60 S Protest Music Gilder-Lerhrman Site

1960s NOTES PART 3 - Election of 1968/LBJs Legacy/Trick Dick Nixon/counterculture—OUR LEGACY AND IDENTITY***

60’s Protest Music ---Gilder-Lerhrman site: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/sixties/essays/protest- music-1960s

The Election of 1968****huge***

During the Democratic Primary elections in New Hampshire (the 1st state to vote) (during Primaries the states vote on different dates beginning in March through June) –Eugene McCarthy a little known Democratic Senator from Minnesota—who was ‘THE ANTI-WAR” CANDIDATE---Wins 42% of the vote and 20/24 delegates to the democratic convention Crushing –LBJ***

4 days later ROBERT F. KENNEDY (JFKs Brother) enters the campaign for the Democratic Nomination****HE IS A LOCK TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY NO ONE ELSE HAS A CHANCE***WAY TOO POPULAR NATIONALLY**** BRILLIANT CAMPAIGNER*** POPULAR AMONG : BLUE COLLAR WORKERS—BLACKS—HISPANICS (Caesar Chavez is his friend—supported by La Raza Unida) and the YOUTH****

*****IT IS AT THIS POINT THAT LBJ GOES ON NATIONAL TV TO TELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT HE WILL NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 1968*** CITING TOO MUCH CONFLICT OVER VIETNAM***THAT HE WOULD FREEZE THE TROOPS AND SEEK PEACE***(DOES NOT WORK)

The Summer Sweepstakes—election 1968

Hubert Humphrey—LBJs VP begins to campaign for the Democratic nomination against Bobby Kennedy ---his ideas were to continue the War in Vietnam and he was supported by the leaders of the Dem. Party*** However--- Kennedy was way more popular---and with the VICTORY IN THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY IN JUNE—most historians believed that RFK would have won the Democratic Nomination and destroyed Nixon in the General Election*** BOBBY KENNEDY’S CAMPAIGN WAS HISTORIC**- former Attorney General to his brother JFK—and temporarily to LBJ until 1963—in 1964 he became one of the Senators from NY—in 1968 he decided to run for President… his speech announcing the assassination of MLK in Indianapolis, Indiana that evening is amazing—the police warned him they could not protect him –he spoke anyway—without any prepared notes—Here is an excerpt:

“I have some very sad news for all of you, and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.

For those of you who are black - considering the evidence evidently is, there were white people who were responsible - you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization - black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.

For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill-be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.

But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond and go beyond these rather difficult times.

My favorite poem, my favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own de-despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past. And we will-we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.

Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.

Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much.” Robert F. Kennedy, 1968 – MLK Jr.s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee April 4, 1968** In a prophetic speech the night before he was assassinated, “the Mountaintop speech,” King states: “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats... or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land! And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!” MLK 1968

MLK is shot the next day. NATIONWIDE RIOTS ERUPTED IN MORE THAN 100 CITIES---BURN BABY BURN---PEOPLE WERE ANGRY---

THE FBI FILES OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO MLKs murder—will not be released until 2027—I hope I am still alive so that I can read them---JFK< MLK< RFK all of them 

After his victory in the California Primary while speaking at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles that evening---Robert F. Kennedy is also assassinated. Shot down and killed, just like his brother. Again an assassination of a Kennedy changes the future of the United States forever---many believe that RFKs death was one of the most significant events in our modern history due to what occurs after—we will see---if he had lived and won the Presidency instead of Nixon---there is no question things would have been different—how different we will never know***

The Crazy Democratic Convention in Chicago: Hubert Humphrey, VP to LBJ, from Minnesota was the last candidate standing---and he easily won the nomination of the Democratic Party---However---it was events outside the Convention that were CRAZY*** -Anti-Vietnam War protesters and many youthful supporters of RFK streamed into Chicago---Chicago Mayor Richard Daley responded by placing barbed-wire barricades around the convention hall—and thousands of policemen and national guard troops—all carrying guns and nightsticks—and willing to use them*** Every night on TV it showed a “police riot” the police and guardsmen attacking peaceful protesters outside the convention—tear gas—people being beaten up---it was crazy—THE POLICE SEEKING TO KEEP THEIR ACTIONS PRIVATE ATTACK DOZENS OF REPORTERS OVER THE 5 DAYS AND NIGHTS SMASHING AND CONFISCATING CAMERAS –OVER 20 REPORTERS ARE SENT TO THE HOSPITAL WITH WOUNDS****

