Episode 14

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Published on:

1st Aug 2025

S2E14- The Affluent Society

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Transcript
Speaker:

Hello y'all.

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It's me.

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It's me.

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It's Dr.

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G.

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And today we're stepping into an era

that glitters in the popular imagination,

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the 1950s, the heart of what is

often called the Affluent Society.

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Think.

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Leave it to beaver.

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Imagine a nation emerging

victorious from a global conflict,

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wary of the large shadows of

war and the economic depression.

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Suddenly, the United States

is stepping into an age of

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unprecedented economic boom.

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Picture the gleaming chrome of new

automobiles rolling down freshly paved

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highways, the neat rows of suburban houses

with their white picket fences, you know.

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Little boxes made of Ticky tack.

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There was also the families gathered

around the flickering blue glow of a

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brand new technology, the television set.

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This was the image of the American

Dream broadcast, not just across the

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nation, but to an eagerly watching world.

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In 1959 at the American National

Exhibition in Moscow, a potent

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symbol of this era unfolded.

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Vice President Richard Nixon standing

in an model American kitchen engaged

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in a now famous kitchen debate with

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev

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Nixon proudly declared quote.

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Let us start with some of

the things in this exhibit.

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You will see a house, a car, a

television set, each the newest

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and most modern of its type we can

produce, but can only the rich in

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the United States afford such things.

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If this were the case, we would have

to include in our definition of rich.

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The millions of American wage

earners, end quote, Nixon's words

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captured the narrative, a widespread

material prosperity, a testament

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to the American way of life.

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Yet as we peel back the shiny veneer,

a more complicated picture emerges

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as our textbook so aptly puts it.

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It was defined by quote.

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Unrivaled prosperity alongside

crippling poverty, expanded opportunity

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alongside entrenched discrimination

and new liberating lifestyles

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alongside stifling conformity.

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And it was certainly not.

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Leave it to be for our I

Love Lucy, for everybody.

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The very celebration of this

affluence was in itself a Cold War

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strategy against the Soviet Union.

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Nixon wasn't just showing

off a modern kitchen.

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He was wielding American consumer

goods as an ideological weapon

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against Soviet communism.

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The American standard of

living was presented as proof

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of capitalism superiority.

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This intense politicization meant.

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That questioning this narrative pointing

out the poverty or the deep seated

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inequalities or even the racism, could

be dismissed as an American or worse

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sympathetic to the communist cause.

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This pressure to conform contributed to

a veneer of national unity and success,

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carefully constructing an image after

the traumas of depression and war.

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But this image glossed over deep anxieties

and the stark reality that this prosperity

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was not universally experienced.

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The affluent society narrative was in

part an exercise in selective memory.

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I.

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Papering over societal fissures that

d soon crack wide open in the:

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So in today's episode, we'll

delve into these contradictions

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of the affluent society.

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We'll explore how the economic engine

roared, who reaped the benefits and

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who was systematically left behind.

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We'll examine how this period of

paradoxical plenty laid the groundwork for

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the profound social changes of the 1960s.

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Our topic in a later episode.

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And how all of this connects to the

long arc of American history that

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we've been tracing from reconstruction,

from its unfulfilled promises to the

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industrial titans of the gilded age,

through the crucibles of world wars

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and great depressions to the complex

moment of this abundance and anxiety.

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To understand the affluent society, we

must first look at the seeds from which

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it grew, seeds of both unprecedented

prosperity and profound division.

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Basically, our previous episodes.

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The economic devastation of the Great

Depression cast a long shadow indeed,

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and it fostered a deep-seated desire

for economic security among Americans.

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I can tell you firsthand, my grandfather

who went through all of this, was

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one of the most secure people I

knew because of his experiences.

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Historian David M.

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Kennedy notes that the depression quote.

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Inspire durable innovations to

make individuals lives and many

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economic sectors less risky.

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End quote.

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This includes the federal programs

for mortgage lending that would become

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crucial in this post-war expansion.

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I.

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While the New Deal didn't single-handedly

end the depression, it expanded

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significantly the government's role in

the economy as well as expanding, and

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in some cases creating social welfare,

setting precedents for the programs

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that would shape the post-war landscape.

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It was World War ii, however, that

truly ignited the economic furnaces.

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Ascend, American economic power.

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Massive government spending on war

production pulled the United States

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outta the depression and into an

era of sustained economic boom.

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This economic transformation was

built upon a foundation that was

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indeed laid much earlier during the

gilded age of the late 19th century.

