DAYS OF RAGE, DAYS OF FEAR1964-1970, ESPECIALLY 1968

EUGENIA LANGANMATER ACADEMY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL

HIALEAH GARDENS, FLORIDA

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

TODAY

WHAT WENT WRONG IN THE U.S. IN THE SECOND PART OF THE 1960s?

WAS 1968 A TURNING POINT IN OUR HISTORY?

BROAD

WHAT CAUSED THE CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION OF 1980

HOW DID AMERICAN IDENTITY CHANGE IN THE LATE 1960s?

RACE RELATIONS

BLACK POWER MOVEMENT

PORTRAYED BY GOVERNMENT AS SCARY BLACK MILITANTS (ON FBI COINTELPRO (UNCONSTITUTIONAL SPYING ON PRETTY MUCH EVERY POLITICAL ORGANIZATION TO THE LEFT OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY)

MARTIN LUTHER KING'S NONVIOLENCE STRATEGY GOT LAWS PASSED – BUT THE LAWS DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM BEGAN TO END, BUT SOCIAL RACISM DIDN'T AND NEITHER DID POVERTY FOR MOST BLACK PEOPLE (LEGACY OF SLAVERY)

MALCOLM X (1925-65) – "BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY"

LEFT NATION OF ISLAM, BECAME SUNNI MUSLIM, SUPPORTED BLACK NARTIONALISM BUT CONDEMNED BLACK RACISM!

MET WITH CASTRO, NASSER ON FBI LIST!

MALCOLM X QUOTATIONS:

"I BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL ULTIMATELY BE A CLASH BETWEEN THE OPPRESSED AND THOSE THAT DO THE OPPRESSING. I BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL BE A CLASH BETWEEN THOSE WHO WANT FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY FOR EVERYONE AND THOSE WHO WANT TO CONTINUE THE SYSTEMS OF EXPLOITATION."

"A RACE OF PEOPLE IS LIKE AN INDIVIDUAL MAN; UNTIL IT USES ITS OWN TALENT, TAKES PRIDE IN ITS OWN HISTORY, EXPRESSES ITS OWN CULTURE, AFFIRMS ITS OWN SELFHOOD, IT CAN NEVER FULFILL ITSELF."

'WE ARE NONVIOLENT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE VIOLENT WITH US."

ASSASSINATED, FEBRUARY 21, 1967 – APPARENTLY BY NATION OF ISLAM

SNCC UNDER STOKELY CARMICHAEL AND H. RAP BROWN: "BLACK POWER":

"IT IS A CALL FOR BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY TO UNITE, TO RECOGNIZE THEIR HERITAGE, TO BUILD A SENSE OF COMMUNITY."

BLACK PANTHER PARTY, FOUNDED 1966 IN OAKLAND, CA. (MAOIST)

TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: ELBERT "BIG MAN" HOWARD; HUEY P. NEWTON (DEFENSE MINISTER), SHERMAN FORTE, BOBBY SEALE (CHAIRMAN). BOTTOM: REGGIE FORTE AND LITTLE BOBBY HUTTON (TREASURER)

BLACK PANTHER 10-POINT PROGRAM

"1. WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.

2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.

3. WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALISTS OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.

4. WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.

5. WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE . . . TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY.

6. WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE.

7. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

8. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION.

9. WE WANT FREEDOM FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE NOW HELD IN U. S. FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY, AND MILITARY PRISONS AND JAILS.

10. WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING, JUSTICE, PEACE AND PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY CONTROL OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

RACE RIOTS IN MAJOR CITIES 1965 – 1967

CAUSES:

UNDERLYING – LACK OF PROGRESS UNDER CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, > 200 YEARS OF DISCRIMINATION, AND POVERTY (LEGACY OF SLAVERY)

SPECIFIC: CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN POLICE AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN INNER CITIES

THE WORST: WATTS, L.A., AUGUST 11-15, 1965 – "BURN, BABY, BURN"

PEOPLE OF WATTS V. 14,000 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN

34 KILLED, 1032 INJURED, 3438 ARRESTED

AND A NEIGHBORHOOD DESTROYED

THE SECOND-WORST: NEWARK, N.J., JULY 12-17, 1967

PEOPLE V. NATIONAL GUARD

26 DEAD, ≈ 800 INJURED, NEIGHBORHOOD DESTROYED

KERNER COMMISSION REPORT, 1967: ""OUR NATION IS MOVING TOWARD TWO SOCIETIES; ONE BLACK, ONE WHITE SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL."

