Sam Fisher
Banned
It seems that popular history is more a result of the deeds of those who reacted to events than those who were involved in them. Perhaps because of this, popular perceptions of events in the 1960s tend to be quite conservative. In an effort to see whether popular opinion of the Sixties is accurate, I've compiled the following list of myths and facts. I think the results tell us a lot about our culture and ourselves.
MYTH #1: Student protests were much more common in the 1960s than today.
FACTS:
Percentage of College Freshmen Who Said they Frequently or Occasionally Participated In Organized Demonstrations While In High School:
1966: 15.5%
1967: 16.3%
1996: 41.2%
2012: 26.1%
MYTH #2: Most protests in the 1960's were about the Vietnam War.
FACTS:
The most prevalent issue was civil rights for racial minorities, with 38% of insitutions which experienced protests reporting that the issue was civil rights.
In no year for which statistics are available did the majority of protests focus on the Vietnam war. In addition, it's worth noting that peaceful protests were the norm; violent protests were rare, but were widely publicized by the media
MYTH #3: Most student activists and protesters of the 1960's were alienated, mentally ill, academically weak, rebelling against their parent's values and/or demonstrating out of concern for themselves (e.g., they didn't want to be drafted).
FACTS:
The protesters were not typically alienated, mentally ill or likely to drop out of college. A large number of psychological studies performed on student activists consistently found that they were generally outstanding students, with unusually high G.P.A.s, and were disproportionately from upper middle-class professional or intellectual families with high ethical and political standards. Moreover, student protesters were rarely concerned with protecting their own personal interests, but rather were concerned about the oppression of others - for example, protesters of draft policies were disproportionately those most likely to avoid the draft by pursuing graduate studies, and civil rights protesters were mostly white. Rather than being a form of rebellion against their parents, studies have found that the protesters were more likely to be defending values which their parents espoused, but which they (rather hypocritically) did not implement.
Freshmen College Student's Estimate That The Chances Are Very Good They Will Drop Out Of College:
1968: 0.5%
1996: 0.8%
MYTH #4: College students in the 1960s were less responsible than and didn't study as hard as college students today.
FACTS:
Percentage of college students who "overslept and missed class or an appointment"
1968: 18.8%
1997: 34.5%
2012: 27.3% (just skipped class)
Percentage of college students who came late to class frequently or occasionally:
1966: 49.2%
1998: 60.3%
2012: 53.8%
Percentage of College Freshman Stating That They Frequently Studied In The Library:
1968: 33.2%
1993: 16.0%
Percentage Of College Freshmen Stating That They Frequently Checked Out A Book Or A Journal From The Library:
1968: 50.3%
1990: 26.7%
(source: The American Freshman: 30 Year Trends by Alexander W. Astin, et al, (University of California, Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, 1997), p.44-45)
In general, student activists were the best educated and most academically capable of students, as noted above. Noam Chomsky of MIT observed that "There's no doubt that these are by and large our best ****."
MYTH #5: ********* use and support of ********* use was more common among college students in the 1960s than today.
FACTS:
Percentage of college freshmen stating that ********* should be legalized:
1968: 19.4%
1969: 25.6%
the percentage steadily rose through:
1977: 52.9%
then the percentage steadily declined through:
1989: 16.7%
then the percentage steadily rose through:
1997: 35.2%
Percentage of college students who have ever tried *********:
Spring 1967: 5%
Spring 1969: 22%
Fall 1971: 51%
2008: 42.6% (of high school seniors)
Percentage of college students who said they have smoked ********* within the last 12 months:
1997: 31.6%
2012: 31.8%
MYTH #6: Students in the 1960s were more self-centered than students today.
FACTS:
College Freshmen Who Said That Being Very Well-Off Financially is Essential or Very Important:
1968: 40.8%
1996: 74.1%
2012: 81%
College Freshmen Who Feel That Helping Others Who Are In Difficulty Is Essential Or Very Important:
1967: 61.8%
1996: 62.5%
2012: 72%
In general, students in the 1960s were more concerned with social issues than students today:
College Freshmen Who Said That Becoming Involved In Programs To Clean Up The Environment Is Essential Or Very Important:
1971: 42.9%
1996: 20.7%
2012: 26.5%
Freshman College Students Who Believe that "keeping up to date with political affairs" is an important life goal.
