Civil
Rights Through Richard Nixon
History M25 –
Jackie Robinson
· Baseball = national pastime
· ML vs. Negro Leagues
· 1947: Branch Rickey brings Robinson in to play for Brooklyn Dodgers (NL)
· Faces discrimination from teammates, fans, opposition
· Success disproves myths
Brown vs. the Board
· Plessy had made segregation legal
·
1954: Brown & NAACP (Thurgood
Marshall) sue
Board of Ed. In
· SC overturns Plessy, segregation now illegal
· Blacks forced to sit in back of bus or stand so whites could sit
· Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to leave her seat
· MLK chosen to lead boycott (SCLC)
· Carpool, walk, etc. for 11 mos.
· Face police harassment, KKK violence, King’s house is shot at
· Ends with city backing down
Central High, Little Rock (1957)
· Following Brown court order
·
9 students enter
· face beatings, harassment, national guard sent in to protect them – 7 of 9 graduate
Sit Ins (SNCC - 1960)
· goal is to integrate private facilities in the south – dept. store lunch counters
· extensive training to deal with harassment, arrest, etc.
· many are beaten and jailed, persistence brings success
Freedom Riders
· Ride through South to integrate bus terminals
·
mob violence in
· Bull Connor “outsiders are stirring up trouble”
·
JFK’s afraid violence
will hurt
James Meredith & Ole Miss
· Southern Universities home of elite
· 1962: NAACP wins court order to get Meredith admitted
· Gov. stops him from entering, riot breaks out, JFK sends in troops
· Meredith graduates in 1963
· SNCC sends hundreds of volunteer college students (B & W) south in the summer of 1964
· Freedom schools, demonstrations, voter registration, etc.
· heavy resistance “prepare for an invasion”
Kennedy’s New Frontier
· Narrow election means no mandate
· Must deal with pressing Cold War issues and Civil Rights tension
·
New Frontier is JFK’s
vision for what
· Problems: inadequate education, urban slums, rural poverty, health care
JFK’s Programs
· Commitment to NASA & Space Race (moon by 1970)
· Increased defense spending
· Area Redevelopment Agency
·
· Peace Corps sends volunteers around world to improve relations
Johnson’s Great Society
· LBJ’s continuation of New Deal legacy – expansive role of federal government)
· war on poverty, civil rights legislation, revitalization of the inner city
· 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act
·
AFDC, Office of Economic
· Expansion of welfare programs
Causes for Change
· Baby Boom
· Assassinations
· Suburban homogeneity
· Strict social expectations
· Civil Rights Movement
· Vietnam War
Signs of Change
· Music
· Experimentation with drugs
· New attitudes about sex
· Changes in clothing & hair styles
· ”can’t trust anyone over 30”
· Eastern philosophy
· Communal living
It Ain’t Easy Being Me…
· Political Comeback
· Economy’s tightening up
·
· Soviets (Brezhnev)
· Tension between “Two Americas” (cultural revolution)
Richard Nixon
· Grassroots conservatism
· Plays on fears of silent majority
· strengthen support & don’t worry about who you’re pissing off
· Law & Order (Hard Hat backlash)
· New Federalism (Family Assistance, Revenue Sharing, back to states)
· OSHA & the EPA
· Moderate SC (Swann, Roe v. Wade, Milliken)
· Fear of Liberals (plumbers)
Ricardo the Great!?!
·
“Peace with Honor” in
·
With Kissinger pursues “realpolitik”
- keep
·
Visit to
·
Visits
· SALT I & II- arms reduction (ICBMs)
Watergate Timeline
· 6/17/72- break-in
· 8/72- Nixon: “investigation uncovered no wrongdoing in White House”
· burglars indicted (9/72) & convicted (1/73)
· connections established between burglars & CIA & CREP
· 2/73- Ervin Committee formed (Senate)
The Timeline Continues
· 5/73- Archibald Cox appointed special prosecutor
· Nixon’s Aides begin dropping out
· 6/73- Butterfield reveals tapes
· Cox & Ervin start battle for tapes
·
10/20/73-
· 3/1/74- 7 men indicted for cover-up
The Timeline Continues
· 4/30/74- Nixon releases edited transcripts of tapes
· Sirica asks for additional tapes, Nixon refuses, SC says they must be turned over
· 7/15/74- Judiciary Committee tenders three articles of impeachment
· 8/9/74- Nixon Resigns