1968 America's tragic year: the 1960s was already shaping up as one of America's most turbulent decades. But in 1968, it seemed Like the nation was beginning to spin out of control.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Long before Martin Luther King Jr., stepped onto a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tenn., on a spring evening in 1968, tensions in America were running high, especially among young people. Opposition to the war in Vietnam--and the draft that sent hundreds of thousands of 18- and 19-year-old men into battle--was growing. The civil rights movement had fractured, with more radical leaders sharing the spotlight with King and other proponents of nonviolence. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] American culture itself seemed to be reeling. If crew cuts, hula hoops hula hoops large plastic hoops revolved around body by hip action (1950s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 145–149] See : Fads , and TV shows like Leave It to Beaver Leave It To Beaver tranquil life in suburbia (1957-1963). [TV: Terrace II, 18] See : Domesticity defined the quiet, conformist con·form·ist n. A person who uncritically or habitually conforms to the customs, rules, or styles of a group. adj. Marked by conformity or convention: 1950s, then long hair, tie-dyed clothes, "hard rock," and hippies proclaiming "don't trust anyone over 30" and "do your own thing" seemed to typify the restless, louder 1960s. But when King, still the most prominent and respected civil rights leader of his time, was fatally shot as he stood on the Lorraine Motel's second-floor balcony on April 4, 1968, it unleashed a wave of anger, sadness, and, in some places, violence. Then, only two months later, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (President John F. Kennedy's brother), who was running for President on an anti-war, civil-rights platform, was assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. as he celebrated his June 5 victory in the California Democratic primary. Their deaths 40 years ago, along with other events in 1968, made it seem as if America was coming apart at the seams. "The country was already a tinderbox tin·der·box n. 1. A metal box for holding tinder. 2. A potentially explosive place or situation: referred to the crowded prison as a tinderbox of suppressed violence. with things so fragile and so flammable that people were ready to erupt," says David Farber, a history professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. In his long fight for civil rights, King had followed in the footsteps of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Indian leader (himself assassinated in 1948) who believed that peaceful nonviolent protest was the only way to effect change. King attracted scores of young, middle-class Americans, who had traveled to the South to register black voters, participated in sit-ins at segregated restaurants, or marched on college campuses to call for action against segregation and poverty. But as the 1960s progressed, King was challenged by more radical figures who thought his approach wasn't bringing change fast enough. "King, the last apostle of nonviolent change was brought down violently." says Farber. "That [led] to a sense for some that nonviolence was not going to work anyway." RIOTS In the days after King's death, riots broke out in cities across the nation, including Washington, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, and Detroit. Buildings burned. Dozens of people died. Millions of dollars in damage was left behind, and 40 years later, some neighborhoods still haven't recovered. Robert Kennedy had been among those calling for calm in the hours after King's killing. "What we need in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. is not division," he sadly told a crowd in Indianapolis as he informed them of King's death. "What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or black." With both King and Kennedy gone, young people who had longed for a quick end to the war or a more color-blind col·or·blind or col·or-blind adj. 1. Partially or totally unable to distinguish certain colors. 2. a. Not subject to racial prejudices. b. society felt a sense of loss, even betrayal. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Addressing her high school class at graduation ceremonies that June, Sandra M. Dixon, the valedictorian at Roslyn High School Roslyn High School Roslyn High School is an American high school in Roslyn Heights, New York. It is the only high school in the Roslyn Union Free School District. It opened in 1904. in Long Island, N.Y., spoke of the deaths of King and Robert and John Kennedy, who had been assassinated five years earlier. "A special kind of grief is felt by the members of my generation, our generation, the people to whom their pleas were direct ed," Dixon said. "In an atmosphere polluted by prejudice, war, and corruption, they offered some hope for an idealistic generation looking sadly at a threatened society." CHICAGO Captured two months after King's death, James Earl Ray ''This article or section is being rewritten at , and sourcing.]] James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was convicted of the assassination of American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which occurred on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. pleaded guilty to the murder but later recanted and proclaimed his innocence, saying he had been a fall guy in a broader conspiracy against King. By pleading guilty, he avoided the death penalty and received a 99-year sentence; he died in prison from liver disease Liver Disease Definition Liver disease is a general term for any damage that reduces the functioning of the liver. Description The liver is a large, solid organ located in the upper right-hand side of the abdomen. in 1998. Sirhan Sirhan This article is about Robert F. Kennedy's assassin. For the Tanzim militant see Sirhan Sirhan (militant). Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (born March 19, 1944) is the convicted assassin of United States Senator Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy. , a 24-year-old born to Palestinian parents, was convicted of killing Robert Kennedy, and remains in a California prison. Sirhan once said in a TV interview that he felt betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel. The months that followed the deaths were equally turbulent. At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, police officers with tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. and clubs clashed with anti-war protesters on the streets all around the city, even as inside the convention opponents of the Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. tried, without success, to get the party to adopt an anti-war platform. (It was one of the last times in recent history that one of the conventions actually determined a party's nominee. This year, of course, the Democrats might not choose Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama until their convention in Denver in August.) Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson's vice president, won the nomination, but lost the election to Richard M. Nixon, a Republican who promised to restore order at home and a "secret plan" to end the war in Vietnam. The race was remarkably tight and neither man won a majority of the popular vote, thanks, in part, to a third-party candidate, George Wallace This article is about the American politician, former governor of Alabama and former presidential candidate. For other uses, see George Wallace (disambiguation). George Corley Wallace Jr. , the segregationist seg·re·ga·tion·ist n. One that advocates or practices a policy of racial segregation. seg  re·ga former governor of Alabama. But Nixon