A strong 3 rd party run by George Wallace in 1968—George Wallace, former governor of Alabama runs for President with the “American Independent Party,” the former “Segregation today, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation forever,” Gov. decided he could be President or take enough votes from Nixon and Humphrey to push the election into the House of Representatives where the Southern and Conservative members would elect him. Two issues were clear for Wallace—end racial integration and use nuclear weapons in Vietnam***

Results: Nixon Republican 31,785,480 301—close election in popular votes Humphrey Democrat 31,275,166 191 Wallace Am. Ind. 9, 901,118 46*** most ever POPULAR votes for a 3rd party—TR IN 1912 HAS MOST ELECTORAL VOTES FOR A 3RD PARTY***

Aftermath: there was no Anti-War candidate*** RFK was killed and McCarthy defeated by HHumphrey- This begins a period of “apathy” –people choosing not to vote for a variety of reasons— one being that why vote because all of the candidates are bad— - Nixon claims the victory was due to the “Silent Majority,” who supported “Law and Order,” and the Vietnam war--- although he claims he has a “secret plan for peace” the week of the vote  Nixon also begins his “Southern Strategy,” which will continue what occurred under Goldwater in 1964—when the Republican candidate won the South---THE BEGINNING OF THE CHANGE OF THE “SOLID SOUTH,” FROM DEMOCRATIC TO REPUBLICAN—WHICH WILL BE COMPLETED BY REAGAN IN 1980***

The Obituary of Lyndon Johnson

LBJ dies on his Texas ranch in 1973 –just 4 years after leaving the Presidency*** -He is “THE CIVIL RIGHTS” PRESIDENT---HE AND LINCOLN*** - He is the president for the poor and elderly*** he and FDR - Vietnam kills him***his legacy without question is that he tried to win a massive war---by escalating the # of American Troops from 15K to 1/2M---effecting countless #’s of young people and the vicious backlash of the Anti-War Movement*** 3000 miles away and spend the poor into the middle class*** doing both will be reckoned with in the 1970s as MASSIVE INFLATION-“STAGFLATION” -- ( A 70s TERM ASSOCIATED WITH DRAMATIC INFLATION) -The Conservatives begin to gain momentum after the dramatic changes brought by The Warren Court and LBJ’s Civil Rights programs, bills –His “War on Poverty to create a Great Society.” And they want change too---back to the way it was---everyone for himself***”survival of the fittest*** it will be a fight though***

The Cultural Upheaval of the 1960s really two groups---the hippies—“drop in and drop out” who are a non-political group and SDS who see the answer in being VERY political---******************************* CounterCulture—Hippies—SDS [the Port Huron Statement]---Weathermen---Beatles---Jimi Hendrix--- Timothy Leary—“The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” – Woodstock—Monterey Pop Festival—Summer of Love—Anti-War Protesters—Bob Dylan---“Easy Rider,”- Haight-Ashbury (SF) – ‘Marijuana’- “Flower Children”—Peace symbol—College Campus Free Speech movement—Civil Rights FOR ALL (MANY) *** “DON’T TRUST ANYONE OVER 30,”—

STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY (SDS) – PORT HURON STATEMENT- “THE NEW LEFT”— Focused on Participatory democracy-direct action protest-radicalism—“IDENTITY POLITICS”--- The force of the Individuals Human Agency---GRASSROOTS POWER---ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE----Without question THE GREATEST LEGACY OF THE 1960s************************

