5 - Bye, bye American pie

Summary

Civil strife

The “sixties,” rather than being a fixed passage of time, were really an altered state of mind brought about by significant changes in the nation's moral, political, and cultural attitudes. If one has to assign a beginning and an end to the period, the Woolworth sit-in in 1960z and the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 seem to be relevant markers. During these years, the rapid evolution of media communication, particularly television, brought gruesome scenes of urban riots, racially motivated beatings, funerals of assassinated leaders, and body-bags from Vietnam into the home of virtually every American. The effect on the population was profound. Conservatives, appalled by dissolute moral behavior, loss of respect for authority figures, and a noticeable decline of patriotism, called for law, order, more discipline, and more police. The “New Left,” led by the “baby boomers,” challenged the traditional views of their conservative parents. Those that were politically active demonstrated for civil rights and black power, and against the Vietnam War. They marched in Birmingham and Selma. They rallied in Washington, DC, New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. They seized public buildings and shut down universities. Others embraced pacifism, lived communally, altered their minds with drugs, and dreamed of a benign utopia. On the one hand, the 1960s were beset by violence and demagoguery. On the other, they gave birth to a renewed sense of egalitarianism, pacifism, and hopefulness. Needless to say, it was a complex period.