prevailed with 43.4 percent to Humphrey's 42.7 percent and
Wallace's 13.5 percent. The country seemed as polarized A one-way direction of a signal or the molecules within a material pointing in one direction. as ever.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Still, the King and Kennedy assassinations did bring about changes, if not the sweeping ones their supporters had hoped for. GUN CONTROL Congress had for several years been debating a fair housing act, which barred discriminating against people trying to buy, rent, or get financing for a home. Just days after King's death, the act moved quickly through Congress, and President Johnson signed it into law on April 11. The assassinations also set off a national debate on gun control, and by the fall, Congress passed legislation, which barred interstate traffic of firearms and denied the sale of weapons to felons, young people, and the mentally ill. "It was very much a response to the assassinations," says Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign The Brady Campaign or The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence or The Brady Campaign united with the Million Mom March was founded in 1974 as The National Council to Control Handguns (NCCH) by Dr. Mark Borinsky, a victim of gun violence. to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control advocacy group. Kennedy's death also spurred additional protection for presidential candidates, with Congress deciding that presidential and vice presidential candidates would receive protection from the U.S. Secret Service. (Nevertheless, since that time both candidates and Presidents--George Wallace, who ran again for President in 1972, and Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford--were the targets of assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. attempts.) And the battles on the floor of the Democratic convention led to changes in the party's nomination process, including a much more significant role for primaries. For many, though, the assassinations of 1968 and the riots and tumult that followed were simply too much to digest. "There was too much going on, one thing after another, and people were overwhelmed by it," says Howard Smead, a lecturer in history at the University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (also known as UM, UMD, or UMCP) is a public university located in the city of College Park, in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., in the United States. . "We were a very optimistic people going through a period of enormous optimism and experimentation in the 1960s, and this changed [things] very fast. In a way, 1968 was the end of our optimism." TIMELINE: A DECADE OF UPHEAVAL 1960 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SIT-INS At a Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C., four black college students stage a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter. Sit-ins follow in dozens of cities, raising national awareness of the civil rights movement. AUGUST 1963 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MARCH ON WASHINGTON A quarter million people hear Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech at a march for civil rights and to urge passage of the Civil. Rights Act, introduced by President John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in that summer. NOVEMBER 1963 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JFK ASSASSINATION President Kennedy is assassinated as his motorcade travels through downtown Dallas. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as President. 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT At Johnson's urging, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, outlawing segregation in public places. The next year, Congress passes the Voting Rights Act Voting Rights Act Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1965 to ensure the voting rights of African Americans. Though the Constitution's 15th Amendment (passed 1870) had guaranteed the right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” , barring literacy tests and other discriminatory voting practices. FEBRUARY 1965 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] VIETNAM WAR Johnson sends the first U.S. combat troops as the war between communist North Vietnam and U.S. ally South Vietnam escalates. By decade's end, American troop levels would reach 540,000. AUGUST 1965 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WATTS RIOTS Deadly riots break out in Watts, a poor, predominantly black section of Los Angeles, after police clash with residents over the arrest of a black motorist accused of erratic driving. Six days of rioting leaves 34 people dead, 1,000 injured, and hundreds of businesses destroyed. 1967 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SUMMER OF LOVE 100,000 young people gather in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco to help themselves to free food and "free Love." The hippie movement--and "love-ins"--spread to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Los Angeles, and other big cities. JANUARY 1968 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WAR PROTESTS Communists Launch the Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of attacks on South Vietnam. Grisly TV images of U.S. troops in battle shake America's confidence and boost the anti-war movement. MARCH 1968 RFK RFK Robert F. Kennedy RFK Robotfindskitten (game) RFK Razorfen Kraul (World of Warcraft) RFK Ride For Kids RFK Request for Knowledge RFK Raum Funktionales Konzept FOR PRESIDENT Robert F. Kennedy enters the campaign for President on an anti-war, anti-poverty platform. Two weeks Later, with his popularity plummeting, Johnson announces he won't run for re-election. APRIL MLK MLK Martin Luther King MLK Milk MLK Medialess License Kit assassinated JUNE RFK assassinated NOVEMBER 1968 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PRESIDENT NIXON Republican Richard M. Nixon defeats Hubert HI Humphrey, Johnson's Vice President. The next year, Nixon begins a U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam; it would not be completed until 1973. JULY 1969 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MEN ON THE MOON The world watches it all Live on TV as U.S. astronauts Land on the moon, fulfilling a 1961 pledge by President Kennedy and beating the Soviet Union in the "space race." AUGUST 1969 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WOODSTOCK Half a million people descend on tiny Bethel, N.Y., for a festival that is Later seen as the peak of the hippie counterculture coun·ter·cul·ture n. A culture, especially of young people, with values or lifestyles in opposition to those of the established culture. coun and youth movement. By Monica Davey in Chicago Monica Davey is the Chicago bureau chief of The New York Times. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion