EV Chapter 28

        1960-1975 was a time of civil rights, liberalism, and another war (Vietnam War). Kennedy was President briefly during this time, before his assassination, and was well liked by many.  He was well liked because of his ability to relate to the people. During this time my dad was drafted in the Vietnam War at a fresh age of 18, I remember him telling stories of his brief years that he spent overseas fighting for our country, and the fond way of which he spoke of President Kennedy. To me it seems that to have a President such as Kennedy in such a time of crisis but to have him so fondly remembered by so many speaks wonders of him as a leader. Although another important leader figure during this time was Martin Luther King Jr.. The time of civil rights was a trying time for African-Americans and in my opinion an embarrassing time for the rest of us. It’s sad to look back and see how judgmental we were against other humans, the things that were done are so outrageous, i.e. pepper spray, attack dogs, spraying with fire hoses. All because we thought them to be less than human, and through all of this MLK Jr. fought against this in such a civil way, he didn’t use means of violence but instead simple words, and sit ins. He chose not to respond to violence with violence but to instead rise above. And this is why he deserves such great praise, his dedication to helping his people while still being able to respect the whites on some level is phenomenal.

            African-Americans were not the only ones to face discrimination. Mexican-Americans also faced some discrimination, although not quite as harsh as what the African-Americans faced. Mexican-Americans faced unfair work conditions.

Asian-Americans also faced discrimination, especially the Japanese during WWII. My maternal grandparents were actually a part of this. They were in their early twenties when the war broke out and they and their families were sent off to concentration camps. My grandfather was sent to Topaz and my grandmother sent to Tule Lake. My grandpa didn’t like talking about this time in his life, but I was always so interested so I would sit and ask question after question trying to learn what I could. He said he and his family had white friends who were willing to store some of their stuff while they were at camp and the rest they got rid of taking the few things that they could with them. The thing he always talked about from his internment camp was the baseball games him and the other boys and young men would form and play, he never really told me anything bad, but I don’t think he wanted to remember nor for me to know. I do know that in order for him to leave camp he volunteered for the American Army and served for 3 years fighting for a country that was fighting against his own people. I wish I would’ve known more from his experience…to believe that my grandfather was a part of such tragic history really makes you realize how recently our country grew up and became more equalized.

Sorry I got off topic…

Chapter 27

After the war many people tried to settle back into their pre-war ways.  Women however had gotten a sense of what it felt like to work outside of the home, and many craved to be able to continue to do so.  It was also a time of unease, where many feared an economic depression postwar, so the GI Bill was enacted to help prevent the feared recession by helping to ease the veterans back into the workforce, and help ease their new fear of female competition. The veterans really benefited from this bill, which I believe was a great thing that our government did for them. The return of these veterans also spurred the baby boom, my parents being a part of this generation. This post war era was a time of much change and advancement in both urbanization and industrialization. We suddenly found ourselves in a time of computers and development of suburbs. It’s sad to think that American medicine always seem to be one step behind the industrial world, here the United States was using things like fertilizers and pesticides and just spraying the crops including the workers in them, not realizing how horrible the side effects were for humans. Of course now we understand that but back then it’s sad to think how many industrial steps forward we took before we took a step forward with medicine.

            During this time the Highway Act was initiated which provided the United States with its first national highway system. It provided transportation across the country for the first time, which allowed people to more easily move and navigate the states. This was also a time when televisions started becoming a regular appearance in people’s homes. I remember my dad telling me when he was little how they would (as a family) all gather around the radio after dinner and listen to their favorite shows after dinner. He also, on several occasions, would recount the time when his family was finally able to afford a television and what a wonder he thought it was. He describes how all the shows were in black and white and how interesting it was to see faces of the characters to which he use to imagine. It’s even interesting to me know because my dad will point out old shows that they’ve added color to in the more recent years, it just makes me realize how far televisions have come within the last 40-50 years or so. On top of television and computers we also advanced by launching a satellite. This post World War II era was a major time of advancement in many aspects.