This photograph was taken shortly after the 1968 elections at a democratic-society sponsored protest in response to the results. The democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey, was the face for an older generation, And was seen as someone who would not be progressive with his policies. The youth were not content with the progress that the country was making in regards to social and racial equality; as well as the war in Vietnam. With nixon and the republicans gaining control of the country, many of the countries youth were fearful that they may never see the country they all envisioned. This picture personifies the youth movement within the country, and their waning away from the values and beliefs previous generations have had.
In corresponding protests across the country this is a NY times article written by Sylvan Fox, about the protests that turned violent in NY. The previous passivity of the white middle class young adult was no longer seeing the desired results, and the movement became more angry in nature. With the liberal youth becoming frustrated with the lack of representation in government, and mor specifically the democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey
THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS AND COMPARATIVE POSITIONS OF NEGROES AND WHITES ON POLICY
South Atlantic Quarterly; Summer1968, Vol. 67 Issue 3, p405-418, 14p
These elections also dramatized the singluarity within the white and black youth movements. Despite being vehementaly against international intervention, when it comes to matters on home soil, they are beginning to find that intervention and conflicts with police is the only way they can seek desired results. This was the foundation for the youth movement and their political alliances that have held weight till this day.
Javits and Burns See Vietnam as Key Issue of 1968
Database: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2008)
This article states that one of the most pressing issues of the 1968 election is the current stand of the parties on the Vietnam War. As many people were opposed to the Vietnam War, it would be interesting to see how, if any, the politician’s stand on the Vietnam War during election time may or may not have played a role as this plays into the candidate’s stand on foreign policies.
Romney speech typifies GOP split on Vietnam
Database: Financial Time: Historical Archive (1888-2008)
The Financial Times (London, England),Thursday, May 11, 1967; pg. 3; Edition 24,230
This is another article talking about the pressing issue of the Vietnam War on the 1968 Elections. In this article, it talks about Governor George Romney, a Michigan favored candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination of 1968.
Vietnam, Political Accountability
Database: ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The Wall Street Journal (1889-1994)
October 12, 1967, pg. 10.
This is yet another article regarding the ongoing issue of the Vietnam War in the 1968 election. This article is interesting because it starts off by stating: “President Johnson, Mr. Bailey avers, is seeking to prevent World War III while ‘most Republicans are busy trying to win the 1968 election any way they can.'”
JSTOR – The American Presidential Election, 1968
This attributes the Vietnam War to many events that led to the Republicans winning the 1968 Presidential Election. Some of them include:
“The failure of the American policy in South East Asia which forced President Johnson to announce his decision not to seek re-election”
The Vietnam War “led a serious split in the Democratic Party and the announcement by Senator McCarthy and Kennedy to seek the party’s presidential nomination on a peace platform”
Hubert Humphrey losing the election largely “on the account of his close identification with the Johnson policy in Vietnam”
Database: American History & Life
In the 1960’s and leading up to the 1968 Presidential Election, communism was a large problem in the U.S. The article, “Make Your Voice Heard” talks about the increase in education for students, specifically in math and science. The United States felt that after the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, there needed to be an increase in education so that U.S. can try and keep up with the other communist countries. The U.S. also felt there needed to be an increase in the Social Studies and foreign language. This was a time period were there was heavy tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Students were specifically studying “international communism” to make them aware of what is going elsewhere in the world.
Database: New York Times (1851- 2008)
The Vietnam War was among many of the issues during the 60’s. “Vietnam in 1968“, is an article by the NY Times that talks about increase in military by President Johnson in Vietnam and how negotiations are a falso hope. An important point that the article makes is that President Johnson has got the U.S. into a war without going through Congress.
Database: New York State Newspapers
In the article, “Civil Rights Activist Speaks of the 60’s“, LeRoy Glenn Wight, a civil rights activist discusses his experience while taking a bus ride to fight against segregation in the 60’s. The article mentions other activists and their experiences dealing with the era of the civil rights movement.
The Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, and Communism are three of many conflicts that were going on in the United States and the world in the 60’s and leading up the 1968 Presidential Election.
