NA Boyer Ch 28.V1

NA Boyer Ch 28.V1

CHAPTER 28 The Liberal Era, 1960–1968 n the afternoon of February 1, 1960, four students at North Carolina OAgricultural and Technical (A&T) College in Greensboro—Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond—entered the local Woolworth’s and sat down at the whites-only lunch counter. “We don’t serve colored here,” the waitress replied when the freshmen asked for coffee and doughnuts. The black students remained seated. They would not be moved. Middle class in aspirations, the children of urban civil servants and industrial workers, they believed that the Supreme Court’s Brown decision of 1954 should have ended the indignities of racial discrimination and segregation. But the promise of change had outrun reality. Massive resistance to racial equality still proved the rule throughout Dixie. In 1960 most southern blacks could neither vote nor attend integrated schools. They could not enjoy a cup of coffee alongside whites in a public restaurant. Impatient yet hopeful, the A&T students could not accept the inequality their parents had endured. They had been inspired by the Montgomery bus boy- CHAPTER OUTLINE cott led by Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as by successful African independence The Kennedy Presidency, 1960–1963 movements in the late 1950s. They vowed to sit in until the store closed and to repeat their request the next day and beyond, until they were served. Liberalism Ascendant. 1963–1968 On February 2 more than twenty A&T students joined them in their The Struggle for Black Equality, protest. The following day, over sixty sat in. By the end of the week, the stu- 1961–1968 dents overflowed Woolworth’s and sat in at the lunch counter in the nearby Voices of Protest The Liberal Crusade in Vietnam, 1961–1968 875 876 CHAPTER 28 The Liberal Era, 1960–1968 S. H. Kress store. Six months later, after prolonged sit- These endeavors symbolized a spirit of new begin- ins, boycotts, and demonstrations, and violent white nings. The impatience and idealism of the young would resistance, Greensboro’s white civic leaders grudgingly lead many to embrace John Kennedy’s New Frontier and allowed blacks to sit down at restaurants and be served. to rally behind Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Both Meanwhile, the example of the Greensboro “coffee liberal administrations advocated an active federal gov- party” had inspired similar sit-ins throughout North ernment, particularly an activist presidency, to attack Carolina and in neighboring states. By April 1960 sit-ins domestic and international problems and to achieve had disrupted seventy-eight southern communities. The economic and social justice. Both relied on expanding black students endured beatings, tear-gassing, and jail- economic growth to increase the social-welfare respon- ing. Yet by September 1961 some seventy thousand stu- sibilities of the government and give greater government dents had sat in to desegregate eating facilities, as well as benefits to the disadvantaged. Both also pursued an “kneeled in” in churches, “slept in” in motel lobbies, assertive foreign policy, boldly intervening abroad in “waded in” on restricted beaches, “read in” at public Cuba and Vietnam. The new era of liberal activism thus libraries, “played in” at city parks, and “watched in” at generated fervent hopes and lofty expectations for segregated movie theaters. diverse Americans, and an intensification of Cold War The determination of the students transformed the conflicts that triggered a militant antiwar movement. struggle for racial equality. Their activism emboldened Assassinations of cherished leaders, increasing racial black adults to voice their dissatisfaction; their courage strife, and a frustrating war in Vietnam would dampen inspired other youths to act. Stokely Carmichael, a stu- optimism, and a reaction by the majority who opposed dent at Howard University initially indifferent to the radical change would curtail reform. The liberal era that civil-rights movement, saw “those young kids on TV, get- began with bright promise would end in discord and ting back up on the lunch counter stools after being disillusionment. knocked off them, sugar in their eyes, ketchup in their hair—well, something happened to me. Suddenly I was This chapter focuses on five major questions: burning.” Their assertiveness both desegregated facili- ties and generated a new sense of self-esteem and ■ How liberal was the New Frontier in civil rights and strength. “I possibly felt better on that day than I’ve ever economic matters? felt in my life,” remembered Franklin McCain. “I myself ■ What was the new liberalism of the 1960s, and how desegregated a lunch counter, not somebody else, not did Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society exemplify it? some big man, some powerful man, but little me,” claimed another student. “I walked the picket line and I ■ What were the major successes and failures of the sat-in and the walls of segregation toppled.” Each new black movements for civil rights and socioeconomic victory convinced thousands more