On a national level, minorities have gained significant representation, influence, and power in government. Perhaps the most dramatic example is in Memphis, Tennessee, the city where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Memphis now has an African-American mayor, an African-American U.S. congressman, and a predominantly African-American city council. When King died, the government establishment was all white, despite the fact that nearly half of the city’s citizens were black. Birmingham, Alabama, nicknamed Bombingham in the ’60s for all the racial bombings, is also governed by an African-American mayor. This change in the power structure of local governments is common all over the South as well as in other parts of the country.
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SUSTAINABILITY
In the late 1990s a new approach to thinking about humankind’s relationship with the environment was captured in the coining of the term “Sustainability.” Though the word has been around for centuries, only recently has it become popular to use to describe an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the future. Sustainability describes the attempt to coordinate economic, social, institutional, and environmental areas to protect and nourish both the human and nonhuman environment.
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Despite this real progress, not all African Americans have found a route to the American Dream. Although blacks account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population, 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States are black. About a third of all African-American men are under the supervision of the criminal justice system, and about 12 percent of African-American men in their twenties and thirties are incarcerated. These astronomical incarceration rates have huge social and economic consequences for black women, black children, and black communities.
Still, race, ethnicity, and gender have on the whole become less of a factor in the public sphere. Despite the fact that women and minorities have not yet won the highest office in the nation—the presidency—they are represented on the Supreme Court and as heads of key federal departments, such as secretary of state and attorney general. One encouraging indication of how the country’s views on race have changed is Nike’s “Be Like Mike” advertising campaign in the 1990s. Considered the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan so inspired kids and adults that he transcended racial boundaries to become America’s iconic hero. Before the ’60s this would never have happened.
AS THE BOOMERS GROW OLD SO DOES THE NATION
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RISING MEDIAN AGE
27 33.3 35.3
1970 1990 2000
U.S. POPULATION 1945 1995
Life expectancy 65.9 75.7
High school graduates 25% 81%
College graduates 5% 22%
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BROWN IS BEAUTIFUL—AND THE MAJORITY BY 2050
By 2050, the non-Hispanic White population of the United States will drop below 50 percent. This means that brown will become the dominant color in America. People of African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Hispanic descent will make up the majority of Americans.
Population 2000 2050
White 195.7 million 210.3 million
Hispanic 35.6 102.6
Asian 10.7 33.4
Black 35.8 61.4
For women, changes begun in the ’60s have meant a steady movement toward equality in the workplace and at home. Though women’s salaries are still not comparable to men’s, they have increased steadily. In 1963, women earned 58 cents for every dollar a man made. Today, that has risen to 76 cents to every dollar a man makes. Corporations have changed their policies to allow women maternity leave, which was not the case before the Women’s Liberation Movement. This openness to women’s issues has also made it possible for men to get paternity leave. It has encouraged corporations to offer its employees on-site day care and leave for elder care. None of this would have happened without women speaking up for their rights. Though women still struggle with balancing career goals and motherhood, the real difference from the ’60s is that women are in this struggle, instead of in the battle to be allowed to have a job at all.
The most visible area of improvement for women has been in sports. With the 1972 enactment of Title IX by the U.S. government—which guarantees equal access to sports for women—women’s participation in sports has skyrocketed from 290,000 high school girls to more than 1.9 million high school girls participating in competitive sports. The benefits of Title IX also surface in other areas of women’s lives. High school girls who participate in competitive sports are less likely to become pregnant while in school and are more likely to graduate from high school. The downside of increased participation by women has been that men’s sports programs at high schools and colleges now have to compete for the same dollars. This has led some schools to eliminate expensive sports programs such as football in order to balance the needs of women’s programs.
For Native Americans, the most obvious difference has been the fact that the U.S. government has changed its policy of trying to eliminate their culture. Now Indian tribes have a lot more freedom not just to celebrate and practice their cultural heritage but also to make their own choices about their lives. One of the biggest indicators of this change is the increase of people who claim Native American heritage. In 1960, only 524,000 people identified themselves as American Indian. By 1990, that number had risen to 1.9 million, and by 2000, the number more than doubled to 4.1 million. That’s nearly an 800 percent increase.
Many tribes across the country have established profitable casinos, which have raised the living conditions of its members. Consequently, the median household income of Native Americans ($31,799) has risen above that of African Americans ($28,679) and Hispanics ($31,703). This is a significant change for the positive when you consider that Native Americans were the poorest minority in the country and were subject to a government policy of annihilation. The sad fact, however, is that American Indians, like most other minorities in the United States, still lag behind the dominant white culture when it comes to economic success and opportunity.
