The Americas and It's Revolutionary Experience

Fredrick Douglas once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” During the 1960’s in America, there were major movements the promoted change throughout the country. The Civil Rights movement, which got its start in the 1950’s, strived for racial equality for African Americans. Meanwhile, the Women’s Rights Movement, focused on battling for better pay and equal opportunities for women. While the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement differed in their initial purposes, both groups worked to promote equality in the United States and made a profound impression for the decades to come.

“More important, most African Americans did not benefit from the economic boom of the 1950s that allowed so many white Americans to purchase homes in the suburbs” (Hine & Harrold 569). In our history classes in almost every American school we were taught that the 1950s was a golden age due to the high consumerism, new businesses, the unparalleled prosperity, stay at home wives, and the old fashioned American barbeque on the weekends. Although this seemed like a golden age, it was much different for the people of color, especially the black community. The African Americans lost jobs, weren’t allowed to purchase homes due to the Jim Crow laws and the 1948 Shelley v. Kramer case, and their neighborhoods were deteriorating. Instances such as these

This of course was a time full of social injustice and civil inequalities between different races as well as genders. The century consisted of social norms that included enslavement upon Africans as well as the degrading of women to an extreme level. In her article on the inequalities between men and women of the time, Rosanne Tomyn discusses the significant differences in wages as well as education which are both in the favor of men. This injustice has sparked many protests to further the nation to a path of equality, and these early social movements showed great efficiency as the nineteenth amendment was signed to give women the right to vote in the early twentieth century. Similar events occurred with minorities and the civil rights movement, as slavery was abolished in Southern states due to the Emancipation Proclamation, and equality among all races has become a reality due to several protests and social movements. This use of the ideology of social progress was undoubtedly necessary to establish a community with equity through tolerance within the United States, but since recent decades, these social justice advocates have not done much to benefit society as it seems we have reached a point of equality. The ideas within a social justice warrior are nothing new to society, but change throughout time has made them more extreme, but also

The social and cultural movements of the 1960s began to upset the traditional “norms” of gender constructs, family and social structures, racial biases, and portrayals of white suburbia that existed in the 1950s.

The 1960s were a tumultuous decade for America, particularly on the off chance that you lived in the southern portion of the nation. It was pretty obvious that the Southern states were still holding on to the segregation legislation that sanctioned racial isolation, known as the Jim Crow laws, that had been abolished since 1954 (Urofsky, 2015). The Jim Crow segregation laws discriminated against African-Americans with concern to attendance in public schools and the use of other amenities such as restaurants, theaters, hotels, and (at the time), community bathhouses. Trains and buses were also segregated and in many states matrimony between African-Americans and whites were strictly forbidden, (Black History, 2001-2016). Therefore, walks, protests, and dissentions sprung up everywhere throughout the nation in the backing of eradicating these laws in the South and restoring social equality to each American. But not everyone was ready to make that change, and consequently; this development was met with some really overwhelming reaction by people who wanted things to remain the same in the South, (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008).

When someone mentions the 1950’s or 60’s of the United States many minds may go straight to the Civil Rights era, and Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks. It was the era of fighting against injustice and prejudice against blacks and other minorities. The injustices of what was happening stemmed back through America’s history to the Atlantic Slave Trade, where Africans were taken from their homeland to be slaves in the “New World.” The many crimes committed are too long to name. African Americans fought for their right to live and be free, and would continue, and some say still continue to fight for those same reasons. W.E. B. Du Bois asked why write about reconstruction in his book, Black

In the 1950’s people were looked on as normal when they fit into a specific mold of how an American family should look and act. This was a white man, who worked and provided all the money for the family, the white wife, who stayed at home and cooked and clean, and two to three kids who went to school. Families who did not look like this were seen as lower. This includes minority’s who were forced into their own expectations by following segregation laws and living in the areas only where the other minorities lived. Anyone who tried to stand up to living under white rule, were immediately arrested. This led to groups of people fighting to be able to live under their own rule and choose for themselves where to live and work. The youth fought against conforming to the suburban view of life by creating a new rebellious attitude that would later cause the counterculture in the 1960’s. The civil right activists fought against conforming to unjust laws by a