Begun in 1960 at the University of Michigan---it spread to every College Campus in the Nation by 1965---and became easily the MOST POWERFUL STUDENT GROUP IN AMERICAN HISTORY**** TOM HAYDEN is considered to be its most influential student leader***--and wrote the “PORT HURON STATEMENT,” influenced heavily by American Critic and Thinker, C. Wright Mills*** The PHS—criticized the US Political system for: not working for Peace, the conduct of the CIA around the world during the Cold War which was against our traditions, the Nuclear Arms race, racial discrimination, economic inequality in the midst of such wealth, ---and suggested more individual control of the two major political parties—more focus on a citizens voice in politics for a stronger democracy---advocating non-violent civil disobedience as a way that STUDENTS COULD BRING ABOUT CHANGE TO A “PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY”--- THE HEART OF THE MORE RADICAL WOMEN’S MOVEMENT BEGINS IN SDS—THE HEART OF MANY OF THE COMING REVOLUTIONS FOR CHANGE –BEGIN HERE—LIKE ENVIRONMENTALISM—OR GAY LIBERATION—(STONEWALL RIOTS IN NYC)** AND OF COURSE THE POWER WITHIN THE ANTI- WAR MOVEMENT EMINATES FROM SDS –AND OF COURSE MANY OF THE STUDENTS FROM THE NORTH AND WEST TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AROUND THE NATION INCLUDING IN THE SOUTH WITH SNCC (student non-violent coordinating committee) *** some more radical students split off late in the 60’s and become violent which mirrors the changes in the African-American Civil Rights groups--- THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND IN 1969** BECOME American “terrorists” for change*** and *** THEIR FAMOUS “DAYS OF RAGE” IN 1969 COINCIDED WITH the trial of the “Chicago Seven”***—most famous being TOM HAYDEN (FOUNDER OF SDS) & Abbie Hoffman*** Who are charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot etc…the GOVT gets crushed at trial, daily in the news are stories of brilliant testimony that befuddles the prosecution---a last highlight of the 1960s.

THE STRUGGLES OF THE 1960s AGAINST RACISM, POVERTY, AND THE WAR IN VIETNAM HAD MOMENTUS CULTURAL CONSEQUENCES. The decade (60s) came to be seen as a divide between two distinct eras in terms of values, morals, and behavior. A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS AUTHORITY TOOK HOLD—DISILLUSIONMENT FROM THE REALITIES THAT AMERICA WAS RACIST, SEXIST, IMPERIALIST, AND SOUGHT TO OPPRESS DISSENT---ALL AGAINST OUR “REAL TRADITIONS” AND THE YOUTH BEGAN TO QUESTION AUTHORITY AND TRADITION---

One of the first protests of “main stream” American Youth occurs @ the Univ. of Calif. Berkley in 1964—when students try to speak out and support the Civil Rights Movement and protest the violence against the southern black movement---THE FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT******* MARIO SAVIO and many students protest Universities as TOOLS OF THE MACHINE-ESTABLISHMENT----“THOUGHT CONTROL”--- WHEN THEY ARE BARRED FROM SPEAKING ON CAMPUS ---THEY DEMAND THEIR 1ST AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO FREE SPEECH —and protest by taking over campus buildings by “sitting-in” and refusing to move--- ultimately leading to changes in favor of student organizations on campus---in just two years ---SDS IS ORGANIZED THROUGHOUT THE NATION AND CALLING FOR DRAMATIC CHANGE IN AMERICA**