When looking at the progress Hispanics have made in America, one number stands out: Between 2000 and 2050, the Hispanic population is expected to triple, from 35.6 million to 102.6 million. The voice and power of Americans of Hispanic origin are increasing. California is home to 12.4 million Hispanics, while Texas is home to 7.8 million. Thirteen states—including Arizona, New York, Georgia, Illinois, and Washington—have His panic populations of more than half a million. Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, is Hispanic. One characteristic that describes Hispanic culture and heritage is diversity. Hispanic people come from all over South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. What binds them is that they can trace their origin or descent to Spain. While Hispanics are making considerable progress, they still trail behind their non-Hispanic White counterparts in income, jobs, education, and housing. The hope is that as the country becomes more brown and less white, more and more opportunities will open up. Only time will tell.
WHO SAYS
Too Much Freedom Is Too Much?
Nearly every night gay bars and clubs were raided in cities across America. Gays and lesbians were harassed, beaten and arrested simply because of their sexual orientation in the ’60s. In the early morning of June 28, 1969, around 1:30 a.m., the gay community had finally had enough. Police raided an illegal bar, the Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village. Rather than simply run, like most patrons did when police raided a gay bar, customers resisted. Within minutes the police were overwhelmed. More than 2,000 people chanted “Gay Power!” and threw bottles and rocks at the police. Over the next few days gays and lesbians battled the police. Hundreds were beaten and injured. The Stonewall Riot became the signature event that launched the gay rights movement and began the long, difficult fight to change public opinion on homosexuality.
In 1965, 82 percent of men and 52 percent of women said that homosexuality represented a “clear threat” to the American way of life. By 20
05, a CBS poll recorded just how much opinions had changed over forty years. Fifty-seven percent of Americans now believed that homosexuals should be allowed to enter into either marriage or civil union relationships. Another 2005 poll, this time by Gallup, showed that 90 percent of the respondents believed that gays and lesbians deserved protections against employment discrimination. Unfortunately, only seventeen states and the District of Columbia ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, while only eight states ban discrimination based on gender orientation. The gay rights movement has made extraordinary advances since Stonewall in 1969, but LBGT (Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender) people are the victims every day of small and large discriminations that go unnoticed by the rest of the country’s population.
Protesters outside the Stonewall Bar in New York City, the location of the first gay and lesbian demonstration in 1969
The era of the Sixties exposed many fault lines in our culture and gave voice to many who had none previously.
The legacy is that overt discrimination and government-sanctioned discrimination against minorities has been outlawed. There are now laws in place that guarantee many of the rights and liberties that were limited during the ’60s. Where progress most noticeably has lagged has been with economic opportunity. Sociologist Eric J. Krieg argues that “racism is built into the very structure of our economic system.” In short, while our laws prohibit racism, our economic system of unfettered capitalism still leaves those without money vulnerable. He sees this vulnerability manifest itself in neighborhoods of the economically weak—those who live in low-income communities and communities of color. These neighborhoods are most likely also to be the home of the most dangerous hazardous waste sites. As an example, he cites the HUD public housing in North Cambridge, Massachusetts. “These enormous towers and open spaces with soccer fields were built on top of a landfill,” explains Krieg. “Here you have a great economic decision, saving state money by placing people in need of housing right-square in the middle of the most polluted section of town.” When Krieg sees figures of high rates of childhood leukemia and asthma as well as low scores in local schools, he’s not surprised. “If you live in a poisonous environment, that home is going to be a contributing factor in the causes of bad health and education,” he concludes. It’s basic logic, when common sense tells us our home is our castle—or perhaps our grave.
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Another highly controversial issue to come out of the ’60s was the emergence of women’s reproductive rights. Birth control pills allowed women to be in charge of their bodies in ways that were inconceivable to the previous generation. Women could choose whether to become pregnant or not. This allowed women to go to college and start careers. Although the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade did not occur until 1973, it was clearly a legacy of the women’s rights movement. The Supreme Court’s granting women the right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester is an enduring controversy that still divides this nation.
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Most people witnessed the dramatic disparity between the affluent and the poor in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The poor communities in New Orleans, which were predominantly African American, suffered the most. These neighborhoods were largely located in the most vulnerable areas below sea level. Unlike more affluent communities, which were on higher ground, these areas were most at risk of flooding and also least able to protect themselves. It was also these poor communities that were not evacuated, because the city did not provide transportation to those who did not have their own cars and trucks. What Hurricane Katrina highlighted was a vulnerability that poor communities have because they are not affluent. Because they are poor and lack economic power, they do not have strong representation in the business community or in government.