that “nothing can progress from 1964 to 1968? stop us now.” ■ In what ways did 1960’s liberalism affect other As well as beginning the 1960’s stage of the freedom minorities and women, and how did minorities and movement, the sit-ins helped redefine liberalism. In the women affect liberalism? liberal’s management of the economy, greater emphasis was now placed on equalizing the possibilities of ■ How did the United States get involved in Vietnam, opportunity and targeting benefits to those who had and to what extent was President Johnson responsi- earlier been ignored. In their concern for civil liberties ble for the tragedy of Vietnam? and civil rights, liberals sought to expand individual freedoms and to free African Americans from the shack- les of racial discrimination and segregation. Liberalism THE KENNEDY PRESIDENCY, was also redefined by others, including Ralph Nader 1960–1963 sounding the consumer alarm that many automobiles were “unsafe at any speed,” Betty Friedan writing The Projecting an image of vigor and proposing new ap- Feminine Mystique to denounce “the housewife trap” proaches to old problems, John F. Kennedy personi- that caused educated women to subordinate their fied the self-confident liberal who believed that an own aspirations to the needs of men, and students activist state could improve life at home and confront protesting against what they saw as an immoral war in the Communist challenge abroad. His wealthy father, Vietnam. Joseph P. Kennedy, had held appointive office under The Kennedy Presidency, 1960–1963 877 Franklin D. Roosevelt until his outspoken isolationism ended his public career. Seeth- ing with ambition, he raised his sons to attain the political power that had eluded him. He instilled in each a passion to excel and to rule. Despite a severe back injury, John Kennedy served in the navy in World War II, and the elder Kennedy persuaded a popular novelist to write articles lauding John’s heroism in rescuing his crew after their PT boat had been sunk in the South Pacific. Esteemed as a war hero, John Kennedy used his charm and his father’s connec- tions to win election to the House of Rep- resentatives in 1946 from a Boston district in which he had never lived. Kennedy earned little distinction in Congress, but the voters of Massachusetts, captivated by his personality, sent him to the Senate in 1952 and overwhelmingly reelected him in 1958. By then he had a beautiful wife, Jacqueline, and a Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in Courage (1956), written largely by a staff member. Despite the obstacle of his Roman Catholic faith, the popular Kennedy won a first-ballot victory at the 1960 Democratic convention. Just forty-two years old, he sounded the theme of a “New Frontier” to “get America dynamic Kennedy contrasted strikingly with his pale, moving again” by liberal activism at home and abroad. haggard opponent. The telegenic Democrat radiated confidence; Nixon, sweating visibly, appeared insecure. Radio listeners judged the debate a draw, but the far A New Beginning more numerous television viewers declared Kennedy “All at once you had something exciting,” recalled Don the victor. He shot up in the polls, and Nixon never Ferguson, a University of Nebraska student. “You had a regained the lead. guy who had little kids and who liked to play football on Kennedy also benefited from an economic recession his front lawn. Kennedy was talking about pumping new in 1960, as well as from his choice of a southern Prot- life into the nation and steering it in new directions.” But estant, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, as his most voters, middle aged and middle class, wanted the running mate. Still, the election was the closest since stability and continuation of Eisenhower’s “middle way” 1884. Only 120,000 votes separated the two candidates. promised by the Republican candidate, Vice President Kennedy’s religion cost him millions of popular votes, Richard M. Nixon. Although scorned by liberals for his but his capture of 80 percent of the Catholic vote in the McCarthyism, Nixon was better known and more experi- closely contested midwestern and northeastern states enced than Kennedy, a Protestant, and identified with delivered crucial electoral college votes, enabling him to the still-popular Ike. squeak to victory (see Map 28.1). Nixon fumbled his opportunity, agreeing to meet Kennedy’s inauguration set the tone of a new era: his challenger in televised debates. More than 70 mil- “the torch has been passed to a new generation of lion tuned in to the first televised debate between presi- Americans.” In sharp contrast to Eisenhower’s “eight dential candidates, a broadcast that secured the domi- millionaires and a plumber” (see Chapter 27), Kennedy nance of television in American politics. The tanned, surrounded himself with liberal intellectuals—the “best 878 CHAPTER 28 The Liberal Era, 1960–1968 MAP 28.1 “America’s leading man,” novelist Norman Mailer The Election of 1960 called him.

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    29 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us