1966: 57.8%
1997: 26.7%
2012: 34.5%
Percentage of college freshmen who say they frequently discuss politics:
1968: 29.9%
1998: 14%
2012: 30.7%
Percentage of college students working on a political campaign:
1969: 16.4%
1997: 8.2%
2012: 9%
MYTH #7: People in the 1960s were more likely to be involved with radical political parties rather than the Democratic or Republican Parties.
FACTS:
Percent of Persons Who Consider Themselves Independent Rather Than Republican or Democrat:
1964: 22%
1967: 27%
1975: 33%
1989: 32%
1999: 38%
Percentage of College Freshmen Who Described Their Own Political Views as "Far Left":
1970: 3.1%
1996: 2.9%
2012: 2.8%
Approximate numbers of college students belonging to the three largest student oriented political organizations in 1967:
Young Republicans: 150,000
Young Democrats: 140,000
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS, a more left-wing group): 35,000
Freshmen were, however, more likely to describe themselves as liberal in 1970 (33.5%) than in 1996 (21.7%) or 2012 (26.8%) (The American Freshman: 30 Year Trends by Alexander W. Astin, et al, (University of California, Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, 1997), p.56-57; The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2012 by John H. Pryor, et al. (UCLA: Higher Education Research Institute, 2012), p. 37). Yet, in some respects at least, the 1960's were much more conservative than the 1990's:
Percentage of College Freshmen Who Agreed Strongly Or Somewhat That The Activities of Married Woman Are Best Confined To The Home And ******:
1967: 56.6%
1996: 24.2%
Percentage of Americans Believing That Sex Before Marriage Is Wrong:
1969: 68%
1990: 33%
Percentage of White Americans Believing That They Had A Right To Keep Blacks Out Of Their Neighborhood If They Wanted To, And That Blacks Should Respect That Right:
1968: 55%
1990: 22%
MYTH #8: Most Americans in the1960s and early 70s would recognize that people have a right to peacefully protest the policies of their government.
FACTS:
Percent of Persons Opposing Organized Peaceful Protest of a Government Policy
1970: 75%
COMMENT:
No doubt one of the reasons the media and public's reaction to student protesters of the 1960s was that there seemed to be such a change in student mentality compared with students in the 1950s. Students in the 1950s were commonly referred to as the "Silent Generation" or the "Apathetic Generation".
They have been described by various commentators as being extraordinarily self-centered, overly concerned with material comforts and wealth, completely lacking in cynicism and skepticism regarding government and big business, dull conformists, and politically illiterate and irresponsible.
Americans in the 1950s tended to be suspicious of persons with unconventional political views and opposed to allowing the expression of unconventional political and social views. For example, in 1953, 35% of people responded "No" the the question "In peacetime, do you think newspapers should be allowed to criticize our form of government?"
In December of 1956, 72% of persons thought that Communists should not be allowed to speak on the radio.
In 1954, 60 percent of respondents thought that persons opposed to churches and religion should not be allowed to speak in their city.
And in 1958, 59% of freshmen at Michigan State University agreed with the statement that "a lot of teachers, these days, have radical ideas which need to be carefully watched."
Many educators thought that such apathy and closed-mindedness was something that should be overcome. For instance, Robert Goheen, the President of Princeton University, advised the freshman class of 1960 to cultivate a "substantial discontent" so that they might "seek a possible better instead of being content with an actual worse".
Of course, as Obear notes, by the late 1960s, Goheens advice had changed considerably!
It would be a mistake to suppose that the above statistics give a complete picture of students and culture in the 1960s. But in many respects, the students of the 1990s are considerably more liberal and prone to protest than the students of the 1960s, as the statistics above indicate. Many of the issues which were the focus protest in the 1960s, such as freedom in one's personal life, student input and influence in university policies, and civil rights are widely taken for granted in the 1990s. But it's worth remembering what all the fuss was about.
