The Brookhaven Courier

Photo illustration by Eriana Ruiz

By Adam Bourenane
Contributing Writer

Massive demonstrations in the streets of Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention helped finalize the political polarization of the time. Half a century later, political polarization is still an issue today. 

John Rodden, independent scholar at The University of Texas at Austin’s Harry Ransom Research Center, said the events of 1968 were by far one of the most culturally impactful years, comparing its effects with that of the French Revolution in 1789. 

“We are all 1960s kids, still and now,” Rodden said. 

POLITICS AND LIFE

1968 brought with it a presidential race in which Democratic moderation split the party between an establishment candidate and a more radical, progressive candidate. Rodden said the main contenders of the1968 Democratic primaries, Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy, easily compare to their 2016 counterparts, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. There are also similarities between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, Republican presidential nominees for 1968 and 2016 respectively. 

“Some of the speeches are almost identical,” Jennifer Allen, Brookhaven College history professor, said. “If you study the background of the Nixon administration and the Trump campaign, they appealed to the same people,” she said. 

FEAR THEN AND NOW

The 1960s started in 1963, and ended in 1974-75, Rodden said. 

Before the 1960s, the youth kept their parents’ lifestyles. Young men wore suits and ties on college campuses, and both the youth and elderly enjoyed listening to Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and others, he said.

But as the world moved into the atomic era of warfare, the days of the simpler pre-1960s were numbered, Rodden said. In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis, a brinkmanship Allen called hell on the collective psyche of America, solidified a global sense of foreboding. 

People in 2018 experienced similar fear with Trump’s promise of bringing fire and fury to North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un. 

CIVIL UNREST

When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, it was clear to people things were changing, and they adapted, Rodden said. 

Kennedy drafted the Civil Rights Act, but would not live to see it pass. 

President Lyndon Johnson sought to honor his predecessor by ensuring the bill would pass in 1964, but there was pushback. Riots, assassinations, the split in the civil rights movement and the founding of the Black Panther Party highlight the discourse of the time, Allen said. 

The Black Panther Party was established as a social movement to address racial inequality toward black communities. Today’s Black Lives Matter movement addresses similar issues the Panthers addressed through social activism, according to the San Francisco Chronical.

While civil unrest unfolded on American soil in 1968, the U.S. military occupied southeast Asia. 

In a Feb. 27, 1965 state department memo, Johnson wrote: “This [North Vietnamese] aggression … is a fundamental threat to the freedom and security of South Vietnam.

The people of South Vietnam have chosen to resist this threat. At their request, the United States has taken its place beside them in their defensive struggle.”

Allen said the Vietnam War was the first significant televised conflict, with the Korean War labeled the ‘Forgotten War.’

It showed the brutality of war and the problems with American intervention.

A WAR AT HOME

According to The Los Angeles Times, on June 23, 1967, Johnson arrived at The Century Plaza, along with 10,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters. Clashes with protesters and Los Angeles police officers ensued as the marchers assembled across the street from The Century Plaza Hotel. Hundreds of nightstick-wielding officers forcibly dispersed the protesters. 

By the next summer, when Chicago police beat demonstrators in the street outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the country was at war with itself, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

Activists Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin founded the Youth International Party, whose members were called Yippies, in January 1968, according to pbs.org. They deployed guerilla theater tactics against mainstream culture. Yippies believed adamantly that culture and politics were inseparable. 

Hubert Humphrey, then-Johnson’s vice president, won the Democratic primary nomination on June 11, 1968. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Humphrey was able to gain enough delegates to take control of the convention without entering any primaries.

The aftermath was similar to 2016’s primaries, Allen said. Clinton received 55.6 percent of the vote, with Sanders at 49.9 percent, according to uselectionatlas.org. 

“The 2016 Democrats picked someone who would not appeal to the broader audience for a variety of reasons. Establishment politics was out, and so Trump was picked to lead,” Allen said. 

Democrats advocated unions, immigration rights and progressive values, Rodden said. But since Humphrey supported the war, and therefore, the draft, progressivism shifted from moderate Democrats to the revolutionary youth, according to the PBS documentary series “American Experience.” Humphrey would go on to write: “One person and one place dominated my life that election year. The place, Vietnam. The person, Lyndon Johnson.” 

Three months later, Nixon was elected the 37th President of the U.S.

Britney Cellerini
Staff Writer

The State Fair of Texas is back, with its doors swinging open at Fair Park in Dallas, Sept. 28 at 10 a.m. The fair will feature more than two dozen new foods, events and attractions. Continue reading →

Illustration by Eriana Ruiz 

By Marilyn Velazquez
Fashion Editor

Colin Kaepernick became a household name when the then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback was seen sitting during the national anthem Aug. 26, 2016. Many conservatives thought he was being disrespectful to the U.S. flag and the freedom service members have died for.

According to sbnation.com, Kaepernick said: “To me, this is something that has to change. When there’s significant change and I feel that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand,” according to sbnation.com.

Following Kaepernick’s example, athletes began to kneel during the national anthem to protest the injustice and cruel treatment of unarmed black men and women in this country, the most heated issue being police brutality, according to independent.com.uk. 

Kaepernick began to kneel Sept. 1, 2016, for innocent people killed such as Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, according to HuffPost. 

Nike sales jumped by 31 percent after the company released a new ad campaign featuring Kaepernick as their new spokesperson, according to NBC News.

Immediately, social media users posted reactions to the new ad. Many took to Twitter to show how they would boycott Nike – burning their gear.

Nike knew what it was doing after it gave Kaepernick such a huge platform. As the leading company for sports clothing and accessories, they expected backlash. 

One user, Sean Clancy, received over 26,100 retweets and 66,400 likes, Sean Clancy, after posting a video of himself setting his shoes ablaze.

Clancy tweeted: “First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country. Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American flag and the national anthem become offensive?”  

According to Rolling Stone, country-singer John Rich, half of the duo Big & Rich and fourth season winner of the “Celebrity Apprentice,” posted a picture of his sound technician holding cut up Nike socks on Twitter along with a statement: “Our soundman just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks. Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions.” 

Burning clothes and gear you already paid for serves no cause. Nike loses nothing when they already took your money. This is not how a boycott works.    

Go ahead and burn your Nike items if you want. But don’t forget to burn Hurley, Cole Haan, Converse and Umbro shoes as well, because Nike owns those companies too. 

Nike wasn’t the only company after Kaepernick, Puma and Adidas reportedly were interested in the former quarterback before he chose Nike, according to Yahoo Sports. 

Other companies, such as Ford Motor Company, support athletes kneeling against police brutality. “We respect individuals’ rights to express their views, even if they are not ones we share,” a company official said in a 2017 statement, according to The New York Times.

Guess it’s time to burn that F-150. 

Burning shoes and cutting socks do not help our veterans in any way. They don’t benefit off your retweets and likes. Instead, donate them to a local homeless shelter where veterans who have nowhere else to go reside. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the items far more.

Cody Ryan Ward

By John C. McClanahan
Copy Editor/Editorial Proofreader

Cody Ryan Ward, a former Brookhaven College student and managing editor of The Courier, who spent his life connecting with others, died May 1 at the age of 35. He was a strong communicator and someone who genuinely loved to help and engage with those around him. Continue reading →

By Stephanie Colmenero
Managing Editor/Web Editor/Social Media Editor

All seven Dallas County Community College District campuses, as well as satellite campuses will serve as polling locations for early voting and on election day, Nov. 6. One Brookhaven College initiative is designed to help students, staff and faculty register to vote. Continue reading →