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That era, as we saw, saw the rise of

industrial capitalism, the consolidation

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of corporate power and the birth of a

mass consumer market while the post World

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War II period witnessed what economists

have called the Great Compression, a

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time when income inequality actually

plummeted the underlying structures

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of American capitalism with its

potential for vast wealth accumulation,

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as well as wealth disparities.

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Remain.

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The Gilded Age had been

characterized by extreme wealth

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concentration alongside significant

labor exploitation and poverty.

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The affluent society for a time

seemed to temper these extremes,

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but the potential for inequality as

economists, John Kenneth Galbrath would

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soon warn, was far from extinguished.

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The managerial techniques and national

marketplace developed during the Gilded

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Age provided a blueprint for the scale and

scope of the post World War II economy.

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It's worth considering whether the great

compression was a fundamental shift

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or a temporary deviation, a product of

a unique post-war circumstances like

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strong unions, progressive taxation,

and American dominance of global

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economic position, rather than a

permanent restructuring of the economic

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tendencies established in earlier eras.

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And perhaps most crucially, the

unresolved legacy of reconstruction.

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Now, once again, loomed large.

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The failure to secure genuine

racial equality after the Civil War

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directly led to the entrenchment of

Jim Crow in the south, and systemic

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discrimination across the nation.

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As one of our documents notes, quote,

emboldened Confederate veterans and

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former enslavers organized a reign

of terror that effectively nullified

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constitutional amendments designed

to provide black people equal

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protection and the right to vote.

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End

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Speaker 2: quote.

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Speaker: This deeply embedded racial

hierarchy formed a stark undeniable

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contradiction with the society proclaiming

affluence and democratic ideals.

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The civil rights movement of the

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overdue reckoning with these failures.

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One of the most visible manifestations

of post-war affluence was the

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explosion of suburban growth.

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Central to this was the Servicemen's

Readjustment Act of:

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known as the GI Bill of Rights.

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This landmark legislation offered

returning veterans, low interest home

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loans, stipends for college or vocational

training and loans to start businesses.

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As the bill of Rights notes

quote, the GI Bill was a piece

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of bipartisan legislation that

historians have generally praised for.

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Its far seeing policy of

rewarding service in the military.

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It set the stage for post-war

abundance and prosperity.

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End quote.

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It was a powerful engine propelling

millions of veterans and their families

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into an expanding middle class.

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The quintessential image of this

suburban dream was Levittown developer

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William Levitt applied mass production

techniques much like Henry Ford had

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with automobiles, a generation earlier

to construct thousands of affordable.

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Standardized homes.

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The first Levittown, which rose on

Long Island farmland in:

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veterans and their families the

promise of a detached house with modern

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amenities, often for less than the cost

of renting an apartment in the city.

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The result was that

dramatic demographic shift.

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The suburban share of the American

population climbed from 19.5%

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in 1940 to 30.7%

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by 1960, and home ownership rates surged

fueling this boom alongside the GI Bill

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were federal agencies like the Federal

Housing Administration, the FHA, and

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the Homeowners Loan Corporation, HOLC.

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Originally, these were new deal

initiatives and their programs were

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expanded after the war, ensuring long-term

low down payment mortgages that made home

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ownership accessible to a much broader

segment of the white middle class.

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As one legal scholar observed, quote,

the early FHA really created the

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modern American housing finance system

as well as the look and feel of post

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World War II suburban communities.

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End quote.

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However, this suburban dream had deeply

discriminatory underside, the HOLC and

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the FHA institutionalized the practice of

redlining using residential security maps.

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Neighborhoods with minority populations,

particularly African-American

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communities, were outlined in red

and deemed hazardous for investment.

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This designation meant that

residents in these areas.

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Were effectively denied federally

backed mortgages as one analysis of the

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FHA practices states, quote, the FHA

reflected the widely held prejudices

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and discriminatory practices already

endemic in the all white housing

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and mortgage lending industries.

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The FHA also drew red lines on

its underwriting maps to cordon

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off blocks in which even a single

non-white family lived end quote.

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Compounding this were restrictive

covenants, legally binding clauses

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in the property deeds themselves that

explicitly prohibited the sale or rental

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of homes to non-whites, especially African

Americans, but also Asian Americans.

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Latinos, the new suburban developments,

including the famous Levittowns,

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were often built with these

exclusionary clauses from the outset

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as NYU historian Edward Berenson.

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Notes Levittowns weren't

open at to all their story is

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marked by racial segregation.

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End

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Speaker 2: quote.

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Speaker: The FHAs own underwriting

manual explicitly linked higher property

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values to racial homogeneity, thus

endorsing these discriminatory practices.

