Social Issues In The 1960s Essay

The 1960s was a time of hard fought change in society and music. Social music was one of the most popular music styles in that decade; many people were satisfied and others were not with this issue because they were hearing lyrics that were very unpleasant for them. Today many people are still facing many social issues that were addressed during that time. Americans heard the lyrics of their 1960s music speak out in protest about racism, and equal rights on men and women. The 1960s was a time of social unrest and music began to attract the people’s spirits. During this time many songs, genres, and artists were talking about the civil rights era and the dream of African Americans. According to the website Civilrights.uga.edu claims “Soul music and rhythm and blues (R&B) successfully captured these messages, attracting artists like Curtis
Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and the Temptations”. In other words these artists started to write and sing songs about protest on ending discrimination and racism on African Americans. Also this type of music and lyrics were entering people’s hearts that lead them to claim for freedom and equal rights on African Americans. Another thing that they asserted was “African American artists made the most famous songs related to the movement, musicians of all stripes contributed songs of protest about injustices in America”. This means that many African American artists were against racism and discrimination. Artists thought that writing and singing lyrics about their injustices in America was going to be a great impact during that decade to help end segregation. Women equal rights were some of the lyrics that artists brought in music in the 1960s.
During that time many women were treated differently as men, women were there only to have children and be at home raising their children. In the website learningenglish-voanews.com states, “women’s groups for example, were seeking equality with men. They wanted the same chances as men to get a good education and a good job. They also demanded equal pay for equal work”. In addition of this, women were trying to get treated differently so they could have the same benefits and equal treatment as men. While this was happening in the 1960s an artist named Helen Reddy composed a song called “I Am Woman” this song was mostly about how women were capable and powerful to fight for what they want, also the lyrics were giving messages on how women faced many obstacles to be where they are now since those years of not having the equal rights as men. Another song was “Respect” by Aretha Franklin it was one of the most famous ones in the year of 1967. The lyrics in this song were arguing that women needed to be strong and deserved to be
respected. In the 1960s Americans were hearing lyrics about protest in songs by many different artists demanding to get equal rights and to end racism. During this decade music was also a great impact for society because the lyrics spoke about many social issues that they were facing regarding how women were treated differently than men and to end racism on African Americans.