Reaction, Recession & Globalization: 1970-1979

Reaction, Recession, & Globalization: 1970-1979

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?

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.

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.

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