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The consequences were devastating

and long lasting systemic exclusion

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from federally subsidized suburban

home ownership, concentrated black

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populations in under-resourced urban

areas, while white families built

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significant wealth through appreciating

home values that grew in the suburbs.

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And this wasn't a passive

outcome, it was the direct result

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of federal policy in the film.

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In the suburbs produced in 1957

by Red Book Magazine explicitly

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targeted advertisers by

showcasing the happy go spending.

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Buy it now.

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Young adults of today, these

white suburban customers who

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are flocking to the suburbs to

escape global and urban turmoil.

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This ideal image of suburbia

was inherently racialized.

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The GI Bill and FHA programs, therefore

stand as a stark example of how government

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initiatives can simultaneously create

opportunity for one group while denying

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it for another actively shaping or,

and or exacerbating racial inequality.

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The American dream of home ownership,

the primary vehicle for the middle class

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wealth accumulation in this post-war era

was largely and by design, a white dream.

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The wealth built by white families in

these federally subsidized, appreciating

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suburban homes became generational wealth.

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Black families largely barred from this

opportunity faced a widening economic

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gap, the repercussions of which are still

evident today in disparities in wealth

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education, and even health outcomes.

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Furthermore, the migration to the

suburbs was not merely a quest

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for green lawns and good schools.

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It was also intertwined with

social and racial anxieties.

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The desire to escape the perceived

problems of increasing diverse cities

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and to maintain racial homogeneity.

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As suggested by the Red Book's,

films, language in escaping urban

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turmoil was a significant, if often

unspoken driver of suburbanization.

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This mass movement reconfigured American

geography along stark racial and class

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lines contributing to the very urban

challenges from which many suburbanites

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sought refuge in creating new, enduring

social and political divisions.

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The gleaming promise of the affluent

society stood in stark contrast to

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the lived realities of millions of

Americans, particularly the African

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Americans, for whom the he's prosperity

remained largely out of reach.

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The battle for equality, especially

in education, became the central

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drama of the 1950s For over half a

century, the Supreme Court's:

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decision in Plessy versus Ferguson

had enshrined the doctrine of separate

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but equal, providing a legal cover.

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For a vast system of racial segregation.

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But in 1954, a thunder clap occurred.

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Brown v.

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Board of Education of Topeka, and this

landmark ruling, a unanimous Supreme

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Court declared that state-sponsored

segregation in public schools was

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unconstitutional, directly overturning

Plessy in the realm of education.

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The court's core finding was unequivocal.

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Quote, separate educational

facilities are inherently unequal.

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End quote, this was a monumental

victory for the Civil Rights Movement,

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a powerful moral and legal tool to begin

dismantling the edifice of Jim Crow.

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Its signaled that the federal government

at its highest judicial level was finally

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challenging the legitimacy of segregation.

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However, the promise of Brown win quickly

into a wall of resistance in:

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in a follow-up decision known as Brown

two, the Supreme Court ordered that

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desegregation proceed with all deliberate

speed, end quote, which is very vague.

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And this phrase, which was intended

perhaps as a pragmatic concession

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to the complexities of implementing

this, proved to be a loophole

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exploited by Southern states.

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To delay and obstruct

for as long as possible.

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As one analysis of this notes

quote, it was an ambiguous phrase

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that allowed many southern judges

to avoid desegregation for years.

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End quote.

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And when I say years, I mean 15 or more.

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The Defiance was formalized in

:

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Over 100 Southern Congressmen signed this

document, denouncing the brown decision

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as a quote, clear abuse of judicial power,

end quote, and pledging to use quote, all

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lawful means to reverse this decision.

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This set the stage for

years of bitter struggle.

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The nation and the world witnessed

this struggle unfold dramatically

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in Little Rock in Arkansas in 1957,

when nine African American students

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who became known as The Little Rock

Nine attempted to integrate Central

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High School, they were met with raw

hatred and official obstruction.

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Arkansas Governor Orville Fabi.

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Mobilize the State's National Guard,

not to protect the students, but to

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block their entry into the school.

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A furious white mob surrounded

central high, spewing

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vitriol, and hate and threats.

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Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine,

arrived alone that first day having missed

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the message where to meet as a group.

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She faced the mob by herself.

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Accounts from the time described the

scene vividly quote, they called out

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for her to be lynched and yelled.

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Slogans like 2, 4, 6, 8.

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We don't want to integrate the image

of Hazel Bryan, A white student.

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Her face contorted in a scream of

hate directed at Eckford, became an

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infamous symbol of the ERA'S bigotry.

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Speaker 2: End quote.

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Speaker: The crisis escalated to the

point where President Dwight d Eisenhower

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initially reluctant to intervene

forcefully, and also not very happy

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about the Brown decision in general,

he felt compelled to actually act.

