Jana Dubinovsky Professor Davis

History 321: America Since 1940 May 15, 2022

Societal Debates Since 1970

“The rebellions and discord of [the twentieth century] led to widespread disillusionment and

cynicism about the viability, or even the value, of national consensus and unity.” 1 Since the 1970’s,

America has been a country slowly transforming with each coming generation, greatly shaped by

political and social disagreements within the institutional sphere. Racism, sexism, and homophobia

have been at the center of greater political debates about who ought to be eligible to participate in

society. Movements in the later twentieth century, such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay

Liberation Movement, as well as Second Wave Feminism, have been organized and bolstered by those

who recognize the flaws in justice and restriction of autonomy for marginalized groups in American

foundational documents, and attempt to rectify such. Many of the counter-arguments to these

movements involve bigotry and extreme traditionalism, specifically those stemming from Puritanical

ideologies on which this country was founded. Another prevalent discussion about federal practices is

regarding who in the United States, if anyone, deserves federal social support, and to what degree.

1Kevin M. Kruz and Julian E. Zelizer, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 (New York: WW Norton and Company,
Inc, 2019). 5.
Since the New Deal was passed to combat the effects of the Great Depression, Americans have been

conflicted about the role of government intervention in welfare and social support. After the time of

“necessity” for government support for most middle-class white Americans passed, many of these

people ceased to promote welfare efforts for those in need, which often happened to be populations of

people that have been subject to oppression by the government, such as African-Americans. The key

element in both of these debates revolve around the right to autonomy and privacy. Those opposing

legislation for increased voting rights for all Americans, abortion or other reproductive health options,

or universal healthcare or standardized income have an implicit belief that their situation is universal,

that those different from them do not merit the same success as the individual in question. Many

people believe that the United States had fallen The final question that has affected the nation at large

has been mixed reaction to US imperialist tendencies since the end of the Second World War, and

especially as it pertains to conflicts arising during the twentieth century, such as the wars in Korea,

Vietnam, and Iraq. For the past several decades, specific political tensions have greatly influenced the

paradigm of ‘American society’: civil rights for every American, obligations of the government to its

citizens, and justifications for the United States’ global imperialism. Though it has been centuries since

the origin of these conflicts and their subsequent consequences, Americans are no closer to consensus

on the direct course of action to resolving these tensions for the common good.
 Debates over civil rights for all Americans have shaped the current condition of our society in

many ways. At the time of the establishment of the United States, theories about how the ideal

civilization ought to operate were largely based on variations of the social contract as defined during

the Enlightenment Era. The creators of United States foundational documents modeled modern

democracy after the Ancient Greeks, and arguably implemented this effectively, because each

adaptation of the social contract did not seek to create accords with each member of society, not only

wealthy white (cisgendered, heterosexual, abled) Christian males. Thus, in the Constitution, though

rights for all Americans are outlined, they are neither universally nor justly enforced. It is disingenuous

to label the subjugation of Black people in America as an element of political debate. The Civil Rights

Movement was only a justified outraged response over the treatment of African-Americans in the

legislative and judicial systems, such as restrictions placed on people of color on voting or policy

making, the inability to accumulate stable wealth or own meaningful financial assets, or engage

critically with higher-level education, all due to systemic discrimination. A highly crucial factor of the

harms experienced by communities of color in the United States is the criminalization of urban space

and undesirable but harmless behavior. Mass incarceration has impacted these communities to great

detriment, further contributing to social and economic inequality between white and non-white
individuals. Americans’ opinion on Civil Rights has been mixed, and this has been especially impacted

by negative racial stereotypes as a direct result of mass incarceration of people of color. “In stark

contrast to white working-class Americans, who increasingly claimed the mantle of crime victim over

the course of the twentieth century, poor blacks were increasingly blamed for any crime problem

