The Sixties and Seventies Civil Rights, Riots, and the emergence of Racial Consciousness
Sources: Cherney, Robert, W., , Griswold del Castillo, Richard, Lemke-Santangelo, Gretchen. Competing Visions, A HIstory of California. Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston , New York. 2005.
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Many events contributed to rapid expansion of civil liberties and rights in America during the sixties and seventies. Several of these significant events took place in California. The emergence of a new nation with a new racial consciousness came as a result of the many movements, protests, riots, and new legislation developed in America. Many of the social movements started with farm worker an African American demand for social economic and political equality mixed with growing opposition to the Vietnam War and the emergence of counterculture.
This new racial consciousness in California in particular, was particularly due to the growth of California's population and economy during the post war era. During the 60’s, population shifts related to the economy growth allowed mostly white upper class citizens to move from urban areas into suburban areas, while minority groups were left in deteriorating cities. This movemnet intensified the racial stratification in California, and brought to light the increasing socio economic disparities between whites and minorities. These disparities resulted in multiple movements headed by minorities who demanded equal rights, political power, acceptance of their cultural traditions, and recognition of their historical experiences. Movements and Organizations 1962: Formation of the National Farm Workers Association This Association was founded by Cesar Chavez and several others in response to unfair legislation and treatment of agricultural workers in California. Joining the Filipino members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), they began a long strike against local farms. The strike resulted in the successful formation other Farm workers union, which protected them from exploitation by large farms organizations. 1964: U.C. Berkley Free Speech Movement In response to the prohibition of political advocacy by organizations on campus, during the Civil Rights Movement, students begin to protest the University. Students joined of the evolving Free Speech Movement (FSM) and eventually gained support from the faculty senate and overturned the prohibitions. 1965: Watts Riots In response to a brutal arrest in August, nearly 10,000 participants joined at the center of Watts to demand the end of police brutality as well as the unfair racial make up of the Los Angeles Police Department. The gathering turned violent as a participants expelled years of frustration that stemmed from inequality under American law. Participants burned and destroyed hundreds of mostly white own businesses. Thirty-one African American individuals died and hundreds more were injured. The riot was historically significant because it marked the shift from nonviolent protesting, to a more forceful form of activism. 1966: Black Panther Party is established As a young activist began to assume more radical forms of activism, cultural pride, self-defense, and determination, a new form the black division emerged. Rejecting previous notions of nonviolence, the Black Panther party was founded in Oakland, California. 1967: Brown Berets established Formed by a group of urban Los Angeles youth, the Brown Berets were very similar to the Black Panthers in that they emphasized cultural and nationalism self-determination and community self-defense. 1968-1969: Third World strikes at UC Berkley and San Francisco State Students at San Francisco State College and Berkeley organized campus coalitions known as the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF). This organization launched strikes tat demanded the establishment of third world colleges comprised of departments Minority Studies. 1969: AIM movement occupies Alcatraz: Influenced by black power into kind of power movements, California Indians students formed the American Indian Movement (AIM). Led by Richard Oaks the small group Indian students from Berkeley and San Francisco State University occupied Alcatraz Island just a few miles off the coast of California. The occupation represented the taking back Indian land. 1970: Chicano Moratorium This movement gathered 25,000 Chicano/a participants from various parts of the country in order demonstrate the emerging dissent for their places in society and to overturn conservative politics. |