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He federalized the Arkansas National

Guard and deployed units of the US

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Army's 101st Airborne Division to

Little Rock to enforce the federal court

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order and protect the black students.

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In a tele address to the nation,

Eisenhower stated firmly mob rule

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cannot be allowed to override

the decision of the courts.

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The courage of the little

knock nine in the face of such

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adversity was extraordinary.

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Daisy Bates, their mentor and president

of the Arkansas NAACP, captured the

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bittersweet nature of their fight.

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Quote, anytime it takes 11,500

soldiers to assure nine Negro children

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their constitutional rights in a

democratic society, I can't be happy.

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End quote.

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And even with federal protection,

the students face daily

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harassment inside the school.

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Carl Walls Lan one of the nine recalled

being told by school officials quote.

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You're not going to be able to go to

the football games or basketball games.

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You can't go to the prom.

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End quote.

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Elizabeth Eckford herself had echoed

many of these sentiments, noting that

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she was often pushed into lockers or

her books, knocked out of her hands,

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minor aggressions all day long from the

harassment vocally to also being forced

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to sit alone and be alone all day.

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Across the South States adopted

these strategies that they

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called massive Resistance.

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Virginia, under the leadership

of US Senator Harry F.

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Byrd Sr.

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Was a key architect of this

massive resistance approach.

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Laws were passed to cut off state

funding and even close any public

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school that attempted to integrate.

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In Princes, Edward County, Virginia

officials took the extreme step of closing

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all public schools from 1959 to 1964

rather than to desegregate the schools.

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White students attended newly

established private, what we would

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call segregation academies, often

funded by state tuition grants.

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While black students in the county

were left with no formal education for

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five years, the human cost was immense.

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Reverend Wyatt t.

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Walker of Petersburg, Virginia

highlighted the broader impact

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stating that protestors were, quote,

just as concerned about 13,000 white

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children being locked out of schools

as they are about segregated schools.

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End quote.

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While the fight for educational

equality raged other fronts in the

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Civil Rights movement in the 1950s were

also heating up and often overlooked,

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but really crucial legal victory came

in:

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The Supreme Court ruled unanimously

that Mexican Americans and indeed all

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other racial and ethnic groups were

entitled to equal protection under the

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14th Amendment, specifically addressing

their systemic exclusion from juries.

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This decision was significant

for extending civil right

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protections beyond the black,

white paradigm that had dominated

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much of the national conversation.

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Remember, Mexican Americans are here too.

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Then in December of 1955 in Montgomery,

Alabama, Rosa Parks, a seasoned activist

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with the NAACP, made her historic stand

by refusing to give up her seat on a

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segregated city bus to a white man.

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Her arrest ignited the

Montgomery bus boycott.

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Think about this, a 381 day

display of community solidarity

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and nonviolent resistance.

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Black people did not take

the bus for over a year.

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It was led by Women's Political

Council and the newly formed Montgomery

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Improvement Association, and tens of

thousands of black citizens either

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walked carpooled or organized.

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To cripple the city's transit system in

order to desegregate, and the boycott

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propelled a young mis minister Dr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

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To national prominence.

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His powerful oratory galvanized

the movement at a mass meeting.

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Early in the boycott, he declared

quote, if we are wrong, the Supreme

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Court of this nation is wrong.

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If we are wrong, the constitution

of the United States is wrong.

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If we are wrong.

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God Almighty is wrong.

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End quote.

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Later, reflecting on the sacrifices made,

king said this quote, we came to see that

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in the long run it is more honorable to

walk in dignity than ride in humiliation.

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So we decided to substitute

tired feet for tired souls, and

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walk the streets of Montgomery.

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End quote.

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The boycott ended in December of

:

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a lower court ruling that bus

segregation was unconstitutional.

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The spirit of nonviolent direct action

spread beginning in Greensboro, North

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Carolina in February, 1960, student

led sit-ins targeted, segregated

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lunch counters across the south.

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Young black students often joined

by white allies would sit patiently

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demanding service, enduring verbal abuse.

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Physical assaults, physical assaults,

like cigarettes being burned on their

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arms and arrests, their disciplined

nonviolence exposed the brutality of

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segregation to a national audience.

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Remember, TVs and cameras are rolling

now in ways they hadn't been before.

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In 1961, the Freedom Rides organized

by the Congress of Racial Equality or

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core directly challenged segregation

on interstate buses and in terminal

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facilities riders faced horrific violence,

particularly in Alabama where one bus

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was fire bombed in Anniston, and riders

were brutally beaten in Birmingham and

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Montgomery, again, to a nation horrified

at seeing these images playing on their

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televisions and in their newspapers.

