Suburbi An Exploration Of Ideological Shifts In The Mid-1960s

Keshava Parthasarathy

American Studies II E-Block

Manget/Suggs

4/26/23

Freedom and Justice in Suburbia: An Exploration of Ideological Shifts in the 1960s The mid-1960s was an era riddled with shifts in political, societal, and cultural views, bringing to question, yet again, the “American Identity.” Such shifts included the Summer of Love, where many strayed away from the typical Judeo-Christian beliefs and practiced a broader range of views and ideals. To set the historical tone, this was not a time of peace contrary to the portrayal of the Summer of Love. With the imminent threat of Communist ideas spreading through Vietnam, the United States actively partook in the Vietnam War, though at first it was only through sending supplies and

The issue with race was still not handled as there was still acts of inequality and less opportunity for freedom for the African American people in American society. A major advocate for African American rights was Martin Luther King Jr. Especially in the 1950s, more specifically 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. was acclaimed for his efforts and activism on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This is the ideal case to show the disparity in freedom between races as soon after, King was arrested and put into jail for his actions. King further argues the state of this disparity in the text, Martin Luther King Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963), where he states, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed…that ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied,’” (in-text citation). Here, King argues that for a specific party to obtain freedom, one must continue to push for it regardless of the circumstances and consequences. He also alludes to the fact that the so-called freedom that was supposedly fought for has been far too long delayed, which essentially just means has been denied. This relates back to the main argument as this looks at a specific race being targeted within the American society. This brings to question the longevity of freedom as in this case, King was arrested

Many significant figures of the time had opposing views on the issue, specifically Kerr, Mills, King, and many other authors. While some argued that Suburbia was a society that had a wide variety of opportunities with regards to economic pursuit and consumerism, like Kerr, others argued that this freedom was just surface level. Their points included inequalities based on gender and race, specifically limiting freedom to certain subgroups in the society. Especially with race, an issue that the country had been dealing with, freedom was yet to fully be realized by most of the underrepresented ethnic groups. Media also played a major role with the spread of the widespread questioning of the government’s motives, leading people to wonder if the government was working toward or against the freedom for the people. Overall, this essay highlights and brings to light the issue of the availability to certain subgroups of society, specifically women and African Americans, pointing to the conclusion that there was a narrow funnel in which the freedom was distributed amongst