Protest And Cultural Change In The 1960s And 1970's

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the United States was in constant conflict. Despite the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which technically prohibited racial discrimination in public places, it took multiple years of court cases to fully implement the act. Many police departments in the South were also politically motivated and racist towards black Americans, making life in the South difficult and dangerous for them, despite the protections of the Civil Rights Act. Even in the North, racism and discrimination made everyday life difficult for black people. In 1968, Martin Luther King was murdered, leading to riots all across the country as millions of infuriated Americans took to the streets to protest the injustices seen all around them. At the same

Before the Kent State shooting and Jackson State killings, in the 1960s the steady increase of media in America gave more opportunities for students to learn about certain issues in the world. The media provided information and details when reporting on events in the United States that related to the viewer, such as human rights issues. This change of objective by media companies was one of the main factors that led to the protests at Jackson State and Kent State, and eventually the killings. In 1950, only 9 percent of American households had a television set. By 1960, that number had risen to 90 percent. (https://guides.loc.gov/american-women-moving-image/television#:~:text=In%201950%20only%209%20percent,its%20effects%20is%20comparatively%20new). Television allowed Americans to see live video of soldiers risking their lives in Vietnam or Black Americans being treated poorly, as opposed to photos in newspapers. This change in American households led to a change in public opinion on the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Act. The increase in television sets in American households led to many media companies broadcasting certain opinions on the Vietnam War, which shifted public opinion. Jessie Kratz said, “Televising the Vietnam War helped to divide a nation that took pride in its ability to unify. The dramatization of stories

Although Jackson State, an HBCU, was a college instead of a university at the time of the killings, they still received government funding to keep their campus running. According to Tim Spofford, “The Jackson State students had no academic freedom, no classroom freedom, and certainly had no freedom as blacks to participate in the civil rights movement” (Spofford, 10). Jackson State College received funding from the State Government of Mississippi, which consisted of lots of people opposed to the Civil Rights movement. Many Government officials were worried that if too many protests occurred, public opinion could change about the Civil Rights Movement. Because of this, State Government leaders threatened to cut Jackson State's funding if they did not limit campus protests. These threats by the Government led to the leaders at Jackson State having to threaten the students with consequences if they decided to protest issues that went against their state’s government beliefs. These circumstances resulted in students not only risking their lives when protesting but also risking their future as students. Similarly to Jackson State, Kent State, a public university was also funded by the Ohio State Government. Nancy Bristow said, “Despite evidence of a “sea change” (p. 122) in campus culture by the fall of 1968 and the success of a