- Keith Korcz
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409/groovy60s.html
MYTH #1: Student protests were much more common in the 1960s than today.
FACTS:
Percentage of College Freshmen Who Said they Frequently or Occasionally Participated In Organized Demonstrations While In High School:
1966: 15.5%
1967: 16.3%
1996: 41.2%
2012: 26.1%
MYTH #2: Most protests in the 1960's were about the Vietnam War.
FACTS:
The most prevalent issue was civil rights for racial minorities, with 38% of insitutions which experienced protests reporting that the issue was civil rights.
In no year for which statistics are available did the majority of protests focus on the Vietnam war. In addition, it's worth noting that peaceful protests were the norm; violent protests were rare, but were widely publicized by the media
MYTH #3: Most student activists and protesters of the 1960's were alienated, mentally ill, academically weak, rebelling against their parent's values and/or demonstrating out of concern for themselves (e.g., they didn't want to be drafted).
FACTS:
The protesters were not typically alienated, mentally ill or likely to drop out of college. A large number of psychological studies performed on student activists consistently found that they were generally outstanding students, with unusually high G.P.A.s, and were disproportionately from upper middle-class professional or intellectual families with high ethical and political standards. Moreover, student protesters were rarely concerned with protecting their own personal interests, but rather were concerned about the oppression of others - for example, protesters of draft policies were disproportionately those most likely to avoid the draft by pursuing graduate studies, and civil rights protesters were mostly white. Rather than being a form of rebellion against their parents, studies have found that the protesters were more likely to be defending values which their parents espoused, but which they (rather hypocritically) did not implement.
Freshmen College Student's Estimate That The Chances Are Very Good They Will Drop Out Of College:
1968: 0.5%
1996: 0.8%
MYTH #4: College students in the 1960s were less responsible than and didn't study as hard as college students today.
FACTS:
Percentage of college students who "overslept and missed class or an appointment"
1968: 18.8%
1997: 34.5%
2012: 27.3% (just skipped class)
Percentage of college students who came late to class frequently or occasionally:
1966: 49.2%
1998: 60.3%
2012: 53.8%
Percentage of College Freshman Stating That They Frequently Studied In The Library:
1968: 33.2%
1993: 16.0%
Percentage Of College Freshmen Stating That They Frequently Checked Out A Book Or A Journal From The Library:
1968: 50.3%
1990: 26.7%
(source: The American Freshman: 30 Year Trends by Alexander W. Astin, et al, (University of California, Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, 1997), p.44-45)
In general, student activists were the best educated and most academically capable of students, as noted above. Noam Chomsky of MIT observed that "There's no doubt that these are by and large our best ****."
MYTH #5: ********* use and support of ********* use was more common among college students in the 1960s than today.
FACTS:
Percentage of college freshmen stating that ********* should be legalized:
1968: 19.4%
1969: 25.6%
the percentage steadily rose through:
1977: 52.9%
then the percentage steadily declined through:
1989: 16.7%
then the percentage steadily rose through:
1997: 35.2%
Percentage of college students who have ever tried *********:
Spring 1967: 5%
Spring 1969: 22%
Fall 1971: 51%
2008: 42.6% (of high school seniors)
Percentage of college students who said they have smoked ********* within the last 12 months:
1997: 31.6%
2012: 31.8%
MYTH #6: Students in the 1960s were more self-centered than students today.
FACTS:
College Freshmen Who Said That Being Very Well-Off Financially is Essential or Very Important:
1968: 40.8%
1996: 74.1%
2012: 81%
College Freshmen Who Feel That Helping Others Who Are In Difficulty Is Essential Or Very Important:
1967: 61.8%
1996: 62.5%
2012: 72%
In general, students in the 1960s were more concerned with social issues than students today:
College Freshmen Who Said That Becoming Involved In Programs To Clean Up The Environment Is Essential Or Very Important:
1971: 42.9%
1996: 20.7%
2012: 26.5%
Freshman College Students Who Believe that "keeping up to date with political affairs" is an important life goal.
