1950s Dbq

A social economist views the 1950s as the social classes being defined. The time boasted an image of successfulness during a time of peace and conformity. However, the 1950s do not deserve its reputation as a time of peaceful conformity. The harmonic image of the 1950s was an over-generalization that ignores the realities of what was going on in the country. The peaceful conformity was a false image that showed it’s true colors through gender/ethnic relations and the beginning of the Rock and Roll era.
Women in the 1950s were dealing with a lot of things during the 1950s. They were dealing with sexism and not being allowed to seek more than the ideal fulfillment for women.
Women are looked down upon and thought of less than men during the 1950s.

In 1952, some residents of a neighborhood in San Francisco were victorious in keeping the neighborhood 100 percent white. A former Chinese Nationalist was trying to move his family in, but the residents did not want them. One of the many reasons was because of their presence, it would depress property values. However, all of the reasons added up to the fact that the family was Chinese(document 6). An argument is made that whites and minorities did things together. They would be in the same school and classroom. In school, everyone is using the same materials and desks. There does not seem to be any segregation at all. This was not true(Blackboard Jungle). Not all whites could afford to move into the suburbs, so they had to stay in the city. While the suburbs were predominately white, the city was a whole smorgasbord of ethnicities. Since the suburban whites had themselves distanced from the minorities in the cities, the whites currently living in the cities wanted to also be separated from the minorities. The city whites achieved this by legal codes that segregated AAs from whites. One example is where races were separated on buses. It was supposed to be separate but equal, however this was not the case. It ended up being that whites had the nicer spots or had a whole seat to themselves while

It corrupted youths thoughts and ideas while making the peaceful time into an era of rebellious teens. Rock and roll is genre that encourages rebellion within youth. The rebellion ties in with violence as portrayed in the movie Blackboard Jungle. The movie is about kids who are passionate about rock and roll, and how it led to violence/rebellion at a high school. The movie features Bill Haley’s recording of Rock Around the Clock. The lyrics of most rock and roll songs were provocative and dirty. However, the film was a hit and the song was history’s most successful rock single(Birth of the Cool- in class notes). Teenagers before the 1950s would dance and express themselves through classical and American pop music. During the 1950s, the teenagers of the newer generation expressed themselves through a different genre of music, rock and roll. It was exactly the same cycle that the newer generations’ parents went through as teenagers. The only difference being the times (document 10). However, rock and roll is sung mostly by uneducated people who use “sly, lewd, in plain fact, dirty lyrics.” The people who would usually sing or write these songs were delinquents, rule breakers, and imbeciles. They would encourage the teens to rebel against their parents ideology(document 9). The new era of rock and roll was the cause of many rebellious teens in the 1950s which led to violence and new ways of thinking. It allowed teens to