America had…With African Americans actively laying claim to equal citizenship, the urban spaces in

which they lived were criminalized to an unprecedented extent.”2 On paper, Black Americans had

rights that had been previously denied to them on basis of skin color, and, though it took many years

of efforts, were recognized as full citizens under the law with all the liberties this entailed. In reality,

however, individuals were still being heavily suppressed under systems of cruelty. Opposition to civil

rights and freedoms for African-Americans was generated by many white people, especially those in

positions of power. Bigoted and prejudiced beliefs can be seen today in the legislative and judicial

system, as people of color often find themselves disproportionately being targeted as criminals or

citizens of an inferior caliber. During the later twentieth century, white backlash, and resentment of

the Civil Rights Movement, bred violence against those participating in the movement or calling for

equality of liberty for all Americans, regardless of race. “Backlashers understood civil rights as zero-

sum, and therefore treated campaigns for African American equality as an inexcusable undermining of

2Heather Ann Thompson, “Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American
History.” (Oxford University Press: The Journal of American History, December 2010). 520.
what they saw as deserved white privileges and prerogatives.”3 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his

Letter from Birmingham Jail, recounts the difficulties in progress and change in a system of injustice. It

is white moderates, he states, not only those who are ignorant and racist, who stall progress in fear of

upheaval of tradition. In the history of the United States, advancements in social liberties and

opportunities, especially for marginalized people, has always been at odds with those who revel in

tradition and hold emphasis on conserving historic power, specifically that of wealthy white Christian

males. Social discourse over civil rights also extended to rights that ought to be granted to people

regardless of gender or sexual identity. The right to sufficient education for all was something

championed by both the Civil Rights and feminist movements, as was the right to engage in the

institution of marriage and not be prohibited on the basis of heteronormativity or racial monoculture.

Despite heavy controversy and backlash in the political sphere, individuals who historically have been

exposed to systemic injustices managed to create a chain of events that promoted equity and morality

in the institution. What was most important to the contribution of initial progress was groups of

people gathering to share their grievances and organizing in number to create waves of change that

would not be stopped by political opposition. Nonetheless, conflicting interests still warred, causing

fracture even between those in agreement that their liberties were at risk. The differences between

feminist groups, for example, was stark, and further divided what ought to have been a unified

3
Lawrence Glickman, “How White Backlash Controls American Progress.” (United States: The Atlantic, May 21, 2020). 5.
movement against historic oppression. “While [National Women’s Organization] liberals sought

inclusion into American institutions on equal terms with men, radical feminists scoffed that ‘naïve’

objective. They wanted to eliminate the patriarchal sex caste system.” 4 Dissonance, between feminists,

civil rights activists, and those opposing equal freedoms, have been a continuous push-and-pull in the

journey to an ideal civilization, one in which everyone has equality of opportunity for flourishment. As

a result, legislation such as the Civil Rights Act is full of appeasement for the fears held by

conservatives in their belief that equality for all would take away their personal liberties. Furthermore,

due to strong ties to traditionalism, discrimination based on inherent characteristics such as race or

gender identity and presentation still runs rampant in the legislative system today.

Opinion over the role of government regulation in promoting financial stability for all

individuals have been varied since the implementation of the New Deal in the mid-20th century.

Industrialization and capitalism have been crucial elements in this discussion, marked by

concentrations of great wealth and power among a small class of individuals. The exploitation of

workers, juxtaposed against the ideal of the ‘American Dream,’ has lead to disillusionment of the

nation’s economic system, which was realized by members holding significant political power,

including former presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. The New Deal Order and the

Great Society have both been vital in their efforts to shift the role of government into one of support