"Our nation is moving toward two societies; one Black, one White separate and unequal."

THE VIETNAM QUAGMIRE (WAR)

IF WE HAVE TO FIGHT, WE WILL FIGHT. YOU WILL KILL TEN OF OUR MEN AND WE WILL KILL ONE OF YOURS, AND IN THE END IT WILL BE YOU WHO TIRES OF IT.

HO CHI MINH:

HOW RIGHT HE WAS!

WHO WAS THE U.S. FIGHTING IN VIETNAM?

THE VIET CONG ("CHARLIE“) = SOUTH VIETNAMESE WHO WANTED A UNIFIED NATION, I.E., MOST SOUTH VIETNAMESE PEOPLE

FARMERS BY DAY; GUERILLAS AT NIGHT.

VERY PATIENT PEOPLE WILLING TO ACCEPT MANY CASUALTIES.

THE US GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED THEIR RESOLVE AND THEIR RESOURCEFULNESS.

THE GUERILLA WINS IF HE DOES NOT LOSE, THE CONVENTIONAL ARMY LOSES IF IT DOES NOT WIN.MAO ZEDONG

ESCALATION OF THE WAR

FROM THE TIME LBJ TOOK OFFICE, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT MCNAMARA URGED ESCALATION OF THE WAR

JOHNSON WAS INSECURE, FELT COWED BY THE IVY LEAGUERS IN JFK’S CABINET (BUT HE KEPT THEM)

PARANOID ABOUT LOSING AND BEING BLAMED

VIETNAM

HAWAII

U.S. MAINLAND!

DOMINO THEORY =JUSTICATION TO PUBLIC FOR ESCALATION

AUGUST 1964 – GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT AND RESOLUTION

AUGUST 5: LBJ ANNOUNCED ON NATIONAL TV THAT NORTH VIETNAMESE PT BOAT FIRED ON U.S. DESTROYER MADDUX (A LIE, WELL KNOWN TO BE, BUT NOT ADMITTED BY U.S. GOVERNMENT UNTIL 2005)

AUGUST 7, CONGRESS PASSED GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION, AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT TO :

“TO TAKE ALL NECESSARY MEASURES TO REPEL ANY ARMED ATTACK AGAINST THE FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES AND TO PREVENT ANY FURTHER AGGRESSION.”

BUT WHO WAS THE AGGRESSOR IN VIETNAM?

THE ESCALATION OF THE WAR

TET OFFENSIVE, JAN. ‘68

VIRTUALLY ALL DRAFTEES!

THE TET OFFENSIVE, JANUARY 1968:

67,OOO VIET CONG (S. VIETNAMESE) AND NORTH VIETNAMESE TROOPS INVADED SOUTH VIETNAM, TOOK EVER MAJOR CITY, INCLUDING SAIGON

U.S AND ARVN (ARMY OF REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM) TROOPS CAUGHT WITH PANTS DOWN, BUT THEN RETOOK SOUTH VIETNAM

NONETHELESS, SEEN BY THE MEDIA AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AS A DEFEAT

THE TET OFFENSIVE, JANUARY 1968:

67,OOO VIET CONG (S. VIETNAMESE) AND NORTH VIETNAMESE TROOPS INVADED SOUTH VIETNAM, TOOK EVER MAJOR CITY, INCLUDING SAIGON

U.S AND ARVN (ARMY OF REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM) TROOPS CAUGHT WITH PANTS DOWN, BUT THEN RETOOK SOUTH VIETNAM

NONETHELESS, SEEN BY THE MEDIA AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AS A DEFEAT

THE CREDIBILITY GAP

VIETNAM WAS THE FIRST “TELEVISED WAR” (AND THE PENTAGON’S MADE SURE IT WAS THE LAST ONE

EVERY NIGHT ON THE NETWORK NEWS WE’D HEAR BODY COUNTS ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNMENT – AND WE’D ALSO SCENES OF BATTLE AND ITS AFTERMATH THAT MADE THE BODY COUNTS TOTALLY IMPLAUSIBLE

DOUBT THAT ANY “OFFICIAL STORY” IS TRUE – PERSISTS TO THIS DAY.

