Minority Rights, 1960-80

• federal Bureau of Indian Affairs shifted between breaking up or supporting tribal existence
• 1953: policy of 'termination'- N.A were freed from federal conrol but their tribal lands would be up for sale- resisted by many
• Tribal Homelands:  many N.A. had been driven from their homelands following the 1830 Indian Removal Act

• federal government made treaties (often by force) with the tribes- by the 1960s, generally acknowledged they were unfair
• Self-determination: tribes controlled their own affairs but only under the control of the BIA
• BIA had implemented policies to break up N.A. culture (e.g. Indian Boarding Schools- forced children to give up Native customs and language)
• N.A. wanted the freedom to control their own affairs

• 1968: Indian Civil Rights Act banned tribes from restricting the civil rights of tribal members- does nothing to adress issues N.A. have with government
• AIM (American Indian Movement) set up 1968
• members mostly young and urban
• National Congress of American Indians already existed- worked within the system
• AIM took a more radical approach- 'Red Power'
• sit-ins, demonstrations and occupations
• 20th Nov 1969: Alcatraz Red Power movement takes over Alcatraz Island and occupies it until 1971
• 1971: AIM membership is around 4,500 (total N.A. population around 1 million)
• 1972: AIM occupy the BIA building during a protest
• 1973: AIM clash with US marshalls and the state police at Wounded Knee in Dakota- government agrees to investigate its demands and grievances

• Nixon sympathised with N.A. campaigners- felt it should be possible to make changes for a relatively small population
• 1972 Indian Education Act- provides funds for tribal schools
• 1974 Indian Financing Act- lent tribes funds for development/growth
• 1975 Indian Self-Determination Act- maintained the BIA but contracted out health and education- gave tribes more control
• Helped by 1975 extension of the Voting Rights Act 
• 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act- gave N.A. more control over the adoption of Native American children
• 1970: Congress returns land at Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo tribe

However:

• Nixon's administration didn't reform the BIA
• no renegotiations over Native American sacred sites
• no overall solution to land issues and various states (e.g. Hawaii) continued to evict Indians from land if the state wanted it 

• Land: border between US and Mexico was highly contested- Mexicans were displaced in some areas
• Workers' rights: Hispanic farm workers (e.g. those working in the bracero programme) often had appaling living and working conditions- most workers had no unions and were easily replaced by illegal migrant workers
• Discrimination: Hispanic Americans faced the same problems of discrimination as black Americans- lived in the worst parts of cities, with poor government provision
• Deportation: US immigration services deported millions of Hispanic people from 1953 onwards (Operation ******* 1953-58: around 3.8 million deported)
• bracero programme from 1942-64: Mexicans signed contracts to work, often on the land in the US for a set period of time in return for a guaranteed level of housing and working conditions- around 4.6 million contracts signed

• Cesar Chavez creates the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962- mostly Mexican membership- non-violent campaign
• 1965: Delano grape boycott
• Rodolfo Gonzalez focused on issues of race- worked initially within the system but then founds Crusade for Justice in 1966- stressed the importance of fighting for Hispanic rights locally through direct action
• Brown Berets (militant organisation like the Black Panthers) created 1967 in East LA
• June 1968: 10,000 students walk out of schools in East LA- 13 activists are arrested
• 1973: widespread strikes and demonstrations after 1970 farm worker contracts are not renewed
• Thousands arrested, two killed

Achievements:

• legal acceptance of Hispanic citizens was slow
• 1954 Hernandez v Texas ruling- ruled Hispanic Americans were legal citizens
• 1966: Cuban American Adjustment Act- all cubans who had lived in the USA for a year were permanent residents (no other Hispanic group given this right)
• 1974 Equal Opportunities Act: provided for more bilingual teaching assistance in schools
• 1975 Voting Rights Act extension provides language assistance at polling stations and extended rights to Native Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic groups

Limitations:

• Level of change varied from state to state
• Land issues were not settled
• Legal enforcement of rights did not always happen

• 1950: Congress said that homosexuality was a mental illness
• Homosexuality was illegal in every state in the US until 1962
• founded after police raid on Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village on 28th June 1969
• around 400 people fought back to the police who barricaded themselves in the bar
• for several nights: protests and clashes with police in the area around the bar
• Gay Liberation Front created in the weeks after the riot
• Gay Pride marches held in several cities on 28th August 1970- New York march had 10,000 marchers
• Highly visible gay communities sprang up in New York, San Francisco etc.
• As early as 1977: polls suggested that over 50% of people supported equal rights for gays
• people realised that people they knew and liked were gay
• However: still very vocal anti-gay groups e.g. the KKK

Achievements:

• 1974: Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly gay candidate elected to public office
• 1977: Harvey Milk elected in San Francisco
• Proposition 6 is defeated in 1978
• 1958: Supreme Court rules that the postal service cannot ban a gay magazine as 'obscene'
• Between 1979 and 81: 4 openly gay state judges appointed in California

Limitations:

• 1970s conservative backlash
• start of campaign against gay rights
• Save Our Children created in Florida 1977- campaigned against anti-discrimination laws
• claimed that gay integration would 'corrupt normal children'
• had some success in halting the passing of anti-discrimination laws
• religous right became more outspoken