4
“Battle of the Sexes.” 164-165.
for its citizens instead of the other way around, in which citizens exist only to serve the purposes of a

government. The twentieth century experienced great periods of economic prosperity for some and

hardship for others are various points in time. The Great Depression is probably the most infamous

example of this era, in which unemployment skyrocketed to nearly one in five Americans losing their

jobs and livelihoods. Under the Johnson administration, “[b]etween 1965 and 1968, spending to help

the poor doubled; within 10 years, the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line declined

to 12 percent from 20 percent.”5 Even with objective data about how Americans had suffered before

legislation for government financial and social support had been passed, there were still doubts in

many people’s minds about the necessity of programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and

other welfare benefits for those in need. Dissonance among individuals regarding government

interference in the private sphere has been prominent. Similarly to conservatives opposing civil rights

legislation on basis of belief that justice is a zero-sum game, there are those that believe that money

spent on welfare support is money that has been redirected from other necessary government

programs, such as those for security or education. After Reagan was elected in 1980, “while it

represented a significant triumph for the Republican Party, the 1981 tax cut also proved to be a

powerful warning for the opposition. Democrats realized that the president’s legislative victory would

give the GOP momentum for further political gains, while the practical impact of the reduction in

5 “Evaluating the Success of the Great Society” (Washington Post, May 17, 2014).
federal funding would leave other domestic programs in a weaker position across the board.” 6 Opinions

about government social services have continued to shape political debates to this day. During the

Obama administration, for instance, there was heavy backlash against the Affordable Care Act, also

dubbed Obamacare. Politicians attempting to pass legislation for affordable housing or universal

healthcare have been villainized by the far-right, mocked as communists, or being the recipient of

concern that their loyalties do not lie with those who provide funding for political campaigns.

Ideas about the United States involvement in imperialism have been controversial and varied

over the course of the twentieth century. Since the end of the Second World War, when countries on

the losing side were being carved up and distributed for the benefit of the victors, America has

partaken in what was called the spreading of democracy, which materialized itself as unjustified

conquest of and occasional brutal violence against independent nations such as the Philippines, Cuba,

Germany, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Cold War and its consequences in the global arena

played an important role in the creation of a new order of American supremacy. “Between the fall of

the Berlin Wall in October 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the Bush

administration was busy adjusting the United States to its new role as the world’s lone superpower and

helping to create new relationships across the globe.”7 With the attack on the World Trade Center on
6 Kevin M. Kruz and Julian E. Zelizer, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 (New York: WW Norton and Company,
Inc, 2019). 113.
7 Kevin M. Kruz and Julian E. Zelizer, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 (New York: WW Norton and Company,

Inc, 2019). 185.

September 11th, 2001, came ushering a new era of combatting terrorism, which came hand-in-hand

with previous American imperialist ideologies, such as those use to ‘combat communism’ in Korea and

Vietnam in years prior. The Cold War era also proliferated a new kind of warfare – one against

ideology. “War was traditionally thought to be bounded in space and time. Extending military action

to Iraq showed that the war on terror was being conceptualized along the lines of the Cold War era: it

was a battle against an ideology that could be found anywhere on the globe…Once the enemy was not

a nation-state or even an identifiable social group, war…seeped into the global spaces where those evil

ideas reside.”8 Politicians such as John Kerry who became outspoken about the atrocities committed in

Vietnam and the Middle East were ostracized by their opponents, and even in some cases, their

supporters. Debate whether America should remain isolationist became obsolete after the World Wars

of the 20th century; nonetheless, it is an ongoing discussion about whether the US is morally justified in

promoting the ideologies of democracy and capitalism to unwilling nations across the globe.

In conclusion, the United States has long been a nation divided over many important political

and social issues. These include the debate over social and civil rights for all Americans, specifically as

it pertains to participation within the institution of government and industry regardless of race, sex,

gender expression, or religion. Furthermore, the role of government in social support has long been a

controversial issue, especially during and after the rise of communism in the east. Finally, discourse

8
Mary L. Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences. (Oxford University Press). 108.
over US imperialism has divided politics over the best course of actions that ought to be taken in order

to combat tangible harms against the nation, such as terrorism, and the level of violence that is justified

to carry out against a threat. All of these movements, discussions, and questions have been a

reoccurring element in political instability, and Americans are no closer today to reaching consensus

then they were in the year 1970.