BY 1968, POLLS SHOWED THAT THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS OPPOSED THE VIETNAM WAR

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER – 1965 - 73

FEATURED ON THE NIGHTLY NEWS: AFTERMATH OF A NAPALM ATTACK . . . BUT OF COURSE WE USED NAPALM ONLY AS A DEFOLIANT!

U.S. BACKED SAIGON POLICEMAN SUMMARILYEXECUTES SUSPECTED VIET CONG AGENT

"WE HAD TO DESTROY THE VILLAGE IN ORDER TO SAVE IT" ACTUAL CAPTAIN'S EXPLANATION TO REPORTER FOR A "SEARCH AND DESTROY MISSION" LIKE THE ONE SHOWN BELOW

MY LAI MASSACRE, 1968MY LAI MASSACRE, 1968

WILLIAM CALLEY,

CHARLIE COMPANY, 1ST BATTALION, 20TH INFANTRY, COMMANDED BY MIAMIAN LIEUTENANT WILLIAM CALLEY. SLAUGHTERED 300 – 500 UNARMED CIVILIANS

SO PEOPLE BEGAN TO WONDER: WHAT THE HELL WERE WE DOING OVER THERE? WE'RE LOSING ANYWAY

BY 1968, POLLS SHOWED THAT THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS OPPOSED THE VIETNAM WAR

THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT/ THE NEW LEFT

STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY (SDS)

FOUNDED 1962 (PORT HURON STATEMENT) – CIVIL RIGHTS, SOCIAL JUSTICE, ETC.

BERKELEY FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT AND SIT-IN, 1964

1965: BOMBING OF N. VIETNAM SDS "TEACH-INS" AND DEMONSTRATIONS ON CAMPUSES NATIONWIDE

THE DRAFT GAVE STUDENTS A STAKE IN THE WAR. AS LONG AS A MAN WAS IN SCHOOL, HE WAS EXEMPT FROM THE DRAFT. NOT EVERYONE WANTED TO GO TO GRAD. OR PROP. SCHOOL ( BUT VIETNAM WAR PH.D. GLUT IN ’70s – EARLY ’80s)

INCREASING CAMPUS RADICALIZATION/ SPLINTERING

SDS VAGUELY MARXIST

YOUNG SOCIALIST ALLIANCE/ SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY – TROTSKYIST

PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY – MAOIST

AND MANY, MANY OTHERS

NATIONAL MOBILIZATION COMMITTEE – "THE MOBE" -- 1967 – 70 – UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION FOR ALL

TOM HAYDEN, A FOUNDER OF SDS AND LEADER OF ANTIWAR MOVEMENT

MARRIED JANE FONDA, 1970

LATER A CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATOR

EARLY ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATIONS

“HEY, HEY, LBJ! HOW MANY KIDS DID YOU KILL TODAY?”

’60S COUNTERCULTURE (OVERLAPS WITH ANTIWAR

MOVEMENT TO SOME EXTENT)

COUNTERCULTURE

FORMER HARVARD PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR TIMOTHY LEARY, THE "GURU" OF LSD

ALLEN GINSBURG IN THE 1960s.

PEACE!

HIPPIES AND FREAKS

"SUMMER OF LOVE," 1967 – NATIONWIDE (INCLUDING COCONUT GROVE)

" IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO,BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR...IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO,YOU'RE GONNA MEET SOME GENTLE PEOPLE THERE"

AND A LOT OF THOSE GENTLE PEOPLE WOUND UP AS DRUG ADDICTS AND PROSTITUTES

SCOTT MCKENZIE

BE-IN!

