The 1960-70s were years of protest. Like now, most of the protestors were America’s youth. Nixon was president 1969-1974. We believed the government was corrupt and labeled it “The Establishment” long before Nixon was sworn in, and after his inauguration we thought our government had moved from bad to worse.
Before Nixon, we protested for civil rights and racial equality during the Kennedy/Johnson years. These rights were hard-won and protestors were often killed by either police or lynch mobs. Even the movement’s leader, Martin Luther King Jr., was gunned down, but we persevered. I remember being suspended from school for a few days for dancing with a black football player at a homecoming dance. Supporting racial equality was not popular and “The Establishment” lashed back. Ultimately, the laws changed. It took a while longer for hearts and heads to catch up.
We protested the war in Viet Nam, which in 1969 was the largest protest in Washington D.C. until recent years. It was not easy and certainly not bloodless. The National Guard fired upon protestors at Kent State killing four students. Protestors were labelled radicals and extremists. I participated in many anti-war demonstrations in Philadelphia, yet strangely enough, made newspaper headlines along with my new husband and his sister the day after the 1969 rally in Washington, D.C., when we were caught in traffic. We were not part of the protest and yet were struck by police. A Washington Post reporter photographed us and wrote an article about us that headlined the paper the next day. (I must admit to being a bit melodramatic and a tad less than honest- not about what happened, but about my citizenship.)
At any rate, our protests were heard. The war in Viet Nam ended and Nixon resigned. Nixon was a crook, make no mistake about that!
We protested for women’s rights. We burned bras to signify our wish for freedom. Why? Women of today do not realize what was at stake or what freedoms they are so willing to give up. Women were beholden to their husbands to the degree that they could not get a credit card without their husband’s expressed and written consent. In 1972 the Equal Rights Amendment was passed and sent to the states for ratification.
Protests do work! That is why I am so proud of this generation of students willing to take up the challenge and protest for legislative changes. I also hope Donald Trump is paying attention. In their youthful idealism, young voters are less likely to tolerate the corruption to which our Congress has turned a blind eye. Their days are numbered.
dottieriley 