This has been in my queue for a while. Not because it isn’t important- but because, among my many skills, talents, and training, being an historian is not among them.
But, I’m tired of all those “skilled” professionals missing vital facts. (Just a few months ago, the American Historical Association dedicated several panels at its annual meeting in DC to the “1968 question”. That is the direct antecedent to this post.) Perhaps because I lived through the events- and was (and am) vitally interested in politics, I can see things others can’t. I invite you all to let me know if you agree (or vehemently don’t) with the statements and findings I plan to share today.
It was a heady time in the 1960s. Our country wasn’t depressed- everything was aspirational, almost inspirational. We expected to conquer space, eliminate poverty, provide equal rights to everyone, and promote educational opportunities. The American Dream was alive and well. The USA was at its peak, controlling 40% of the world’s economy (we are now at 20% and falling)- the dollar was the world’s currency and we were the unparalleled world military power.
As the years progressed, though, we (primarily the Baby Boomer generation) realized that our government was lying to us. It wasn’t a skirmish in Viet Nam, it was a war. The “cold war” was actually running hot. Civil rights were not being won, but being fought tooth and nail.
But, because we were aspirational, we believed we could make a difference. The High School Students’ Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, The Free Speech Movement, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) involved many of us. Thousands went to the South to register Blacks and to ensure their right to vote. Because the Voting Rights Act, while the law of the land, was mostly ignored there.
We thought we could accomplish it all. Those twin issues- civil rights and the War in Viet Nam powered most of the demonstrations that were held. Many of those demonstrators also had the s..t beat out of them and were arrested [illegally]. But we kept going.
Those of us who still were in New York gathered behind Al(lard) Lowenstein, a heretofore obscure Long Island Congressman (who was immediately gerrymandered out of office). It was Al who started- with the vocal assistance of Bobby Kennedy- the “Dump Johnson” movement.
It wasn’t that President Johnson wasn’t (finally) on the side of progressive thought, enabling the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Medicare Act to become the laws of the land. It was because Johnson was lying to us (continuing the canard of the Kennedy Presidency) that we were only supporting the (criminal) element holding power in Viet Nam. Instead, we found that we were the primary actors in that war, keeping despots like Ngo Dinh Diem (pronounced ‘no zin zem’) in power.
Of course, most of us new Al wasn’t going to be nominated. As I said, he was an obscure congressman and Jewish to boot. We tried to get Bobby Kennedy on board- but he demurred, until Gene McCarthy managed to demonstrate that Johnson was finished.
And, this cause wasn’t just devouring America. France, Poland, even Czechoslovakia got into the fight for true democracy. Many think this phenomenon was the result of the baby boom, with all those kids growing up and going to college. (The Baby Boomers was the first generation where it became the norm for more adolescents to matriculate college than to take up the trades or learn a vocation.)
It didn’t hurt that mine was also the TV generation. When I was in kindergarten, my family was one of the few that had a television set. By the time I entered college, TV’s became as prominent to that era as smartphones are to today’s world. To top it off, great journalists – (back then, new was not considered part of the “entertainment division” of the networks) had our attention. Fred Friendly and Edward R. Murrow led the way for Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, John Chancellor, Frank McGee, Peter Jennings, and Howard K. Smith.
Yet, before the dust settled on the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were both assassinated; (sorry- not- if you don’t like these characterizations) the former by a WrongWing racist cracker and the latter by a Palestinian terrorist. And, those murders set the scene for another lying piece of crap to become president. Richard Nixon, who proclaimed he was “of the people”, that he was for the “working class”, that he would make America great again, and help the “silent majority” regain control. Nixon created his enemies list (some of us considered it an honor to be so declared), bombed the heck out of all of Southeast Asia, spied on the Democratic party- and a slew of others… I get depressed just thinking about his actions.
Nixon even divorced the US from the gold standard, lying to the American people (the unknowing, Silent Majority) that he was protecting the dollar- as it was clear to anyone with even part of a working brain that the dollar was clearly being devalued. (It’s not that I- or many others were against this change- it’s that we wanted Americans to be told the truth, that our currency was to be devaluated no matter what.)
Now, some 50 years later, we have millions of folks who barely lifted an eyebrow when it came to politics now considering political activism. That’s above and beyond our young kids who are absolutely aghast at the political establishment. (See the parallels already?) These folks had their hopes ignited when Obama ran for President, with his campaign of hope. And, now, there are two issues that are driving them- the #MeToo phenomenon and gun control. (They’d already been noticing the 1% phenomenon, but that fizzled out to a large degree a few years ago.)
And, like my generation, these folks are expecting a major change over the next two elections. After all, we currently have a president who claims he is “of the people”, for “the working class”, will “Make America Great Again”- while he lauds autocrats, believes that we should emulate Duterte and execute folks without a trial, and claims that neoNazis are “good people”. Oh, and he hires wife beaters and liars, while placing in power those who wish to destroy the environment and our natural resources- and they preside over those very aspects of our lives.
But, there’s another major difference that makes me wonder if change will be effected. Back in the 1960’s, more than 1/2 of those between the ages of 18 and 24 voted. By 2000, that number dropped to just over 30%. When Obama was running and promoting hope, voting in that age cohort increased- but it’s not clear that will continue. Moreover, there were a slew more of us Baby Boomers than there are Millennials, so our 50% voting rate had a much larger effect on the results than even a (non-existent) 75% voting turnout of Millennials could possible effect.
There’s yet another wrinkle. It’s possible many voters, as they had during the 2016 election, will vote against their true needs. That’s what happens when the big lies (or, in TheDonald’s case, the incessant small ones) are widespread. Others may be happy with the $ 200 more in their pockets from the tax changes (as opposed to the $ 200,000 afforded the 1%) to vote for the party that provided those changes. Without recognizing that the deficits from those tax cuts ($1.5 trillion and counting) and the trade wars are going to ‘do in’ our economy.
Then, again, Florida- the gun lover’s paradise (“Stand Your Ground”)- just changed their gun laws. A fascinating push back against the NRA because of those Parkland kids.
Thrilling- or depressing- times…
I was part of the Baby Boom generation that did not march in the 1960s. We were not involved in any of the movements that you mentioned, not because we were disinterested, but because we were children at the time. My memories of the 1960s, as a result, are much different. I remember it as a sad time, when the United States was fighting a war that I believed would never end. I was horrified by the images on the television news. They gave me nightmares. I’ve actually had a flashbacks of the image of the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire. It was just a year ago when I was in the church choir and we were singing something about being set on fire, when this shocking image appeared right in front of my face. It was very clear and very vivid. I could feel the tears rolling down my face. It was very hard to sing. When it happened, I was six years old. I remember nothing that the newscaster said; I only remember that image. I never could remove it from my head or heart.
I remember that image- and the one of the young girl fleeing the carnage, too. Sickening sights.
Hello Everyone
Now-a-days History is a part of history actually. Nobody actually wants to talk about it specially our new generation. Anyway Everyone has it’s own view so we can’t force anyone to put them into.
Your comment makes about as much sense as a pompous politician’s. I’ll let it slide this time- but if you have nothing of import in our next one, don’t be surprised if its relegated to the trash.