Movements of the 60's

Conditions Given Voice in 60s MovementsThe rhetoric of the 60s movements had several conditions of the society that it attempted to convert into power for the movement.
American Apartheid. Despite the ending of chattel slavery in 1865, American culture -- particularly in the South -- had reestablished a cultural system based in racial superiority. Discrimination against non-EuroAmericans and even some ethnic EuroAmericans was common social practice established and promoted by discursive practices. Many movements sought to confront this system.
Disparity in Wealth. In 1960, one in five Americans lived in conditions described by the federal government as "poverty." Many movements were egalitarian movements seeking to convert this disparity into support for social change.
Institutional Terror. In the midst of the Cold War, large amounts of resources went into building military power. In his Farewell Address, President Eisenhower had warned in 1960 of a "Military-Industrial Complex" dedicated to absorbing the wealth of the society into a non-productive weapons of war. The conditions of quasi-War also encouraged attention to quasi-military structures within established power structures. Movements attempted to identify this military power and what they called the diversion of resources into destructive ends. They depicted "Amerika" as a militaristic world power, too quick to suppress dissent at home and abroad.
Materialism. The movements of the 1960s were not simply movements uniting the lesser endowed classes of American society. The children of the American middle and even upper classes were eager participants and often the leaders of these movements. They found that the material satisfactions of their wealthy status did not produce satisfaction with their lives. Many movements addressed non-material issues and framed motivation for movements in alternatives to the central place of materialism.