as
hollow and misplaced & turned
their back on the Establishment
(mainstream culture)
• Developed due to the large
number of youth (Baby Boom)—
up 50% between 1960 and 1970
• Blamed their parents for all of the
societal problems (Vietnam,
racism, nuclear war, pollution)
• College students began by
protesting against policies they
viewed as restrictive and unjust
• University of CA-Berkley protested
new bans on free speech and
demonstrations (called the Free
Speech Movement) and these
demonstrations spread to college
campus’ throughout the nation
Life in the Counterculture
Hippie Culture
The counterculture’s Decline
• Thousands of teens and young
adults abandoned mainstream
culture and became hippies
• Some formed communes and the
Haight-Ashbury district of San
Francisco became the center of
hippie culture
• Major values were peace and love
(shared what they had)
• Had a reputation for drug use (esp.
LSD) and colorful clothes
• Sometimes referred to as flower
children
• Height of the movement was the
1967 Summer of Love
• Woodstock (1969) major concert
celebrating the counterculture
• Movement declined due to drug
use/abuse and a lack of support
(many parents refused to keep
funding the lifestyle)
Mainstream Society Reacts
• Many mainstream Americans viewed hippies as disrespectful,
uncivilized, and threatening
• They feared it was a sign that America was loosing its sense of right
and wrong
• TV show All in the Family highlighted the conflict between hippies
and mainstream society
The Counterculture’s Legacy
Attitudes/Art
• America became more permissive
and causal
• Sexual activity and violence on TV
and in movies became more
prevalent
• Pop art began appealing to wider
audiences
• Andy Warhol did art of mass
produced culture (Marilyn
Monroe, Campbell’s Soup)
• Ratings system for movies was
developed
Music
• Music became more political
• Artists like Bob Dylan, the Beatles,
and Joan Baez wrote songs
focused on criticism of the
government and society in general