The 1960s - HISTORY

Historian Yohuru Williams sums up the tumultuous political and cultural movements of the 1960s.

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Tom Brokaw reflects on the events of the 1960s.

In this Ask Steve video, delve into the 1960's economy to find economic success, and economic decisions that would lead to a slowed economy, high unemployment, and high inflation. The economic decisions made in the 1960's caused the economy to weaken in the next decade. The social turmoil of the 1960's did not negatively affect the economy. In fact, the economy moved smoothly along thanks to the increase of spending for the Vietnam War. However, the decisions of the President and Congress to have "guns and butter" would make the economy slow down in the 1970's. By having both "guns and butter", the government decided to expand social programs at home and spending on the Vietnam War, without raising taxes. This led to stagnation, high unemployment and high inflation. Lastly, in the words of Tom Hayden, the founder of Students for a Democratic Society, in the 1960's they had to fight the "pigs", and in the 1970's they had to fight the high price of bacon.

This segment of Ask Steve explains how television in the 1960's failed to reflect upon the turmoil and confusion felt during this decade of change. Television in 1968 lagged behind in social change because there were only three networks. Since only three networks existed, they represented a large variety of people and did not want to alienate themselves from the public. 1968 television mostly consisted of escapists programs, such as Bewitched, Get Smart, and I Love Lucy. However, the first interracial kiss on television took place in a 1968 episode of Star Trek. The Mod Squad also aired, appealing to young people, but with a very traditional message of solving crime. laugh-In also aired in 1968, and was one of the first shows to poke fun of the establishment. It was not until the 1970's where there were more networks, and you had a variety of shows like Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

Newsreel footage of President Kennedy's address to the American people after the University of Mississippi riots in 1962.

Notable people, including Jada Pinkett Smith, Deepak Chopra, Carmen de Lavallade, Michael Strahan, Bernice King, and Sunny Hostin, talk about the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. had on their lives and what they see from their own "mountaintops."

Historian Yohuru Williams talks about the Plessy v. Ferguson case and its effects on the Civil Rights Movement.