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Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations with Those Who Shaped the Era
Aroused by gains in civil rights and galvanized by the antiwar movement, radical leaders of the 1960s sought to make revolutionary changes in American society. Partly through their leadership, a generation was awakened by the call for a counterculture. That generation is now responsible for the same social and political structures they so adamantly, and sometimes violently, opposed. How did the sixties affect the counterculture leaders? And what are they doing now? Paul Krassner, Cleveland Sellers, Jane Adams, Dave Dellinger, Bill Ayers, Warren Hinckle, Peter Berg, Noam Chomsky, Tim Leary, Philip Berrigan, Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Erica Huggins, Jim Fouratt, Bernadine Dohrn, Barry Melton, Peter Coyote, and Abbie Hoffman reflect on the seminal events that dominated the sixties and discuss the major issues and problems facing America (and them!) today.
334 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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August 3, 2022
The title and subtitle of this book are self-explanatory. Ronald Chepesiuk presents the interviews that he conducted with American radicals from the sixties to trace how their views on social and political issues were shaped by their experiences in the tumultuous 1960s, one of the most radical periods in American history, with thousands of people, mostly young, protesting against the existing American system.
As I learned from the stories of Chepesiuk's interviewees, the radicals of the 1960s despised consumerism and the American political system because they saw it as duplicitous, talking about representative democracy and then denying real participation to millions of its citizens. The radicals also stunned Americans by shutting down university campuses, physically fighting the police, marching on Washington, besieging the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and even resorting to acts of terrorism. What is peculiar, the author notes, is that for many who eventually embraced radical views, the 1960s had begun optimistically and had contrasted with the spiritless 1950s. With the sixties, came the sit-ins and the freedom riders, who inspired young people all over the country to work to change the system. They gave the youth the confidence that reform was possible.
The growing civil rights moved in turn ignited the New Left, which at the time was moderate and cautious, according to the interviewed radicals. Its leaders did not propose any radical alternatives to the existing American system. Although Soviet Communism had appealed to Americans in the thirties because of the post-Depression poverty, the sentiments had changed by the 1960s, when there already were revelations about how brutal Stalin's dictatorship had been. Furthermore, the American Communist Party, with its rigid orthodoxy and fanatical devotion to Russia, did not appeal to the young American activists. Instead, the Students for a Democratic Society was formed and offered the American radical youth an exciting new vision of how American society should be transformed.
Thus, the SDS also begun moderately, with hope in the American system's potential for reform. It argued for participatory democracy and the right of every American to decide what his or her life and political orientation should be. Its members' views on the ability of young people to trigger significant changes were optimistic. However, by 1965, this had changed – SDS shifted its focus and energy in response to the growing American presence in Vietnam, and the organization joined a coalition of organizations working to get America out of Vietnam. The anti-war movement starter to dominate the lives of young sixties radicals. As sixties activist and feminist Annie Popkin recalled: "Working in these movements, we began to identify as members of a growing community of radicals. Being part of 'The Movement' was not just a matter of political opposition but criticism and withdrawal from the dominant culture as well." Opposition against the American involvement in the Vietnam conflict became more vocal as the number of casualties rose, and by 1969, many Americans had abandoned their moderate views and came to believe that America was a dangerous, racist, and imperialist country.
Black power supporters and other groups became increasingly frustrated with the civil rights movement because of its moderate goals. Women were also radicalized, mostly by the sexism that prevailed in The Movement. They formed women's organizations such as Bread and Roses and Cell 16 and worked to overthrow male-dominated institutions. After, on July 27, 1969, over 2,000 people protested a police raid on the gay bar Stonewall in New York, the Gay Liberation Movement was launched. All of the aforementioned turned America into something strikingly different from what it had been in the fifties and early sixties. Many radicals believed that the American government's indifference to the increasingly loud anti-war pronouncements of the American people and the divisions in American society would lead to a revolution. President Richard Nixon's announcement that the war in Vietnam was spread into Cambodia triggered campus protests throughout the country, which resulted in deaths – four in Kent State University in Ohio and two in Jackson State College in Mississippi.
According to the radicals' beliefs, a violent reaction was the only way to get the people's message through to the politicians. As Weatherman Bill Ayers, who participated in a bombing campaign against the American government, put it: "By 1968 and '69, frustration was beginning to set in. We began to feel that no matter what we did, they would escalate the war and we couldn't stop that escalation. So we began to think the best tactic was to inflict on them the kind of pain that would make them draw back." Although his words might partially be an attempt to justify his crimes, it is still true that the people, and especially the young radicals, were in no mood to support the government. Three radicals from the Weather Underground accidentally blew themselves up with a bomb that they were making. The building of the University of Wisconsin Reserve Officers Training Corps was firebombed, and this incident started a series of five hundred bombings and arsons on university campuses. A decade whose beginning was marked by hope and optimism ended in bloodshed and with the country bitterly divided.