COMMUNES – BROOK FARM WITH DRUGS

Drug culture

JIMI HENDRIX

“ACID ROCK” -- BUT ITS CONVENTIONS WERE THE BASIS FOR ALL LATER ROCK

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY

1968

APRIL 4, 1968: MARTIN LUTHER KING ASSASSINATED -- HE WAS ON THE FBI LIST!

JAMES EARL RAY, THE ASSASSIN

KING ASSASSINATION RACE RIOTS NATIONWIDE

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: SDS TAKE OVER, APRIL 23-30, 1968

COLUMBIA STUDENTS AND NY NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CONFRONT EACH OTHER

MARCH 12, 1968: PEACE CANDIDATE EUGENE MC CARTHY NEARLY BEAT LBJ IN NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY (7% SPREAD)

MANY YOUNG VOLUNTEERS WORKED FOR "CLEAN GENE“ – THE ‘68 ELECTION WAS THE FIRST THAT YOUNG PEOPLE GOT INVOLVED IN

MARCH 16, 1968: ROBERT F. KENNEDY ENTERED DEMOCRATIC RACE

INSPIRED MANY MORE YOUNG VOLUNTEERS

JOHNSON’S POPULARITY DROPPED IN 1968 FROM 48% TO 36%.

MARCH 31, 1968: LBJ WITHDREW!

"I SHALL NOT SEEK, AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT, THE NOMINATION OF MY PARTY FOR ANOTHER TERM AS YOUR PRESIDENT"

THE TRAGEDY OF LBJ

HIS “WAR ON POVERTY” SUCCEEDED IN PASSING MORE WELFARE AMD REFORM LAWS THAN THE NEW DEAL HAD:

SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF 1965: MEDICARE AND MEDICAID – HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ELDERLY AND POOR PEOPLE (1965)

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 1964:

HEAD START – FEDERALLY FUNDED PRE-K

JOBS CORPS – FEDERALLY FUNDED GED AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR POOR YOUNG PEOPLE

VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA) – “PEACE CORPS” IN U.S., TO TRY TO WIPE OUT ILLITERACY, EDUCATION, ETC.

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1935

BUT BECAUSE OF THE COST OF THE VIETNAM WAR, NONE OF THE WELFARE PROGRAMS EXCEPT MEDICARE AND MEDICAID (WHICH ARE FUNDED BY SPECIAL TAXES ALL WORKING PEOPLE PAY) WAS EVER ADEQUATELY FUNDED – AND AFTER LBJ, THE NATION LOST TO MOOD TO FUN WELFARE FOR THE POOR

HE’D BE REGARDED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY – BUT FOR VIETNAM

JUNE 5, 1968: RFK WON DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND WAS ASSASSINATED BY PALESTINIAN SIRHAN SIRHAN

FIRST ACT OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN U.S.?

AUGUST, 1968: DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IN CHICAGO – "POLICE RIOT" AGAINST DEMONSTRATORS (MOBE, YIPPIES) AND REPORTERS

WHOM DID THE FEDS ARREST AND PROSECUTE FOR THE RIOT?

THE CHICAGO SEVEN, INCLUDING HAYDEN, ABBE HOFFMAN AND JERRY RUBIN + BOBBY SEALE

THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: VP HUBERT HUMPHREY

THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT WERE NOT HUMPHREY FANS

1968 CANDIDATES

NIXON, HUMPHREY, AND SEGREGATIONIST GEORGE WALLACE

ISSUES:

VIETNAM

LAW AND ORDER

CIVIL RIGHTS

"NIXON'S THE ONE!"

"PEACE WITH HONOR" ="SECRET" PEACE PLAN

LAW AND ORDER

REPRESENT "THE SILENT MAJORITY"

1968 RESULTS

POPULAR VOTE/ %

ELECTORAL VOTE

NIXON 31,275,165 (43.3%)

302

HUMPHREY 31,266,006 (42.7%)

191

WALLACE 9,906,473 (14%)

46

1968

THOUGH WALLACE TOOK ONLY DEEP SOUTH STATES, HE GOT VOTES IN ALL STATES. THIS REFLECTS WHITE RESENTMENT AT BLACK RIOTS

AND THE REST OF THE DECADE

1969: WEATHERMAN (LATER WEATHER UNDERGROUND) DAYS OF RAGE

"YOU DON'T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS." DYLAN

MIDDLE-CLASS, EDUCATED KIDS!