The era of the ’60s exposed many fault lines in our culture and gave voice to many who had none previously. That some of the issues raised and some of the revolutions started are still ongoing demonstrates how deep seated these problems are and how necessary it is that our democracy continue to debate them. The lesson learned from the ’60s was that all people—young, old, and in between—could make a difference. In the decade that came before our bicentennial celebration in 1976, that was an important lesson indeed.
A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
1946
Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour open in the film Road to Utopia.
First U.S.-built rocket leaves Earth’s atmosphere and reaches 50-mile height.
Ho Chi Minh elected president of Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Chou En-lai, communist liaison to nation alists, declares all-out war for control of China.
U.S. detonates fourth atom bomb in test off Bikini Atoll.
Joe McCarthy defeats Robert La Follette for Senate seat in Wisconsin.
The number of births in the United States is 3,411,000, an increase of nearly 600,000 from 1945 and the highest number recorded in the nation’s history so far.
1947
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hall of Fame NBA player, is born.
Gen. Marshall, commander of European reconstruction, says moving toward a unified Europe is a condition for U.S. aid.
Mexican-American veterans organize the American G.I. Forum in response to a Three Rivers, Texas, funeral home’s denial to bury a Mexican-American soldier killed during World War II.
World Bank grants Dutch $195 million reconstruction loan.
Harry S Truman committee proposes $17 billion European recovery plan.
Tennessee Williams’s play A Streetcar Named Desire opens on Broadway in New York. The play is directed by Elia Kazan and stars Marlon Brando.
1948
Truman proposes free two-year com -munity colleges for all who want an education.
U.S. Supreme Court rules religious instruction in public school’s unconstitutional.
Truman signs foreign assistance act.
U.S. Supreme Court bans pacts barring African Americans from owning real estate.
World’s biggest telescope, at 200 inches in diameter, is dedicated at Mount Palomar, California.
Chuck Yeager exceeds the speed of sound in a Bell XS-1 jet.
Chinese radio announces formation of communist North China People’s Government.
Truman assails HUAC as more un-American than the people it investigates.
HUAC implicates film star Charlie Chaplin as a communist sympathizer.
New York’s Metropolitan Opera televised for the first time with Othello.
1949
Berlin airlift delivers one million tons of cargo to West Berliners cut off from the West by communist East Germany.
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis complete first film together, My Friend Irma.
Berlin blockade is ended.
Communist forces sweep through China.
Truman says nation hysterical over Reds, or communists.
Actress Meryl Streep is born.
RCA announces invention of system for broadcasting color television.
The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.
Harvard Law School begins admitting women for the first time.
China establishes the People’s Republic of China and hails new leader Mao Tsetung.
HUAC chairman Parnell Thomas is sentenced to six to eighteen months for padding congressional payrolls.
1950
U.S. Senate adopts the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution by a 63–14 vote.
McCarthy launches anti-Red campaign.
Children spend almost as much time watching TV, 27 hours a week, as they do attending school.
North Korea invades South.
Supreme Court bars segregation in two colleges.
U.S. forces see action in South Korea for the first time.
U.S. population is recorded at 150,520,198—nearly 19 million more than in 1940.
The U.S. government publishes a 438-page guide on civilian defense against atomic bomb atta
cks.
Emigration from Mexico doubles from 5.9 percent to 11.9 percent of the total number of immigrants to the United States.
1951
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are found guilty of spying for the Soviet Union and are sentenced to death.
United States tests hydrogen bomb.
Television broadcasts its first human birth.
Bikini outfits are banned from Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is published.
Average yearly income for an American reaches $1,436.
A truce line drawn roughly along the 38th parallel divides North and South Korea.
1952
King George VI of England dies. Queen Elizabeth II is coronated.
Three-color traffic lights adopted by New York.
Gene Kelly stars in Singin’ in the Rain.
Nevada A-bomb blast televised.
TWA begins first “tourist class” airline service, landing 95 passengers in Shannon, Ireland.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl published in U.S.
New York City dismisses eight teachers for alleged communist activities.
Harvard’s Paul Zoll becomes the first to use electric shock to treat cardiac arrest.
Eisenhower wins presidential election in a landslide.
John F. Kennedy wins Massachusetts Senate seat.
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is published.
George Jorgenson has a sex operation to change into Christine Jorgenson, a woman.
1953
Walt Disney’s Peter Pan premieres.
Dr. Jonas Salk develops a successful vaccine for polio.
Thirty-fifth nuclear blast test occurs in Nevada.
America Dreaming Page 18