1966: 57.8%
1997: 26.7%
2012: 34.5%
Percentage of college freshmen who say they frequently discuss politics:
1968: 29.9%
1998: 14%
2012: 30.7%
Percentage of college students working on a political campaign:
1969: 16.4%
1997: 8.2%
2012: 9%
MYTH #7: People in the 1960s were more likely to be involved with radical political parties rather than the Democratic or Republican Parties.
FACTS:
Percent of Persons Who Consider Themselves Independent Rather Than Republican or Democrat:
1964: 22%
1967: 27%
1975: 33%
1989: 32%
1999: 38%
Percentage of College Freshmen Who Described Their Own Political Views as "Far Left":
1970: 3.1%
1996: 2.9%
2012: 2.8%
Approximate numbers of college students belonging to the three largest student oriented political organizations in 1967:
Young Republicans: 150,000
Young Democrats: 140,000
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS, a more left-wing group): 35,000
Freshmen were, however, more likely to describe themselves as liberal in 1970 (33.5%) than in 1996 (21.7%) or 2012 (26.8%) (The American Freshman: 30 Year Trends by Alexander W. Astin, et al, (University of California, Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, 1997), p.56-57; The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2012 by John H. Pryor, et al. (UCLA: Higher Education Research Institute, 2012), p. 37). Yet, in some respects at least, the 1960's were much more conservative than the 1990's:
Percentage of College Freshmen Who Agreed Strongly Or Somewhat That The Activities of Married Woman Are Best Confined To The Home And ******:
1967: 56.6%
1996: 24.2%
Percentage of Americans Believing That Sex Before Marriage Is Wrong:
1969: 68%
1990: 33%
Percentage of White Americans Believing That They Had A Right To Keep Blacks Out Of Their Neighborhood If They Wanted To, And That Blacks Should Respect That Right:
1968: 55%
1990: 22%
MYTH #8: Most Americans in the1960s and early 70s would recognize that people have a right to peacefully protest the policies of their government.
FACTS:
Percent of Persons Opposing Organized Peaceful Protest of a Government Policy
1970: 75%
COMMENT:
No doubt one of the reasons the media and public's reaction to student protesters of the 1960s was that there seemed to be such a change in student mentality compared with students in the 1950s. Students in the 1950s were commonly referred to as the "Silent Generation" or the "Apathetic Generation".
They have been described by various commentators as being extraordinarily self-centered, overly concerned with material comforts and wealth, completely lacking in cynicism and skepticism regarding government and big business, dull conformists, and politically illiterate and irresponsible.
Americans in the 1950s tended to be suspicious of persons with unconventional political views and opposed to allowing the expression of unconventional political and social views. For example, in 1953, 35% of people responded "No" the the question "In peacetime, do you think newspapers should be allowed to criticize our form of government?"
In December of 1956, 72% of persons thought that Communists should not be allowed to speak on the radio.
In 1954, 60 percent of respondents thought that persons opposed to churches and religion should not be allowed to speak in their city.
And in 1958, 59% of freshmen at Michigan State University agreed with the statement that "a lot of teachers, these days, have radical ideas which need to be carefully watched."
Many educators thought that such apathy and closed-mindedness was something that should be overcome. For instance, Robert Goheen, the President of Princeton University, advised the freshman class of 1960 to cultivate a "substantial discontent" so that they might "seek a possible better instead of being content with an actual worse".
Of course, as Obear notes, by the late 1960s, Goheens advice had changed considerably!
It would be a mistake to suppose that the above statistics give a complete picture of students and culture in the 1960s. But in many respects, the students of the 1990s are considerably more liberal and prone to protest than the students of the 1960s, as the statistics above indicate. Many of the issues which were the focus protest in the 1960s, such as freedom in one's personal life, student input and influence in university policies, and civil rights are widely taken for granted in the 1990s. But it's worth remembering what all the fuss was about.
- Keith Korcz
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409/groovy60s.html