SIXTIES RADICALS draws upon the stories of eighteen radicals who took part in the notable events of the decade, from the Greensboro sit-ins to violent revolt against the American system in the late 1960s to tell the story of these eventful years. Chepesiuk makes his account vivid and informative. This book is for anyone interested in the motivations and aspirations of the youth radicals. I highly recommend it.
As I learned from the stories of Chepesiuk's interviewees, the radicals of the 1960s despised consumerism and the American political system because they saw it as duplicitous, talking about representative democracy and then denying real participation to millions of its citizens. The radicals also stunned Americans by shutting down university campuses, physically fighting the police, marching on Washington, besieging the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and even resorting to acts of terrorism. What is peculiar, the author notes, is that for many who eventually embraced radical views, the 1960s had begun optimistically and had contrasted with the spiritless 1950s. With the sixties, came the sit-ins and the freedom riders, who inspired young people all over the country to work to change the system. They gave the youth the confidence that reform was possible.
The growing civil rights moved in turn ignited the New Left, which at the time was moderate and cautious, according to the interviewed radicals. Its leaders did not propose any radical alternatives to the existing American system. Although Soviet Communism had appealed to Americans in the thirties because of the post-Depression poverty, the sentiments had changed by the 1960s, when there already were revelations about how brutal Stalin's dictatorship had been. Furthermore, the American Communist Party, with its rigid orthodoxy and fanatical devotion to Russia, did not appeal to the young American activists. Instead, the Students for a Democratic Society was formed and offered the American radical youth an exciting new vision of how American society should be transformed.
Thus, the SDS also begun moderately, with hope in the American system's potential for reform. It argued for participatory democracy and the right of every American to decide what his or her life and political orientation should be. Its members' views on the ability of young people to trigger significant changes were optimistic. However, by 1965, this had changed – SDS shifted its focus and energy in response to the growing American presence in Vietnam, and the organization joined a coalition of organizations working to get America out of Vietnam. The anti-war movement starter to dominate the lives of young sixties radicals. As sixties activist and feminist Annie Popkin recalled: "Working in these movements, we began to identify as members of a growing community of radicals. Being part of 'The Movement' was not just a matter of political opposition but criticism and withdrawal from the dominant culture as well." Opposition against the American involvement in the Vietnam conflict became more vocal as the number of casualties rose, and by 1969, many Americans had abandoned their moderate views and came to believe that America was a dangerous, racist, and imperialist country.
Black power supporters and other groups became increasingly frustrated with the civil rights movement because of its moderate goals. Women were also radicalized, mostly by the sexism that prevailed in The Movement. They formed women's organizations such as Bread and Roses and Cell 16 and worked to overthrow male-dominated institutions. After, on July 27, 1969, over 2,000 people protested a police raid on the gay bar Stonewall in New York, the Gay Liberation Movement was launched. All of the aforementioned turned America into something strikingly different from what it had been in the fifties and early sixties. Many radicals believed that the American government's indifference to the increasingly loud anti-war pronouncements of the American people and the divisions in American society would lead to a revolution. President Richard Nixon's announcement that the war in Vietnam was spread into Cambodia triggered campus protests throughout the country, which resulted in deaths – four in Kent State University in Ohio and two in Jackson State College in Mississippi.
According to the radicals' beliefs, a violent reaction was the only way to get the people's message through to the politicians. As Weatherman Bill Ayers, who participated in a bombing campaign against the American government, put it: "By 1968 and '69, frustration was beginning to set in. We began to feel that no matter what we did, they would escalate the war and we couldn't stop that escalation. So we began to think the best tactic was to inflict on them the kind of pain that would make them draw back." Although his words might partially be an attempt to justify his crimes, it is still true that the people, and especially the young radicals, were in no mood to support the government. Three radicals from the Weather Underground accidentally blew themselves up with a bomb that they were making. The building of the University of Wisconsin Reserve Officers Training Corps was firebombed, and this incident started a series of five hundred bombings and arsons on university campuses. A decade whose beginning was marked by hope and optimism ended in bloodshed and with the country bitterly divided.
SIXTIES RADICALS draws upon the stories of eighteen radicals who took part in the notable events of the decade, from the Greensboro sit-ins to violent revolt against the American system in the late 1960s to tell the story of these eventful years. Chepesiuk makes his account vivid and informative. This book is for anyone interested in the motivations and aspirations of the youth radicals. I highly recommend it.
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