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Student leader Diane Nash, when urged

to call off the rides due to the

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violence famously responded, quote, we

can't let them stop us with violence.

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If we do, the movement is dead.

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The relentless pressure from these

activists eventually forced the new

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Kennedy administration to intervene

in the Interstate Commerce Commission

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to issue regulations banning a

segregation in interstate travel.

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Amidst these highly visible struggles for

civil rights, it's crucial to remember

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the plight of other marginalized groups.

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The 1952 testimony of Juanita Garcia,

a pro-union American born migrant

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farmer in California's Imperial

Valley, offers a stark window into

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the other America, as she put it.

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She spoke to Congress about the dire

poverty, the displacement of citizen

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workers by laborers from the Bracero

program, and undocumented immigrants

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from Mexico who were forced to accept

rock bottom wages and the violent

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suppression of efforts to unionize.

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I.

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This is what Garcia said, quote, for poor

people like us who are field laborers,

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making a living has always been hard.

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The wetbacks and nationals from

Mexico have the whole Imperial Valley.

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The wages get worse every year.

388

:

Sometimes they make only $5 a week.

389

:

That is not enough to live on.

390

:

So many people cannot send

their children to school.

391

:

End quote.

392

:

Her testimony concluded with a plea

that resonated with the experiences of

393

:

many forgotten Americans in this era.

394

:

Of supposed universal affluence.

395

:

Quote, isn't the government

supposed to help us?

396

:

Poor people, can't it act faster

in cases like this end quote.

397

:

These varied struggles

underscore complex dynamics.

398

:

The federal government, for instance,

acted as both an enabler and a

399

:

reluctant enforcer of civil rights.

400

:

While Supreme Court decisions like

Brown and the Hernandez provided crucial

401

:

legal foundations in the executive

branch under Eisenhower and Kennedy

402

:

did intervene at crucial junctures.

403

:

These actions were often

reactive, not proactive.

404

:

They were frequently forced by crises

and violence in the sustained activism

405

:

that laid bare the contradiction between

America's democratic rhetoric, especially

406

:

potent during the the Cold War and the

harsh realities of the state sponsored

407

:

racism, the very phrase of all deliberate

speed and brown two signal the reluctance

408

:

to mandate immediate sweeping change.

409

:

Furthermore, the visible prosperity

of the affluent society so widely

410

:

celebrated and enjoined by whitey

white Americans served as a powerful

411

:

catalyst for more civil rights action.

412

:

The stark contrast between this affluence

and the continued denial of basic rights

413

:

and economic opportunities for black

Americans and other minorities sharpened

414

:

the sense of injustice and fueled

the movement's urgency, the promise

415

:

of American freedom and opportunity.

416

:

Amplified by Cold War Propaganda

created a standard against which the

417

:

nation's profound failures on race

and discrimination were increasingly

418

:

judged and found wanting the fight

for justice was not monolithic.

419

:

While the Black civil Rights movement

was the dominant and transformative.

420

:

Force the experiences of people like

Juanita Garcia and the legal battles

421

:

fought by Mexican Americans remind

us that the affluent society contain

422

:

multiple layers of marginalization.

423

:

These diverse struggles for dignity and

equality, though perhaps less central

424

:

in some historical narratives of the

:

425

:

landscape and prefigure the broader

social justice movements that would

426

:

erupt in our next episode on the 1960s.

427

:

While battles for racial justice rage, the

cultural landscape of the affluent society

428

:

was also undergoing subtle but significant

shifts, often beneath the surface,

429

:

dying to create an ideal conformity.

430

:

The era is famously associated with

traditional gender roles in the idealized

431

:

nuclear family, but discontent and

new ideas were beginning to stir.

432

:

Society in the 1950s placed immense

pressure on women to find their primary

433

:

fulfillment as wives and mothers.

434

:

The Happy Homemaker ideal was

relentlessly promoted through

435

:

the media, through advertising

and even government propaganda.

436

:

It was a common joke with a sharp

edge of truth that women attended

437

:

college to earn their MRS degree or.

438

:

Their misses degree.

439

:

That is to find a husband as one

analysis puts it, quote, American

440

:

Society in the 1950s was geared toward

the family, marriage, and children

441

:

were part of the national agenda.

442

:

This domestic ideal was even

weaponized in the Cold War.

443

:

American propaganda contrasted the

supposed drudgery of women's lives

444

:

under communism with the idealized

image of American women enjoying the

445

:

fruits of capitalism and freedom in

her well appointed suburban home.

