The Civil Rights Act of 1964

This act is a legislation that outlawed discrimination based on color, religion, or national origin.  I ended unequal voters right and segregation in schools and in the workplace and in public facilities.  At first this it was not enforced very strongly, especially in southern states.  Many people backlashed against the Civil Rights Act, and even police officers would not enforce it.  Over the years the act became stronger, and it became more enforced.  This was a huge step  in civil rights, because it was a final law that explicitly stopped discrimination.

4/18/16

The Cold War started to become a War where the big powerhouses like the United States and the Soviet Union would give weapons to their smaller counterparts to fight the war for them. By doing this the United States continually had to make more resources to give out to the other countries. The United States would even provide aid to the anti communist groups which costed them a multitude of their money as well. As a result of these large spending opportunities the United States fell into a great deal of inflation which caused them to increase government spending leading to more taxes and more people who became unemployed.

Discrimination and Oppression really pisses me off

Throughout history all we hear about is the great accomplishments of this fine country and how as a human race we have only further developed everything to make the life of Americans fully worth living. Sadly this life is only ever available to a very select grouping of those who fit a certain type cast. White, rich, and powerful by heredity seems to be the only way to guarantee yourself any rights and or benefits and it is honestly such bull. I am by nature a very passionate person but this only makes my blood boil to the point of blind rage. Why does a stupid predetermined mindset made hundreds of years ago end up ruining the lives of thousands even to this present day. We are given all these things that separate us and give us the opportunity to solidify ourselves as a prosperous and thriving nation, however we let these differences drive deep social wedges between us all. Whether it is ethnicity, race, or religion, the world is always looking for these categories to exploit and it is beyond upsetting.

The Watergate Scandal

Vietnam and Afghanistan

After watching the documentary on the policy of détente in the 1970’s, I started to see some parallels between the US extracting itself from Vietnam and the US removing itself from Afghanistan.
“Vietnamization” was the strategy used by the American government in removing their troops from Vietnam. The purpose was to get the Vietnamese to fight their own war while slowly extracting US troops. This would be done by supporting and training the Vietnamese army so that they could hold their own against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese army.

In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were drafted. The plan was for the US troops to leave Vietnam, with Southern Vietnam being occupied by North Vietnamese troops and governed by the Saigon government. However, the Vietnamese did not want to sign the accords because if the Americans left, the Southern Vietnamese economy would completely collapse.

I connected this to the United States’ involvement with the war in Afghanistan. I don’t know all the details, but from what I’ve understood from the news, it took the US such a long time to completely pull out of Afghanistan because the Afghani army was not ready to fight on its own. If the US had just left without providing any assistance to prepare, the country would have been left in an even worse place.

I feel like these two examples in our history point to the fact that when the US gets involved in other country’s problems, those countries come to depend on the expertise/mere numbers that the American fighters supply. This makes it hard to quickly get troops in and out of foreign countries.

1960's - Change in America

I viewed the conditions existing in the 1960s creating so many social movements as a result of an era where people were confronting the wrong things happening within America or outside with American involvement. It was sort of a domino effect where if one movement started huge in accomplishing their goals, than another supported movement with happen and so on and on. The 1960’s was a time period for change and many were willing to have that, but some people didn't want that to happen. Most of the movements occurring in the 1960’s were long-lasting tensions of problems in America. There was segregation, the view of mental-illness in homosexuals, the view of woman as property, etc. I see as when one of these tensions in America exploded and exposed itself movement, others were very influenced to do the same for what they suffered long from and want to fight for change. The African-Americans have wanted to be equal as the whites since the time slavery was abolished in America, the Anti-war movement was growing in protestors tremendously since the start of America's involvement in the Vietnam War, and Women's Rights were women for many years felt the inequality between them and men and knew they deserve the rights to do want they feel, whether its being in the kitchen or doing something totally different.

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement

The overarching theme linking many of the strategies utilized during the Black Civil Rights Movements of the 1950 and 1960s in America is that the best way to prove segregation wrong is to make the oppositions look bad and make others feel more connected to them from their struggles. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Strategies mainly based on using the media, as it was a critical role in getting people to actually follow him and agree with his view of what is the best way to end segregation and result in black’s civil rights. Martin in many cases did non-violent protests marches all across the most supportive states and cities of segregation. Martin strategies didn’t work immediately, but after constant and continuous course of non-violent African-Americans marching and protesting, they get beaten up, pushed, shoved, sprayed with water hoses, etc., the people that pay attention to the media get a serious feeling about change needed to be established in America. In the end, Martin’s philosophy of nonviolent protest, use of media, and support from many many blacks and even whites resulted in the Civil Rights Act they have suffered long for. And later, blacks get the Voting Rights Act as well. Overall what really helped Martin from his protest was strategy. He used the same method that Gandhi had used for his support of the Indian Independence movement, expect MLK has a better advantage from the media.