Student Protest

The Swinging Sixties & Protest Singers

Younger generation separated further from the older generation and many of their views
They demanded greater freedom to do as they pleased, be it music, clothes or social lives

The explosion in pop music in the 1960s led to people using their platform to express youth culture and protest about serious issues
Bob Dylan's lyrics covered fields of nuclear war, racism & war
Jimi Hendrix used music to talk about sex, drugs and the Vietnam War

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Students wanted a say in the universities at which they studied
They wanted an end to most imposing college rules and restriction
Students across the world were protesting:
- Northern Irish protests for Catholic civil rights
- 1968 strikes and demonstrations in Paris

SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) was one of its first to emerge in 1959 by Tom Haden
100000 members by the end of the 1960s
Aimed to let students have a say in the runnings of universities
Achieved national prominence in 1964 - helped organise a free speech movement in University of California in Berkeley
Up to 13750 students took part from 1964-65
Played a key role in protest movement again the Vietnam War, including organising draft card burnings

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Protests were first experienced in the civil rights movement for most students
MLK' s methods were an inspiration
White students supported the freedom marches, freedom rides and sit-ins
A disproportionate number of black students were called up to fight in Vietnam - MLK and other influential black figures spoke out against this

1964: students organised rallies and marches to support for civil rights
Many were appalled at the racism in their own societies and were determined to expose racists in their own colleges with their demands for free speech

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Many students (and people in general) were opposed to the Vietnam War as its casualty count increased
Casualty count 1965-68: 2000 to 14000 casualty increase
Students questioned the USA's right to be in Vietnam and challenged the draft conscription system
The USA was supporting a "corrupt regime" and methods of warfare such as napalm, and massacres of innocent people such as the My Lai in 1968, brought even further opposition

Anti-war protests reached their peak from 1968-70. Over 100 protests against the war in the first half of 1968 with 400000 protesters
1969: 700000 marched in Washington DC
Serious clashes took place with police, such as burning draft cards
4 May 1970: Kent State University students refused to move in a draft card protest - they were shot by National Guardsmen and 4 were killed; 11 were injured
US Press and abroad were horrified - 400 colleges closed as 2 million students went on strike against this.
President Nixon showed little sympathy

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Changes in youth culture proved to be the longest-lasting achievement of student protest
This generation became much more fashion-conscious & sexually permissive than their older generation
Influenced the withdrawal of America from Vietnam and Johnson's unwillingness to seek re-election
Their movement exposed the reality of existing racism in America
Strengthened the fact that this generation would not tolerate discrimination & segregation
Many of the students were middle-class and supposed to support the government - they went against the government's and their families' conservative views, shocking the older generation.

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