The Turbulent Sixties - An essay about the turbulent 1960s decade and black civil rights.
The 1960s was a wild decade all around the world. It was a time of change, the "baby boom" generation was reaching adulthood, the culture of the time promoted sex, drugs and rock and roll, and civil rights issues were tearing the United States of America apart. Three major civil rights issues nearly tore the nation apart in the 1960s. Desegregation of the public school system had the end result of integrating black and white children into the same school. New Black Nationalism began to demand economic justice and legal equality and they would fight for it at any cost. Those struggles made by African-Americans gave other groups the inspiration to protest for what they thought was right. Affirmative Action which was brought in the 1960s as a way to give every race an equal shot at certain aspects of society has begun to diminish in mainstream America as the society continues to become more colorblind and walks across racial lines. I am writing about civil rights issues in the 1960s and the retreat from affirmative action in the 1990s because I believe these events are the MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENTS in American history since 1920 because they radically reshaped the racial boundaries that had been tearing America apart since the early days of the nation.
Even after the groundbreaking "Brown v. Board of Education" case in 1954 schools were still very much segregated. This was because the Supreme Court had no established deadlines or guidelines for when desegregation was to occur. Finally in 1963 President Kennedy sought legislation to enforce equal access in public schools. This legislation was placed under the 1964 "Civil Rights Act" which guaranteed equal access for all Americans, regardless of color and sex, to public accommodations. The federal government could easily enforce segregation now by restricting funds to schools which remained segregated. However, blacks and whites continued to separate themselves in most areas which was emphasized in 1968 when the National
Even after the groundbreaking "Brown v. Board of Education" case in 1954 schools were still very much segregated. This was because the Supreme Court had no established deadlines or guidelines for when desegregation was to occur. Finally in 1963 President Kennedy sought legislation to enforce equal access in public schools. This legislation was placed under the 1964 "Civil Rights Act" which guaranteed equal access for all Americans, regardless of color and sex, to public accommodations. The federal government could easily enforce segregation now by restricting funds to schools which remained segregated. However, blacks and whites continued to separate themselves in most areas which was emphasized in 1968 when the National