Reaction, Recession & Globalization: 1970-1979

Reaction, Recession, & Globalization: 1970-1979

Chapter Questions

• How did the civil rights and Black Power movements influence the political consciousness of other ethnicities and interest groups?
• What was Richard Nixon's strategy for appealing to constituencies who had traditionally voted for Democrats?
• What were the course and impact of the Watergate scandal?
• How did the economic crisis of the 1970s reflect global developments and shape popular perceptions of the American city?

Opening Narrative: Dan White Murders

• November 27, 1978: Dan White, a former San Francisco supervisor, assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.
• This event was part of a series of violent acts in American history, including assassinations and attempted assassinations of political figures.
• The murders, along with the Jonestown mass suicide, highlighted social divisions and violent crime.
• White, a conservative Catholic, contrasted with Moscone, a liberal, and Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office in California.
• White's conviction on a lesser charge led to protests, and police officers, who supported White, raided a gay bar and beat patrons.
• These events reflected the social movements of the preceding decade and intensified social divisions.
• A revived Republican Party gained ground, but the Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign.
• Nixon's government struggled with an economic crisis marked by inflation, unemployment, and industrial decline.
• This crisis eroded assumptions about growth and progress, making Americans aware of global interdependence.

Protest and Liberation in a Divided Nation

• The civil rights reforms and social movements of the 1960s had a complex legacy.
• Federal policies promoting racial integration sparked conflicts, especially in the North, where some white Americans saw civil rights as a zero-sum game.
• The civil rights and Black Power movements inspired other groups to celebrate their ethnic identities and organize political protests.
• Feminists sought to apply the lessons of the civil rights movement to women.
• Black America provided a model of group solidarity and personal liberation for these new assertions of political power.

Desegregation Battles

• By 1970, U.S. courts were impatient with the slow pace of racial integration in public schools, as mandated in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.
• In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled that busing was an acceptable method of ending segregation.
• Federal courts began ordering school districts with racial segregation patterns to implement busing.
• White parents and politicians protested against