446

:

Vice President Nixon, during the kitchen

debates explicitly linked American

447

:

domestic comforts and by implication the

role of women within that domestic sphere.

448

:

That is why in his estimation.

449

:

The American system was superior.

450

:

Yet beneath this carefully curated

image, a profound unease was growing.

451

:

Betty Fried in her groundbreaking

:

452

:

gave voice to what she termed

quote, the problem that has no name.

453

:

This was a widespread sense of

dissatisfaction, boredom and lack

454

:

of fulfillment experienced by many

college educated, middle class suburban

455

:

housewives, who, according to the

prevailing ideology, should have been

456

:

perfectly content with being homemakers.

457

:

Fried wrote quote, each suburban wife

struggles with it alone as she made the

458

:

beds, shopped for groceries, ate peanut

butter sandwiches with her children

459

:

lay beside her husband at night, she

was afraid to even ask of herself.

460

:

The silent question is this all end quote.

461

:

Freedom argued that the feminine mystique,

the cultural insistence that women could

462

:

only find true happiness and domesticity.

463

:

That is being wives and mothers and

homemakers denied them of their full

464

:

human potential by limiting their

aspirations and achievements to those

465

:

that they could have only in the home.

466

:

She powerfully asserted, quote, the only

way for a woman as for a man to find

467

:

herself to know herself as a person is

by created work of her own end quote.

468

:

Her work questioned the very

foundations of:

469

:

expectations asking, quote, who

knows what women can be when they are

470

:

finally free to become themselves?

471

:

End quote.

472

:

Men too face new pressures and anxieties.

473

:

In this era, the rise of large

corporations and bureaucratic

474

:

organizations led to the emergence

of the organization, man often

475

:

cla in a gray flannel suit.

476

:

This new model of white collar

masculinity, which valued teamwork,

477

:

sociability and conformity, stood in stark

contrast to the older American ideal of

478

:

the rugged independent self-made man.

479

:

Social commentators of the time

expressed concerns that corporate

480

:

life was breeding, passivity, and

even emasculating men robbing them

481

:

of their individuality and control.

482

:

As one scholar notes, social commentators

attacked corporate work and white

483

:

collar lifestyles claiming that

they cause passivity in ex ated men.

484

:

In response to these perceived

pressures, alternative visions

485

:

of masculinity also emerged.

486

:

Playboy Magazine first published in 1953,

championed a Bachelor Ideal, a Bachelor

487

:

lifestyle, emphasizing consumption,

leisure, and freedom from the perceived

488

:

constraints of domestic responsibility,

offering a direct counterpoint to the

489

:

dominant family-centric male ideal.

490

:

Your job was not only to be the

breadwinner, but an ideal father.

491

:

This was also an era when television

transformed American life, and

492

:

I can't stress that enough.

493

:

In 1950, only 12% of American

households owned a television set.

494

:

By the end of the decade, by 1960, that

number had skyrocketed to over 87%.

495

:

Tv quickly became the focal point of

family entertainment and a powerful

496

:

force in shaping a shared national

culture similar to how radio.

497

:

But for better or worse, it was a

voracious engine of consumerism.

498

:

Advertisements now beam directly into

living rooms, and it fueled desire for

499

:

a dazzling new array of products from

the latest refrigerators and washing

500

:

machines to shiny new automobiles.

501

:

As one analysis states quote.

502

:

Advertisements became a staple

of TV programming, encouraging

503

:

viewers to buy the latest products.

504

:

This helped fuel the post-war economic

boom and shaped a culture of consumption.

505

:

Speaker 2: End quote,

506

:

Speaker: popular shows like Leave

It To Beaver and Father Nose, best

507

:

endlessly presented idealized images

of white, middle class suburban

508

:

nuclear families trying to reinforce

traditional gender roles in a specific

509

:

vision of that American dream.

510

:

Beyond television, other technological

innovations were shaping and reshaping

511

:

daily life and societal landscapes.

512

:

Plastics developed earlier, became

truly ubiquitous in the:

513

:

initially marketed for their durability.

514

:

The industry soon shifted.

515

:

Its focused as urged by Lloyd Soffer,

editor of Modern Plastics in:

516

:

Who told the executives.

517

:

Your future is in the trash can.

518

:

This push towards disposability helped

create what critics now call a throwaway

519

:

culture, a concept that was initially

really difficult to sell to a generation

520

:

that had experienced the scarcity.

521

:

I.

522

:

Of the early 19 hundreds and especially

the scarcity of the great depression

523

:

and wartime rationing, the first credit

cards emerged in the:

524

:

it easier than ever to buy now and

pay later further stoking the fires

525

:

of consumer spending convenience.

