Many social changes that were addressed in the 1960s are still the issues being The '60s was a decade of social and political upheaval caused bystudent and anti-war protest movements, political assassinations, and ghetto riots. Thedecade began under the shadow of the Cold War between the Soviet Union which wasaggravated by the U-2 incident, the Berlin Wall construction, and the Cuban MissileCrisis, along with the space race with the USSR. The decade ended under the shadow ofthe Vietnam War, which deeply divided Americans and their allies and damaged thecountrys self-confidence and sense of purpose. Even for someone who wasnt aliveduring the sixties, it is known what was meant by tune in, turn on, drop out. Everyperson knows why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jrs birthday. All of the social issuesare reflected in todays society: the civil rights movement, the student movement, spaceexploration, the sexual revolution, the environment, medicine and health, and fun andfashion.The power and enthusiasm of the previous decade's civil movement led byReverend Martin Luther king Jr. carried over into the 1960s. But for most blacks, the results were minimal. Only a small percentage of black children actually attendedintegrated schools, and in the south, "Jim Crow" practices barred blacks from jobs andpublic places (Ascher 21). New groups formed, new tactics devised, to push forward forfull equality. White resistance, however, often resulted in violence. This violence spilledacross TV screens nationwide. The average, neutral American, after seeing his/her TVscreen, turned into a civil rights supporter (Ascher 36).Straughn 2Black unity and white support continued to grow. In 1962, with the firstlarge-scale public protest against racial discrimination, Martin Luther King, jr. gave adramatic and inspirational speech in Washington, D.C. after a long march of thousands tothe capital (King 189). The possibility of riot and bloodshed was always ...
