American Patriotism, American Protest
American Patriotism, American Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties
Simon Hall
Copyright Date: 2011
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Pages: 224
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fj25t
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American Patriotism, American Protest
Book Description:

During the 1970s and beyond, political causes both left and right-the gay rights movement, second-wave feminism, the protests against busing to desegregate schools, the tax revolt, and the anti-abortion struggle-drew inspiration from the protest movements of the 1960s. Indeed, in their enthusiasm for direct-action tactics, their use of street theater, and their engagement in grassroots organizing, activists in all these movements can be considered "children of the Sixties." Invocations of America's founding ideals of liberty and justice and other forms of patriotic protest have also featured prominently in the rhetoric and image of these movements. Appeals to the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights have been made forcefully by gay rights activists and feminists, for instance, while participants in the antibusing movement, the tax revolt, and the campaign against abortion rights have waved the American flag and claimed the support of the nation's founders. In tracing the continuation of quintessentially "Sixties" forms of protest and ideas into the last three decades of the twentieth century, and in emphasizing their legacy for conservatives as well as those on the left, American Patriotism, American Protest shows that the activism of the civil rights, New Left, and anti-Vietnam War movements has shaped America's modern political culture in decisive ways. As well as providing a refreshing alternative to the "rise and fall" narrative through which the Sixties are often viewed, Simon Hall's focus on the shared commitment to patriotic protest among a diverse range of activists across the political spectrum also challenges claims that, in recent decades, patriotism has become the preserve of the political right. Full of original and insightful observations, and based on extensive archival research, American Patriotism, American Protest transforms our understanding of the Sixties and their aftermath.

eISBN: 978-0-8122-0365-3
Subjects: History
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. [i]-[vi])
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. [vii]-[viii])
  3. Introduction
    Introduction (pp. 1-8)

    On Sunday 11 October 1987, more than 200,000 protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., for a national march for lesbian and gay rights. The day began with the unveiling on the Mall of the AIDS memorial quilt. Containing 1,920 three foot by six foot panels made by the lovers, friends, and families of those lost to the epidemic, the quilt (which by 2010 had grown to more than 40,000 panels) was a powerful and moving tribute. One newspaper report noted that as the pieces were “unfurled and hooked together” the “early morning quiet” was “punctured” by the “sound of sobs” and...

  4. Chapter 1 Patriotism, Protest, and the 1960s
    Chapter 1 Patriotism, Protest, and the 1960s (pp. 9-25)

    Amid the dramatic protests and social activism of the 1960s the civil rights movement stands out for its commitment to, and enthusiasm for, patriotic protest. Indeed, black leaders sought consistently to fuse respectable tactics—such as dressing smartly, behaving peacefully, and maintaining dignity even in the face of white supremacist provocation and violence—with appeals to Americanism. In short, they presented their struggle as one that was working for the fulfillment of America’s own democratic promise.¹ As Marisa Chappell, Jenny Hutchinson, and Brian Ward have argued, “a careful adherence to responsible tactics like nonviolence, coupled with the promotion of eminently...

  5. Chapter 2 The Struggle for Gay Rights
    Chapter 2 The Struggle for Gay Rights (pp. 26-50)

    On 30 April 2000, several hundred thousand protesters assembled on the Mall in Washington, D.C., for the Millennium March, the fourth national gay rights demonstration to be hosted in the nation’s capital. “For more than six hours, under a warm spring sun” the crowd heard speeches from activists, celebrities and politicians; both President Clinton and Vice President Gore delivered videotaped remarks. The New York Times described the “festive” tone of the proceedings and emphasized the diversity of the marchers: “a long, ebullient parade of cops and veterans, drag queens and college students, gay parents with toddlers on their backs and...

  6. Chapter 3 Women’s Rights—The Second Wave
    Chapter 3 Women’s Rights—The Second Wave (pp. 51-76)

    On Wednesday 26 August 1970 a crowd of more than 10,000, the vast majority of them women, marched down Fifth Avenue in New York to a rally in Bryant Park. Conceived by National Organization for Women (NOW) founder and feminist icon Betty Friedan, the march celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the nineteenth amendment and was also part of a nationwide “Women’s Strike for Equality.” Five thousand gathered on Boston Common for a rally, 2,000 attended a similar event in San Francisco, in Miami protesters staged a “mock coffee-cup breaking garden party,” and there were demonstrations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,...

  7. Chapter 4 The Battles over Busing
    Chapter 4 The Battles over Busing (pp. 77-94)

    As the first of the bright yellow school buses rolled up outside South Boston High School on the morning of Thursday 12 September 1974 it was greeted by an angry mob. Chants of “Go home nigger,” and “Turn the bus over” erupted from the watching crowd of 500 or so whites. As a rock bounced off the side of the bus “a cheer arose from the youths on the sidewalks.” One bystander, described as a “pudgy man in a pork-pie hat,” announced that “any white kid that goes to school out of his neighborhood should be shot, and any black...

  8. Chapter 5 The Tax Revolt
    Chapter 5 The Tax Revolt (pp. 95-116)

    On the morning of Wednesday 20 April 1977 about fifteen senior citizens, led by Roger Sutton of California’s Citizens Action League (CAL), assembled on the steps of the old courthouse building in Redwood City to demand property tax relief for the state’s low-income citizens. In a dramatic show of protest that was reminiscent of the draft card burnings of the 1960s, the group of San Mateo County activists set fire to their tax assessment notices in an upturned hubcap, before carrying the ashes to the office of the county assessor, Jack Estes. Marvin Rexford, a retired switchman on the Southern...

  9. Chapter 6 The Anti-Abortion Movement
    Chapter 6 The Anti-Abortion Movement (pp. 117-139)

    On Wednesday 22 January 1975, two years to the day after Roe v. Wade, a crowd of 25,000 gathered on the steps of the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. for the second annual March for Life. The protesters carried “roses and placards—with slogans such as ‘Kill Inflation, Not Babies’ and ‘It’s Not Nice to Fool with Mother Nature.’” The day’s biggest cheer was reserved for New York senator James L. Buckley, elder brother of National Review founder and conservative commentator William F., who told the crowd “that he would introduce tomorrow in the Senate a constitutional amendment banning abortion.”¹...

  10. Conclusion
    Conclusion (pp. 140-144)

    The popular interpretation of the 1960s stresses the youthful idealism and initial optimism of the civil rights and student movements, as well as activists’ commitment to nonviolence and participatory democracy. But as the decade wore on, we are told, protesters became consumed by bitterness and violence, and the various movements that they sustained (civil rights, New Left, anti-Vietnam War) succumbed to disillusion, factionalism and the rise of identity politics. As the “years of hope” gave way to “days of rage,” the New Left and its allies were rendered helpless in the face of a growing New Right backlash in which...

  11. Notes
    Notes (pp. 145-188)
  12. Bibliography
    Bibliography (pp. 189-202)
  13. Index
    Index (pp. 203-212)
  14. Acknowledgments
    Acknowledgments (pp. 213-215)
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