526

:

Foods like TV dinners introduced

in:

527

:

available from 1955 began to alter

eating habits and family routines.

528

:

Think of TV dinners.

529

:

And what that actually means.

530

:

Microwaving a dinner to eat

in front of the television.

531

:

Much different family dynamic.

532

:

On a profoundly different note, the

development and the dissemination of

533

:

the Salk Polio vaccine in 1955 was a

monumental medical triumph conquering

534

:

a dreaded disease that had terrorized

families for decades and allowed children

535

:

to experience more carefree lives

as one contemporary account put it.

536

:

The vaccines discovery quote

allowed citizens to resume normal

537

:

activities in the summer end quote.

538

:

Meanwhile, early computers in the

invention of the microchip in:

539

:

primarily confined to the government and

the military, and that large business

540

:

applications during the fifties were

quietly laying the foundation for the

541

:

digital revolution that would redefine

the world in the decades to come.

542

:

That is the world you live in

now, beneath the surface of.

543

:

Consensus and conformity critical

voices question the direction

544

:

of the affluent society.

545

:

I had already mentioned Harvard economist

John Kenneth Galbrath, and in his

546

:

influential 1958 book called The Affluent

Society, which is the title of this

547

:

lecture and of the textbook, acknowledge

the Era's unprecedented Material

548

:

Wealth, but offered a stinging critique.

549

:

He argued that an economy fixated on

private production and consumption.

550

:

Systematically neglected

public goods and services.

551

:

It would neglect the funding of schools,

of healthcare, of infrastructure

552

:

and environmental protection

leading to a paradoxical state of

553

:

private opulence and public squalor.

554

:

Galbrath famously questioned an

economic system where, quote.

555

:

Wants are increasingly created by the

process by which they are satisfied.

556

:

End quote, pointing to the power

of advertising and marketing

557

:

to the manufacturing of desire.

558

:

The kitchen debate between

Nixon and Khrushchev in:

559

:

was more than a symbolic fight.

560

:

It was a distillation of the

era's ideological contest.

561

:

While Nixon extolled the

virtues of American consumerism,

562

:

Khrushchev offered sharp retorts.

563

:

For instance, saying, quote, your

capitalist attitude toward women does

564

:

not occur under communism, end quote

and boasting of Soviet durability, he

565

:

said, quote, we build firmly, we build

for our children and grandchildren.

566

:

End quote.

567

:

The pressure to conform in the

:

568

:

was a potent political tool.

569

:

The lavender scare, a lesser known

but devastating parallel to the

570

:

anti-communist, red Scare saw the

systematic persecution of homosexuals

571

:

within the federal government.

572

:

Homosexuals were deemed security risks

supposedly vulnerable to blackmail

573

:

by communist agents, and therefore

morally unfit for public service.

574

:

President Eisenhower's Executive Order

issued in:

575

:

banned gay men and lesbians from all

federal employment and had ripple

576

:

effects in the private sector as well.

577

:

The depth of prejudice was starkly

revealed in a:

578

:

Nebraska Congressman Arthur L.

579

:

Miller, who offered to quote, strip

the defeated stinking flesh off

580

:

of this skeleton of homosexuality.

581

:

For his colleagues, he painted a lured

picture of vast homosexual underworld

582

:

in Washington DC claiming it is

amazing that in the capital city of

583

:

Washington, we are plagued with such

a large group of those individuals,

584

:

and he even linked homosexuality to

foreign, specifically Russian influence.

585

:

It is a known fact that the Russians

are strong believers in homosexuality.

586

:

End quote.

587

:

Even within the dominant white Christian

majority, the lines of division existed.

588

:

John f Kennedy's 1960 presidential

campaign at the end of this decade, for

589

:

example, had to directly confront and.

590

:

Deal with deep-seated anti-Catholic

prejudice in the country, culminating

591

:

in his significant speech on the

separation of church and state.

592

:

Amidst these cultural currents,

educational horizons were also

593

:

expanding beyond the transformative

impact of the GI Bill.

594

:

The 1950s saw a growing middle class

with increasing family wealth For

595

:

these families, a college education

was increasingly viewed as the ticket

596

:

to economic and social mobility.

597

:

As a result, undergraduate enrollment

roughly doubled between the immediate

598

:

post-war years in 1961, marking

the early stages of what we call

599

:

massification in higher education.

600

:

That would accelerate

dramatically in the:

601

:

The burgeoning consumer culture of

the:

602

:

comforts and fueling impressive economic

growth was indeed a double-edged sword.

