Bombs,_Beats,_and_Bus_Boycotts__The_Turbulence_of_the_1950s

Bombs, Beats, and Bus Boycotts: The Turbulence of the 1950s At the end of World War II , Americans saw prosperity that they had never seen before. The standard of living had risen, and America was racing for world dominance. Moreover , the events that took place during this decade would change the way we look at this era forever. This decade was an era of turbulence, rather than an era of idealism, due to great fear during the Cold War, the rise of rebellious beats, and the Civil Rights Movements taking place in the segregated south. First and foremost, the Cold War that began in the 50s created fear about rise of the Communist threat and nuclear power, a fear that dominates the anxieties of fighting a major war today. A very influent man named Joseph McCarthy led the communist threat. McCarthy brought a new word into America’s vocabulary, McCarthyism. The legacy he left can be defined as a time in America’s history when the government questioned people about their personal ideologies and brought negative exposure to thousands of people’s lives. Communism in America during the 1950’s was more like a rumor than a real event. McCarthyism left scars on many people’s lives by his slander and should be viewed as a lesson of what simple accusations can do to one’s life. Also the nuclear power created worries and anxieties that probably could have been avoided. After what the atomic bomb had done to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the idea of creating a bomb much more powerful raised many eyebrows. In the video “ The F! ear and the Dream” people asked, “ Was this the right thing to do to keep peace' How much will it cost' Can this really be done' And what are the risks involved'” All the questions combined created hysteria across the country. I think J.R. Oppenheimer puts its best in the video when he stated, “ fear should not determine whether or not something should be done.” On another level, the beat generation took the 1950s by storm. During this time of high spending, advertising, and family values, the beats took the time to express the discontent of America youth. The beats drank heavily, smoked dope, traveled on the road, listened to crazy jazz music, and did not hold steady jobs, which was all very uncommon during the 1950s. Poets such as Jack Keroauc and Alan Ginsberg wrote about their discontent with American society and what it has turned out to be: materialistic and selfish. The beats were also considered Communist. Because of their lifestyle choices and the way they expressed themselves, people considered them a threat to mainstream culture. A San Francisco columnist named Herb Cain put the link between the beatniks and the so-called Communist link in perspective. In the video “ The Beat,” Cain said, “ that they were out of this world just like the Russian satellite, the Sputnik.” From another perspective, the 1950s also had its share of good times. The video, “ The Fear and the Dream,” showed “ the Levittowns that created the suburbs we know of today.” In “ Selling the American Way,” the creation of television “expanded Americans horizons.” This video also demonstrated how “credit cards made spending a lot easier.” And, of course, who could forget form the video the “ road to the Sixties,” the “ hallmark of the 50s”, the automobile' But all these ideas of idealism had a great shadow of turbulence cast over them. The threat of Cold War created Communism and nuclear war, the beats created a rebellion that changed the face of American youth forever and, most importantly, the ideas and events that went on in the segregated south changed the way we view ourselves forever and created the racism that still lurks in our society today. Sadly, racial discrimination and segregation were a way of life in the south, but this was all about to change. The death of Emmit Till showed all of America how racist southern Americans were. His mother showed her son’s mutilated bodies on television to get her point across to the people in the north who did not truly understand what was going on in parts of the country. When Rosa Parks got arrested for sitting in the front section of a bus, blacks in Montgomery, Alabama, took control of the matter by refusing to ride buses. Halberstam stated in the “ Rage Within” video that, “ the blacks of the 1950s were the backbone of the busing system in the south.” When they refused to ride a revolution began. When the color barrier was broken at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, the whites went crazy. The blacks were verbally and physically abused while trying to enter the school. All these events combined into what is today called the Civil Rights Movement. This social a! nd political movement showed whites how other whites were acting and exposed these moral scars. For blacks, the Civil Rights Movement led to real equality and not just constitutional equality. All in all, the 1950s were a decade unlike any we had ever seen before. All the events that took place in the 1950s led the way into the 1960s. Communism was still heard about during Vietnam War, the beats ideas were carried on by hippies, and the Civil Rights Movement was carried on far into the 60s and beyond. Hopefully, people will understand now that the 1950s were an era of turbulence and not idealism. All these events took place for a reason and shaped the way our society is today. Bibliography: