Sociology

On November 8, 1960 John F. Kennedy won the Presidential Election. One of his biggest advocacies was the promotion of equality and granting of civil rights. The Students Democratic Society (SDS) was also formally organized in 1960. It was given new life and direction by two students of the University of Michigan, Al Haber and Tom Hayden. During this year, Haber organized a Conference on Human Rights at the University of Michigan which attracted hundreds of students from mostly mid-western universities and in this conference, the agenda on how to stop racial discrimination was the main topic.

On February 1, 1960, a group of black college students from North Carolina AT University refused to leave a Woolworths lunch counter in North Carolina where they had been denied service. This was the first cause of all the other forms of protest against the segregation practices separating the blacks from the whites in America. Activism against oppression and discrimination began, and they were soon supported by other whites from different states. This led to the establishment of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) on April of the same year. The SNCC was the most radical and important youth civil rights organization and picketing of Woolworths and other nation chain stores in support of black peoples rights was the first political activity for many northern students and young people. This was followed by other sit-in incidences in other states.

1 Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee SNCC, n.d.
2 Breines, 1989, p. 10
3 Fischer, 2006, p. 257
4 Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2005
5 Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2005
6 Breines, 1989, p. 11
7 Fischer, 2006, p. 257

During this year, the New Left movement became more intense. On May 4, 1961, An interracial group of protesters board buses and travel to the South to test President Kennedys commitment to civil rights. t  This group was known in history as the Freedom Riders, a group of combined whites and blacks  intent on fighting for equal treatment in the society.

On July of the same year, the New Left movement also took upon their concern the possibility of nuclear war and helped  coordinate worldwide protests against nuclear weapons .u

Two years after SDS was established, youth activists still continued with their advocacies. From June 11 to 15 of 1962,  approximately fifty students met in Port Huron, Michigan and adopted a guiding document which was to become known as the Port Huron Statement  which contained the agenda for generation.v  In this convention,  SDS students reached a consensus that their upbringing and education had poorly prepared them for the real world. w  The Port Huron statements contained the beliefs and values that the youth and students fight for and committed the member of SDS to radical activism.

America became more and more concerned with the Vietnam War during Lyndon Johnsons administration. It was also in this year when the Free Speech Movement was launched on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. It was a first decisive development that occurred outside the framework of the southern civil rights movement and it laid down the terms for many others.x  On June 22, SNCC organized the Freedom Summer  to increase voter registration and build grassroots political party in Mississippi  but because the activists had many enemies, it led to the murder of three young members of the organization.y  On this year the Civil Rights Act was officially pushed through. This legislation addressed the prohibition of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.