At first when I accessed DS106, I had the impression that it was just an website where you can access materials for class like Open Learning Initiative from Carnegie Melon or MyAccountingLab from Pearson. How surprised was I when I finished watching the YouTube video on their About page! Turns out that was not what I thought at all, but it was (to put into simpler terms) an online database where you use digital tools to tell stories!
What I noticed about DS106 is that they do not list an exact guideline for when they come into questions regarding intellectual property, fair use, etc.. However, I feel that they incorporate fair use and intellectual property into their entries without causing trouble to the original owner of the materials because of the nature of their assignments. They edit the materials in such a way that encourages creativity and encourages comments and criticism. This community understands the “Commons” by realizing that their material is open to everyone to see. They are posting in a database whose main purpose is to showcase their creations.
Elected in 1968, Richard Nixon campaigned on the coat-tails of equal right, however his lack of attention toward’s women’s issues caused him plenty of backlash. During the election, women’s liberation was a hot topic, as the new wave of feminism flooded American politics, clashing with the culture of a “typical” female (think Doris Day and Mrs. Cleaver.)
Issues such as legalized abortions (remember, the Roe v. Wade decision wasn’t made until 1973,) the value of women’s votes, and the equality for women (especially married women) in the workplace were all highly charged issues, as women climbed the social, class and status ladder and clashed against the men who were already sitting on top.
Working women:
Currently, women make $0.77 to every man’s dollar, though this gap in wages is not something that hasn’t be fought before. In a 1962 issues of the Wall Street Journal (just six year before the election) women were already fighting for equal pay. In an article titled Senate Unit Approves ‘Equal Pay for Women’ Bill; Changes Possible: Tower to Seek to Put Limit on Labor Agency’s Role, Allow for Added Cost of Women Employes, talks of putting a limit on the Labor Agency’s role in the issue to allow for employers to afford the “added cost of women employees.” However, as the printed of this article the bill was not yet passed, women’s lobbying groups rallied for “equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill.” The article also spoke of ridiculous amendments that would be added to such a simply bill (because it’s so hard to pay everyone the same wage when you’re cheap) such as not being able to look into earlier complaints by female worker’s on unjust actions, and the bill would only cover based on “seniority or merit increase systems.” The bill looked to favor the excuses by avoiding the harsh truth that employers just do not want to pay women equally.
Abortion Laws:
In an article dated December 1968 (right after the 1968 election) by Keith Monore ,titled How California’s Abortion Law Isn’t Working: California’s abortion law The abortion reformers look to the courts for change, spoke of how California was reforming its Abortion Law. It allowed for abortions to be approved and undergone only if the mother was mentally ill. In effect, many women were suddenly mentally ill to have their cases approved, and as Monore reported, if their cases weren’t approved women would find other means to abort their pregnancies, such as seeking unsafe “alternative abortions.” While Pro-choice and Pro-lifers battle it now during this election, in 1968 women were still having the “legitimacy” of their rapes questioned, as the article quoted stories of a raped girl who became pregnant who died after she jumped off her parents’ roof to abort the child, another was of a child who despised his “parents” who was conceived after his mother (a married women) was raped though abortion was approved by medical authorities it was the declined by the district attorney.
Sexual Discrimination:
In 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed, and is currently the largest feminist organization in the United States. Since it’s formation, NOW focuses on issues pertaining to women such as abortion rights and reproductive issues, violence against women, constitutional equality, promoting diversity and ending racism, lesbian rights, and economic justice. Using the database “Women and Social Movements,” I was able to find an article titled “How and Why Was Feminist Legal Strategy Transformed, 1960-1973.” In Document 15 was an article from November 1967 which dealt with Constitutional Protection Against Sex Discrimination, written by Mary Eastwood. The core of Eastwood’s memorandum can be summed up by one quote:
“The power of American law, and the protection guaranteed by the U.S.Constitution to the civil rights of all individuals, must be effectively applied and enforced to isolate and remove patterns of sex discrimination, to ensure equality of opportunity in employment and education, and equality of civil and political rights and responsibilities on behalf of women, as well as for Negroes and other deprived groups.”
Just like the issues before this, women have been fighting against sexual discrimination on a political for decades. Though progress has been made, there is still much to be done, and this current election may choose whether or not the war on women truly blooms to fruition.
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