“FREE LOVE” “PEACE” “ACID ROCK” “DRUG USE” “COMMUNES” “UTOPIAN NON-VIOLENT LOVING SOCIETIES” “FLOWER CHILDREN” “LONG HAIRED MEN” “ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES” “IF IT FEELS GOOD IT MUST BE RIGHT” ---HIPPIES---DROP OUT OF A “TURBULENT” SOCIETY---A SEARCH FOR THE “MEANING OF LIFE,” Inspired by the “BEAT” MOVEMENT of the 1950’s ---these young people just want to get along---and experience the extremes of life—discover their limits---by avoiding any responsibility and dropping out of everything---just existing—Eastern Religions--- Buddhism---Occult worship practices---COMPLETELY DISILLUSIONED WITH ANY FORMAL SOCIETY—“BACK TO MOTHER EARTH”--- THIS GROUP BECOMES FAMOUS FOR ITS EXCESS AND ABANDONMENT OF TRADITIONAL SOCIETY---SEEN IN THE “SUMMER OF LOVE” IN 1967 –IN SAN FRANCISCO ----OR WOODSTOCK, “3 days of Peace and Music,” in the mountains of NY in 1969, over 400,000 come to just “hang out,” and “be.” THE STONEWALL INN BEATINGS AND RIOTS IN NYC—1969 ---is a “scene” in which the “GAY LIBERATION MOVEMENT” becomes public—no longer willing to hide their sexuality--- at the Stonewall Inn (a bar that catered to homosexuals) the NYC Police ATTACK and beat up hundreds of people---THE RESULT WAS THE 1ST GAY LIBERATION PARADE AND FIGHT FOR LGBT RIGHTS IN AMERICA IN 1969 ---A SCENE OF GAY VIOLENCE---BY 1970 SIMULTANEOUS PARADES OCCUR IN SUPPORT OF THE LGBT CAUSE AND ARE A YEARLY EVENT TODAY IN MOST URBAN CITIES***Their fight for “Equal Protection under the law guaranteed by the 14th Amendment,” just like the Brown Case--- and many others since that has been applied to Chicanos, Asians, Women, Senior Citizens, etc--- IS A MAJOR FIGHT TODAY.

THE “CULTURAL REBELLIONS” of the 1960’s that were PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS begin to slow down as the 60’s come to a close--- MANY OF THE DISAFFECTED GROUPS REALIZE THAT PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS ARE GOOD----BUT---THE COURTS IS WHERE “REAL CHANGE” OCCURS—AND THE SCENE IN THE 1970s with few exceptions (American Indians-Women-Environment) becomes the Courtroom—where these groups fight HOPING TO COPY THE SUCCESSES OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT-and are successful over time in finding their EQUALITY through legal actions***(for most)

The upheavals of the 1960s are attributed to the 3Ps--- The Youthful Population Boom Protest against Racism and the Vietnam War The apparent Prosperity that appeared permanent

The “Silent Majority” of America witnessed a breakdown of their cherished society in the 1960s---and denounced these protesters as being self-indulgent romanticists—un-American---the great question was; Was it un-patriotic or un-American to attempt through individual grassroots efforts—to attempt CHANGE – in America? For many observers—with the benefit of “looking back,” and who were not involved in the anguish of the day to day struggles and frustrations---THE PROTEST, PERHAPS, WERE ACTUALLY A RETURN TO OUR ROOTS—REAL AMERICANS HAVE ALWAYS PROTESTED FOR A BETTER AMERICA—Sam Adams, the Regulators, The Paxton Boys, Nat Turner, The Abolitionists, THE LOWELL GIRLS, Labor Unions, Populists, Progressives, Alice Paul, Triangle-Shirt waist girls, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida Tarbell, Zora, Claude McKay, Ralph Ellison, Arthur Miller---IT IS A “CONTINUITY” THAT LINKS THE 1820’S TRANCENDENTALISTS –EMERSON & THOREAU—UTOPIAN COMMUNES---TO THE 1960s FREEDOM FIGHTERS—MLK-Malcolm-Betty Friedan---Cesar Chavez—La Raza Unida—I will die believing that OUR IDENTITY IS TO PROTEST FOR CHANGE---THAT “HUMAN AGENCY” that will to ACT ON BEHALF OF OTHERS FOR A BETTER AMERICA ---ONE PERSON MAKING A DIFFERENCE ---“is our Identity” ---I will leave it to others to judge the “rightness or patriotness” of the individual causes--- ACTION IS OUR IDENTITY---THAT IS A FACT***

The legacy of the 1960s is not “lost causes,” BUT that one person-somewhere-can make a difference for a better world