Pinoy Kasi 1968
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20081226-179987/1968 By Michael Tan Philippine Daily Inquirer 12/26/2008 The title hints at the surprise I have for you: my two year-ender columns will revolve around 1968. That's because the entire 2008 has been marked by a mild, but quite visible "1968 fever," mainly in the United States and Europe, with practically nothing done in local media despite the importance of the events of that year. Newsweek's cover story for its Nov. 19, 1968 issue called it "the year that made us who we are," paraphrased many times over by other writers as "the year that defined America." BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.), which did a four-part radio documentary and set up special web pages to commemorate the year, said it was the "year that changed the world." I am going to describe, in broad strokes, what happened in 1968, but more importantly, I want to share the different insights that have come from social scientists trying to explain why so much happened in that year, and what lessons it offers us for the future. Much of what has been written about the year focuses on developments in the West, so I thought of writing as well about the Philippines in 1968, not quite as tumultuous as many parts of the world but significant in its own right. Baby boom I have a personal interest in 1968 because the main characters in the multinational drama that played out were mainly from my generation. This was the baby boom generation born in the years after World War II. "Peace time" meant a spike in the number of births and by 1968, the baby boomers had come of age (more or less, in their early 20s) or were coming of age (as in my case being, smile, younger adolescents). A Cold War was still simmering between capitalist and communist countries, fought out in many violent proxy wars, the most visible of which was Vietnam. But it was also a period of relative peace, and of growing prosperity. Throughout much of the developed world, and some developing countries, life was much better than it had been during the era before the War, so it seemed unthinkable that the young would have asked for anything more, other than supporting the status quo. But the baby boomers were restless because not all was well on the social front. In the United States, blacks were winning many battles for civil rights. Just a year earlier, the US Supreme Court finally declared as unconstitutional the bans in several states on interracial marriages. But people were restless, seeing the changes as too little, too slowly. In April 1968, the black civil rights leader Martin Luther King was assassinated, sparking nationwide protest actions not just among blacks but also among white Americans, especially the young baby boomers. The Vietnam War (called, incidentally, the American War in Vietnam) had claimed almost 16,000 American lives by the end of 1967, and because the young were the ones being drafted to serve in Vietnam, it was their generation that was strongest in opposing the war. Serious doubts about winning the war were being raised. The year 1968 had started with disturbing news from Vietnam: the Tet (Vietnamese New Year) offensive that included an attack on the US Embassy in Saigon. Vietnam was beginning to disturb American consciences. About the middle of 1968, the mass media began to talk about My Lai, a small hamlet in Vietnam where American soldiers had killed some 500 unarmed civilians. Beatings and rapes were reported as well. Support for black civil rights, an end to the Vietnam WarÂthese issues converged with other more youth-specific issues. It was also an election year in the United States, and young Americans began to question the agendas of both the Democrats and Republicans. The Democratic convention in August 1968 ended in violent encounters between police and young Americans. The turbulence wasn't limited to America's baby boomers. In England, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as in several Latin American countries and normally staid Japan, students practically closed down universities with their protest actions. There was, too, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, then a part of the Soviet bloc. Students came out in support of Alexander Dubcek, who wanted to build "socialism with a human face" and called for more civil rights. The Soviets put a quick end to these demands by invading Prague. All over the world, students protested American involvement in Vietnam, but the issues often took a local flavor as well. In Japan the protests were directed against US military bases and the building of Narita airport. In Spain, student protests were sparked off by a Mass held in Madrid for Hitler. In Brazil, students protested against the military dictatorship. Change It was a violent year. Besides Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, who was among the leading Democratic candidates for president, was assassinated weeks before the party convention. Student protests were often dispersed violently. In Mexico City, where government was worried about public image because they were hosting that year's Olympics, soldiers and civilians clashed during a rally on Oct. 2. To this day, no one knows the number of fatalities except that there were "many." I have not come across any historian who dismisses 1968's events as senseless examples of youthful impulsiveness. The young did shake up their own generation, as well as older people, about politics and culture, about the status quo and about change. The civil rights movement in the United States inspired other groups, notably the "women's libbers," with their strategies. But the civil rights movement itself began to change. "Black power" emerged, epitomized by the boxer Cassius Clay converting to Islam and renaming himself Muhammad Ali. Blacks questioned old approaches of integration and assimilation and the idea of the United States as a "melting pot." Ethnic pride became a new goal for younger blacks, and eventually influenced Hispanics, Asians, and even "white" ethnic groups (e.g., the Irish, Poles) who could see themselves as hyphenated Americans with their own culture, and rights. The year produced mixed results. Richard Nixon won the US presidential elections, showing the power of a silent, still conservative majority. That year, too, 14,589 US servicemen died in Vietnam, the highest number during the entire Vietnam War. The war would drag on another seven years. Outside of the United States, students were raising questions about authoritarian rule, questions that were to become even more pressing in the 1970s as more countries, including the Philippines, came under dictatorships. American historian Bruce Schulman aptly describes 1968 as the "first year of the 1970s." There was more to all this than a baby-boom generation, and that is what I will tackle next Wednesday, together with a look at the Philippines in 1968, before we return to 2008. -- Email: m...@inquirer.com.ph . --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to sixties-l@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sixties-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
