Fifty years ago, black revolutionaries adopted the phrase “the revolution will not be televised” in response to the vast social upheaval of the 1960s. Many Vietnam War protestors believed the new medium of television would be the venue that illustrated the change in American democracy. However, black revolutionaries believed television would not capture the full essence of the movement because the changes that must occur in this society will be live and not scripted by those worried about ratings and political correctness.
However, when the Democratic National Convention met in Chicago in August 1968 to nominate their candidate for that year’s presidential election, the revolution was indeed televised. It may not have been the revolution the black movement envisioned, but it was one the most certainly affected their ability to be effective moving forward. Social protestors made no secret of the fact that they planned to get attention for their social revolution by descending upon Chicago during the Convention. To demonstrate to the Democratic Party and the country that the violence and riots that enflamed many cities throughout the country would not inflame his city, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley prepared for war.
Daley’s use of police and National Guardsmen were compared to Nazi Germany’s use of their Gestapo. He further defended his actions by claiming he was merely protecting national dignitaries who were guests in his city. However, many journalists (including Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather) covering the Convention believed the aggressive tactics used by the police and Guardsmen actually inflamed an already volatile situation.
Nonetheless, a revolution was televised, and America didn’t like it. The World War II generation didn’t understand why their children wanted to change a society that won a war and lived in a time when the economy was strong (at least for whites) and social mobility was achievable (at least for whites). Sure the Vietnam War was an unfortunate cost to maintain democracy, but just as they paid the price for freedom in the 1940s it was their children’s turn to pay to live in a free society. But that generation, forever known as the Baby Boomers, didn’t want to pay for their parent’s decisions. Instead of following John F. Kennedy’s plea to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” the Boomers chose to embody Timothy Leary’s “turn on, tune in, drop out.”
The Baby Boomers seemed to reject everything their parents valued and took pleasure in participating in the “counterculture” social revolution. That was the revolution that America saw on their televisions in August 1968. Black revolutionaries watched in awe as middle-class whites bandied about Chicago waving peace signs while black unemployment was twice that of white suburban unemployment.
American society experienced two revolutions during the turbulent sixties: one focused on opposition to the war in Southeast Asia, and the other focused on the centuries-old oppression of Africans in America. While both revolutions seemingly used the same tactics (public awareness of narrow-minded capitalist greed) to achieve their goals, the Status Quo determined to silence both revolutions through a new political realignment: the Neo-Conservative movement.
The election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and his reelection of 1972 were the foundation of the Neo-Con movement that reached a peak during the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. The World War II generation resented the social rebelliousness of their children, and white supremacists resented the efforts of African Americans to gain social and political equality. So the new Republican Party combined both into a seamless, threatening political platform. Richard Nixon became the “law and order” candidate who attracted voters who believed their children needed more discipline. The Republicans also developed the famed Southern Strategy that attracted white supremacists to politically neuter African Americans.
Both sixties’ revolutions threatened the American Status Quo. Throughout history status quos have resorted to the vilest tactics to maintain their power and influence. The development of Neo-Con policies effectively and subtly brought an end to both revolutions. For the most part, the Boomers grew up, had children of their own and moved to the suburbs. Likewise, most black revolutionaries also grew up, had children of their own, and moved to the suburbs. Hmm.
So maybe the suburbs became the great equalizer after all. Fifty years after the televised DNC debacle in Chicago, the revolutions of the Baby Boomers and the black radicals are a part of the history of this country. While one was televised for the world to see, the other was supposed to be live and unscripted. Are we still waiting for the unscripted version, or did it happen and no one took notice?
See you soon.
PS: It’s been more than eighteen months and still has anyone seen the President’s taxes? It’s also interesting that as a society we aren’t even asking anymore.
[1] Drew Desilver, “Black Unemployment rate is consistently twice that of whites,” http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/08/21/through-good-times-and-bad-black-unemployment-is-consistently-double-that-of-whites/