America started waking up six decades ago this year. 1963 celebrated a lot of firsts.
Black American students began to be admitted to universities like the University of Alabama and Clemson in South Carolina. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his letter from a Birmingham jail and later spoke at the Lincoln Memorial of his dream. President Kennedy asked Congress to enact the Civil Rights Act. America woke up to race relations.
Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique. She didn’t believe women were satisfied with the role of housewife or mother. The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women issued its final report to Kennedy. The Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress. The country began to be aware of women’s rights.
The first James Bond movie opened in the U.S. The Beatles sang “Please Please Me,” and the British Invasion changed the future of pop music. Travel to Cuba was restricted. John F. Kennedy visited West Germany and declared “Ich bin ein Berliner.” President Johnson confirmed that the United States would continue to support South Vietnam. A new generation of Americans became mindful of international affairs.
The U.S., the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. They hoped to limit the effect of nuclear testing on the Earth and atmosphere. Silent Spring author, Rachel Carson, testified before a Senate subcommittee on pesticides. The Clean Air Act of 1963 was the first federal legislation regarding air pollution. America began to be conscious about the environment.
Cambridge, Md., erupted in rioting after several white-owned businesses were vandalized. The Ku Klux Klan bombed a church in Birmingham, killing four black girls. Medgar Evers, a pioneer in the Civil Rights movement, was murdered. President Kennedy was assassinated. America woke up to the idea that violence is the solution.
Our country still struggles with the notion of violence. We still have a long way to go to stop the destruction of the environment. We are still waking up.
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Previously published in San Antonio Express/News and republished on Medium.
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