Females of the 1960s were being pushed down in almost every aspects of their lives. Ads separated jobs by gender, banks denied women credits, and they were paid less for the same work. The United States government did help renew the American Feminist movement with the Equal Pay Act which stated that men couldn’t be payed more than women for the same job and the Civil Rights Act outlawed job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origins. The problem of the Equal Pay Act was that it did NOT obtain equal opportunity for a job for females and if they did get a job, then the employers would use it as an excuse to lower the pay for everyone. A feminist named Betty Friedan wanted to write a book on the life of a housewife, but instead of finding females happy going about doing their chores and caring for their children, she found anger and sadness from not being acknowledged for what they did as housewives and mothers at house. Betty and other females found from their Consciousness-raising session that there were others that were just as unhappy and wanting change. Betty, with the help, made The National Organization for Women or NOW, to help women get more rights and freedoms.The most common demands of NOW were greater Education and more career opportunities for women. The new Feminist movement was up and

The 1960s was an eventful period in United States history, the Civil Rights Movement was experiencing success and women began to see action towards ending gender discrimination and an end to the patriarchal standards, to which women previously submitted. Many women worked towards the goal of equality in all

As stated, “contrary to common misconceptions, the Women’s Rights Movement did not begin in the 1960s. What occurred … was actually a second wave of activism” (Module 6 pg. 8). There was uproar in the Women’s Rights Movement and established women were being discriminated in all parts of America. Not only where white women being discriminated, but black women were also discriminated for their color and gender.

The 1960s are a famous decade in American History that represent societal change. Protesting was very popular among groups that wanted equality. Women’s Rights, Anti-Vietnam War, Gay Rights, and Civil Rights were popular movements in this decade that revolted against conformity and promoted social change(CITE BOOK). The Civil Rights Movement was one of the most important movements that took place because it changed the United States attitudes towards African Americans, and reformed United States legislation to for equality.

The Turbulent Twenties saw a time of change in the United States that allowed oppressed groups to redefine their fight for freedom as well as their place in society. Prominent groups such as the Women Suffragist, African American, and Immigrants had fought for rights and preciously decades and had made great strides by the 1920’s, that still continue to the present day. Yet this decade marked a time for these groups to pass the torch to their younger counterparts who we redefine the fight and their image they displayed to the American public. They would make the controversial choice to discard some of the previous views of those who came before them in the fight for social equality. In their respective strategies to achieve equality from 1920-the

When America was an expansive welfare state, the increasing of income level allowed many families entered the middle class. Then the widespread of economic security empowered people to concern about social problems. Social activists advocated movements such as the black movement, the student movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women’s movement, and the gay rights movement which served important purposes of defining American freedom, but the processes were long and difficult. For example, black women suffered racism and sexism, “We struggle together with Black men against racism, while we also struggle with Black men about sexism” (Combahee River Collective Statement, 2). They significantly represented many activists because they had both race and gender struggles. Since they were in an awkward position between two groups, it further oppressed them from obtaining social equality. Hence, they formed their own organization – the black feminism, which lately contributed the establishment of the Equal Rights Amendment. The establishment of such laws dramatically consolidated the prospective of American’s lives when they reclaimed social equality for minor Americans. These movements helped the growth in conservative popularity and allowed

By the 1950’s, America was going through an era where the baby boomers were being born, and the American dream was there’s for the taking. During this time, there was an explosion of war, controversy and the traditional American values were being questioned. The movements that were fighting for the social change were tamed to be non-violent, and they tried to be more conservative in their approach. The civil rights movements were more focused on non- violence when they were fighting for equality in the United

Throughout American history there has always been problems with civil rights because the white male has always been viewed as being superior. Once Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese during World War 2 the United States was uneasy whether the loyalty of the Japanese living in the states would remain with the United States, or with Japan. Both Japanese natives and Japanese-Americans were placed in concentration camps during this time period. About a decade and a half later, African Americans also made their largest and most influential movement for racial equality. Famous leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., fought prejudice for us all. Lastly, the 1960s also became a time period where women no longer wanted to viewed as being unequal to men. The common visual of a woman was pregnant and in the kitchen; they wanted to get rid of this image because it was a set boundary for their life. Not only did these people change history, but they created a legacy that would make the United States a place of opportunity for anyone.