Dear Marc and Sixties People:
How subjective are our perceptions, even about "objective" events like
politics. I refer to what Marc Gilbert wrote: I have chosen this year
because, well, let's face it, it was a big horrible year for me!
I was twenty-years old in 1968. Revolution & marijuana were very much in
the air. But 1968 promised much more than it delivered by delivering us to
Nixon.
Nonetheless, I agree that 1968 was a watershed year: Khe Sanh, My Lai,
the Chicago Democratic Convention, LBJ's unwillingness to run for president
again, the SDS takeover in Columbia University, Prague Spring, Mai 68 in
France, the rise of the Black Panther Party, the Black Power salute at the
Olympics in Mexico, the massacre of 500 students in Mexico, the
assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, and so much
more.
A few texts might be of help:
*1968: A Student Generation in Revolt* by Ronald Fraser.
*The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage* by Todd Gitlin.
*The 60s Without Apology* ed. by Sohnya Sayres.
I'm saving the best source for last. *Time* magazine's spring 1989 issue
on *1968: The Year That Shaped a Generation*. (Shaped a generation?)
Typical *Time* magazine stuff but contains wonderful photos of many events.
Interestingly, while young people raged in the streets, mom and pop watched
*Rowan and Martin, Bonanza, Family Affair, Julia, Andy Griffith Show* and
the *Beverly Hillbillies* on the telly. Popular culture couldn't or
wouldn't keep pace with "reality." I'd be happy to send you the copy of
*Time* if you send me your snail mail address, Marc.
Maggie
mjaffe@mail.sdsu.edu