MUCH ULTRALEFT RHETORIC, INCLUDING "KILL THE PIGS." SOME BOMBINGS, NO INJURIES

SOME OF THEM BLEW THEMSELVES UP – MARCH 1970, GREENWICH VILLAGE

APRIL 30, 1970 - NIXON ANNOUNCED U.S. INVASION OF CAMBODIA (AFTER PROMISING PEACE IN 1968)

MASSIVE STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS

“YOU SEE THESE BUMS, YOU KNOW, BLOWING UP CAMPUSES STORMING AROUND ABOUT THIS ISSUE.” RICHARD M. NIXON

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY SHOOTINGS, OHIO, MAY 4, 1970

PEACEFUL STUDENT PROTESTS OF INVASION OF CAMBODIA

OHIO GOVERNOR JAMES RHODES CALLED OUT THE NATIONAL GUARD:

“THEY'RE WORSE THAN THE BROWN SHIRTS AND THE COMMUNIST ELEMENT AND ALSO THE NIGHTRIDERS AND THE VIGILANTES. THEY'RE THE WORST TYPE OF PEOPLE THAT WE HARBOR IN AMERICA. I THINK THAT WE'RE UP AGAINST THE STRONGEST, WELL-TRAINED, MILITANT, REVOLUTIONARY GROUP THAT HAS EVER ASSEMBLED IN AMERICA."

THE GUARD FIRED 67 SHOTS AT UNARMED STUDENTS

FOUR KILLED, NINE WOUNDED – SOME WERE NOT DEMONSTATORS – JUST WALKING PAST DEMO

SHE TURNED OUT TO BE A RUNAWAY FROM MIAMI

TIN SOLDIERS AND NIXON COMING,WE'RE FINALLY ON OUR OWN.THIS SUMMER I HEAR THE DRUMMING,FOUR DEAD IN OHIO.

GOTTA GET DOWN TO ITSOLDIERS ARE CUTTING US DOWNSHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LONG AGO.WHAT IF YOU KNEW HERAND FOUND HER DEAD ON THE GROUNDHOW CAN YOU RUN WHEN YOU KNOW?

GOTTA GET DOWN TO ITSOLDIERS ARE CUTTING US DOWNSHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LONG AGO.WHAT IF YOU KNEW HERAND FOUND HER DEAD ON THE GROUNDHOW CAN YOU RUN WHEN YOU KNOW?

TIN SOLDIERS AND NIXON COMING,WE'RE FINALLY ON OUR OWN.THIS SUMMER I HEAR THE DRUMMING,FOUR DEAD IN OHIO.

NEIL YOUNG, “OHIO”

WOUNDED SURVIVOR REUNION, 1975

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY SHOOTING, MISSISSIPPI, MAY 14, 1968 (BLACK COLLEGE!)

STATE AND LOCAL POLICE OPENED FIRE ON STUDENT PROTESTORS.

TWO KILLED (INCLUDING ONE HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT). 12 WOUNDED

POLICE FIRED INTO DORM – CLAIMED THEY SAW SNIPER

FBI CONCLUDED – NO SNIPER

THE DEAD: PHILLIP LAFAYETTE GIBBS, L (21) AND JAMES EARL GREEN (17)

THERE ARE NO HIT SONGS ABOUT THE JACKSON STATE SHOOTINGS!

JOE, 1970: PETER BOYLE AS BLUE COLLAR GUY WHO KILLS HIPPIES

FILM-MAKERS DID NOT INTEND JOE AS A HERO – BUT HE WAS!

HARD HAT RIOT, MAY 1970: NYC CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ATTACKED STUDENT DEMONSTRATORS

THE 1960s LEFT US A DIVIDED NATION!

WHITE VERSUS BLACKOLD VERSUS YOUNGPOOR VERSUS PRIVILEGED