Eartha Kitt Controversy

During the 1960’s and 1970’s, Eartha Kitt was a controversial American figure. At this time, the United States was tied up in the Vietnam War. The war upset the populus, specifically college students, as they were being drafted and sent to a war they did not want to participate. In addition, The Civil Rights Movement was in effect during most of the 1960’s until 1968. Some white citizens were upset about the idea of integrating blacks into society, which also led to White flight during this time. The US was in disarray, and many peoples’ lives were ruined. Eartha Kitt was one such victim who was affected by these controversial issues. She is controversial because she expressed her opinion to Lady Bird Johnson about the Vietnam War, but she

As the media quickly covered the incident, word of what she did and her stance on the war was revealed to the public. People took sides against Eartha because she offended Lady Bird Johnson. In contrast, many people were for the Vietnam War for the purpose of fighting against communism. People started to hate her because she believed the the Vietnam War should come to a close, and her popularity dwindled. In addition, in “Eartha Kitt: The White House Incident.”, Eartha states that a CIA file was created that gave her a bad name and blacklisted her. The CIA had interviewed people Eartha had worked with from the request of Lady Bird Johnson and President Johnson. Some remarked horrible things about her and her past that were false and untrue. Immediately, jobs became unavailable to her, and she found herself out of work. She struggled for the next six of years in America performing. Eartha Kitt expresses her confusion at the time by saying, ”I did not realize I was being rejected by the United States,” (“Eartha Kitt: The White House Incident.”). Eventually, she decided to perform abroad in other countries for the next couple of years. As she fled to Europe, it took around twenty five years until she was no longer affected by criticism and the