603

:

It fostered a sense of national

identity and progress, yet it also

604

:

prompted critiques of conformity and

superficiality from thinkers like Drowth.

605

:

It led to the creation of artificial

wants, as Galbrath had noted, and

606

:

as Betty Fried implicitly explored

in the context of women's lives.

607

:

It also sowed the seeds of future

environmental concerns, particularly

608

:

with the rise of disposable plastics.

609

:

Similarly, the eras technological

advancements presented a paradox

610

:

of liberation and constraint.

611

:

Television and labor saving appliances

offered undeniable convenience

612

:

and new forms of entertainment.

613

:

However, television also played a

role in reinforcing narrow social

614

:

norms and household appliances while.

615

:

Easing the physical burdens of domestic

labor did not necessarily liberate

616

:

women from the domestic sphere, but

rather reshape their work within it.

617

:

As the subjects of freedom's, research

still felt profoundly trapped.

618

:

The Salk vaccine freed society from a

terrifying disease, a clear liberation.

619

:

Yet the rapid adoption of plastics

initially seen as a boon led

620

:

to long-term environmental.

621

:

Challenges.

622

:

This demonstrates that technological

progress during the affluent society was

623

:

not inherently or uniformly positive.

624

:

Its social impacts were complex, often

contradictory, and profoundly shaped

625

:

by cultural and economic systems into

which these innovations were introduced.

626

:

In other words, they were

a product of their time.

627

:

The intense pressure to conform in terms

of gender roles, sexuality and political

628

:

viewpoints can be understood as an

attempt to impose stability and unity

629

:

on a world perceived as increasingly

dangerous and rapidly changing due

630

:

to several things like the Cold War.

631

:

The nuclear threat and shifting

social structures, deviance from

632

:

these norms was often equated

with disloyalty to the country or

633

:

instability often in the urban areas.

634

:

And this created significant internal

societal pressures that would directly

635

:

contribute to the counterculture and the

explosion of social justice movements.

636

:

In the 1960s, the title

of our next episode,

637

:

the Narrative of the Affluent Society

as presented in your textbook is

638

:

a quintessential American story.

639

:

One of progress intertwined with

struggle of ideals proclaimed

640

:

yet often deferred or denied for

significant portions of the population.

641

:

This era was not a static endpoint of

American development, but a dynamic I.

642

:

Deeply contested period.

643

:

Its legacy is complex.

644

:

The aspirations forged in this era,

the dream of suburban home ownership.

645

:

The expectation of consumer comforts,

the belief in technological progress

646

:

continue to shape American life today.

647

:

So too, do the anxieties.

648

:

Born from nuclear fears,

social conformity.

649

:

Persistent inequalities.

650

:

The battle lines drawn over civil

rights and gender roles in the

651

:

1950s remain relevant to the social

and political landscape today.

652

:

The popular image of the 1950s often

lends itself towards a monolith of white

653

:

middle class homogeneity and consensus.

654

:

However.

655

:

As we've explored a closer examination

reveals a society far more diverse in

656

:

experience rife with active resistance

to injustice and simmering with critical

657

:

dissent beneath its polished surface.

658

:

Recognizing this internal diversity and

the myriad of contestations is crucial

659

:

for a more historical understanding, for

appreciating the continuities between

660

:

the affluent society and the more

overtly turbulent decades that follow.

661

:

We can't understand the 1960s and

seventies unless we understand

662

:

what the affluent society was.

663

:

This period serves as a crucible

where many of the defining

664

:

characteristics and enduring conflicts

of modern America were flourished.

665

:

I.

666

:

I'll conclude with the words

of Martin Luther King Jr.

667

:

Spoken during the Montgomery bus

boycott when he captured the enduring

668

:

spirit of the struggle for justice that

defines so much of this era and the

669

:

one to come quote, we are determined

here in Montgomery to work and fight

670

:

until justice runs down like water

and righteousness like a mighty steam.

671

:

Thanks for joining me on

Star Spangled Studies.

672

:

I'll see y'all in the past.

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About the Podcast

Star-Spangled Studies
Star-Spangled Studies is a college-level U.S. history podcast created by professional historian Dr. G—built for students, teachers, and curious listeners alike. Season 1 covers the era from 1865 to the present, using The American Yawp, a free and open educational resource (OER) textbook, as its guide. Each episode unpacks key events, movements, and ideas that shaped the modern United States—through rich narrative, scholarly insight, and accessible storytelling.

Whether you're enrolled in a course or exploring history on your own, you’ll get clear, engaging episodes that follow the chapters of The American Yawp. Bring your curiosity, download the textbook, and join Dr. G for a star-spangled journey through American history.

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