How Do We Study The Sixties?

         If you had to look back and pick one decade that impacted history the most, which would you pick? A clear choice to me would be the nineteen-sixties. But what is the most effective way to teach about this momentous era to those that did not live during that decade? The sixties is such a complex era to teach because it has so many events that impacted society in a multitude of different ways- everywhere from politically to musically. Therefore, to get a definite feel for the sixties and the influence that it had not only to those individuals that lived through it, but also to all of us now, we must look at the defining events that have continued to shape society to this day.

         The Civil Rights Movement, although it still continued both earlier and later, was at its climax during the nineteen sixties. By the sixties African Americans and other minority groups had grown tired of their subservient role in society and began fighting back for the place that they felt they rightly deserved. Both violent and non-violent actions were taken towards trying to integrate in society and finally in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed that outlawed major discrimination against black people and women. This movement changed society drastically, bringing feelings of both hostility, equality, and leadership with it and also creating a plethora of literary, cinematic, and musical references that continue to be studied today. Without studying this vital piece of the nineteen-sixties, we would not be introduced to one of the most influential and radical movements ever to take place in American history whose impact we can still see to this day.

         However, there is another movement that is integral to a study of the sixties that must not be forgotten. One that, arguably, could be most beneficial in teaching younger students about this era because it is focused on individuals who made a difference in society that were the same age as the students themselves. The Free Speech Movement was a movement started on the University of California, Berkeley’s campus that was made up of young students who were fighting for their voices to be heard. This movement was the beginning of what student activism is known as today and has continued to leave its mark upon how students are encouraged, in most schools, to let their voices be heard and known. Therefore, by teaching this movement in a discussion of the sixties, it lends itself to issues that teachers are trying to encourage students to explore in their own lives right now.

         

         And last but certainly not least, one of the most enriching and enjoyable parts about a study of the sixties is the imminent focus on music of the time. Not only was there rock, folk, and blues music, but there was also an explosion of pop music during this time, one of the most famous bands being The Beach Boys. What made music so influential at this time was its extreme reflection of what was happening in society. In almost every album, the drug culture of the times seemed to permeate itself into the lyrics or melodies. However, many of the hit songs came to the high rankings that they did because they were the first songs that really started to relate to the emotions that society was feeling at the time. Music at this time was a true way of expressing the mixed and varied emotions of this era, since there were so many different lifestyles being thrown together at once. Therefore, if music was left out of a study of the 1960s, the emotions of the people living during this time would be forgotten and overlooked as well.