Transcript Social Concerns in the 1980s

SOCIAL CONCERNS IN
THE 1980S
MR. WHITE’S US HISTORY 2
MAIN IDEA AND OBJECTIVES
• Main Idea: Beneath the surge of prosperity that
marked the conservative era of the 1980s lay serious
social problems.
• After this section, we should be able to:
– Identify national concerns about education, drug use,
health issues, and urban problems
– Summarize political, economic, and social gains achieved
by women
– Describe how conservative policies affected minority
groups
PART I: HEALTH, EDUCATION,
AND CITIES IN CRISIS
IN THE 1980S, THE NATION FACED MANY DIFFERENT
SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
HEALTH CONCERNS – HIV/AIDS
• One of the new health issues that Americans dealt with
in the 1980s was the growth of HIV-AIDS (Human
Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immunodeficiency
Symdrome)
• AIDS is a virus that destroys the immune system, and
allows other sicknesses to attack the body of the
infected person, or allows rare forms of cancer to
develop
• Most of the early victims of the disease were homosexual
men or intravenous drug users who shared needles
• However, many people contracted the disease through
infected blood transfusions, or as children born to
mothers with HIV-AIDs
• As AIDS and news about it spread, there was growing
concern over its spread, prevention, and care
THE SUPREME COURT AND ABORTION
• In 1973, the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade had
established that first tri-mester abortions were
protected by a woman’s right to privacy
• Opponents of legalized abortion organized under
the term pro-life
• Most believed that human life begins at conception, and
therefore abortions were taking a life
• People who supported legalized abortion
described themselves as pro-choice
• Reproductive choices were personal health-care matters,
many women had died from “back-alley” abortions
• Abortion restrictions vary from state to state today
THE WAR ON DRUGS
• The late 60’s and early 70’s had seen a rise in drug use in
the United States, and many people became more
concerned with the country’s drug problem
• Some people argued that many drugs should be
legalized, so that the organized crime that made money
off them could no longer do so
• Some called for more treatment facilities and education
to treat addiction
• The Reagan administration responded with a “war on
drugs”
• Supported prosecuting users as well as dealers
• First Lady Nancy Reagan toured the country with the slogan,
“Just Say No!”
A NATION AT RISK
• A Nation at Risk was an education report that was
published in 1983
• It said that American students lagged behind those
in other industrialized nations, especially in math
and science
• The report also pointed out many education failures
for adult Americans – some couldn’t fill out job
applications, or follow instruction manuals
AMERICAN EDUCATION
• The commission that had written the report
recommended more homework, longer school
days, and an extended school year
• It also supported higher pay and merit raises for
teachers
• Also supported more emphasis on basic subjects
such as English, math, social studies, and computer
science
• President Bush argued that choice was the
salvation of American schools, and supported the
use of public funds for children to attend schools of
their choice
URBAN PROBLEMS
• The problems with education were connected with
new problems in the cities
• During the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, many people had
moved from the cities to the suburbs
• Many of these people were whites who feared the
immigration of minorities into the cities
• Some were attracted by the suburban style of living, and
the interstate highways allowed them to live further from
their jobs
• Some cities were already decaying, and this sped the
process
URBAN DECLINE
• As people left the cities, some bad things
happened:
• Tax dollars decreased
• Infrastructure (roads, buildings, utilities, schools) began to
decay
• Businesses and industries began to leave the cities as
infrastructure crumbled
• Social problems increased – poor education, rise in crime
rates, poverty and homelessness
RACIAL ISSUES
• South-central Los Angeles was an example of this
urban decay
• In 1992, four white police officers had been videotaped beating a black American named Rodney
King, who had been fleeing the police
• The four officers were found not guilty on charges of
police brutality by an all-white jury
• Shortly after the verdict, riots resulted in Los Angeles,
with 53 people dead
PART II: WOMEN WORK FOR
EQUAL RIGHTS
I N THE 1980S, WOMEN CONTINUED TO WORK FOR EQUAL
RIGHTS.
GROWING REPRESENTATION FOR
WOMEN
• As we know, the Equal Rights Amendment was
never ratified to the United States Constitution
• This amendment would have helped guarantee
women certain rights such as equal pay in equal
jobs, voting rights, etc.
• After the ERA failed to be ratified, women began to
turn their attention to getting women into political
offices to represent their interests
• In November of 1992, the number of women in the
House of Representatives went from 23 to 47, and
the number of women Senators went from two to six
GROWING ECONOMIC EQUALITY
• Women continued to work for economic equality
• Women still only earned about 75 cents for every
dollar a man earned in a comparable job
• Female college graduates earned only slightly more than
male high school graduates
• The poverty rate for women was higher than that of
men, as well
• Fewer women were winning alimony payments in
divorces, and some courts were not enforcing child
support payments
PAY EQUITY
• Women’s organizations and unions began
proposing pay equity
• Government jobs would be classified based on
amount of education, physical strength needed,
and number of people supervised
• Men and women would then be paid on this pay scale
• By 1989, 20 states had adopted this system
• In the workplace, woman began to win
government and corporate benefit packages
• Maternity leave, flexible hours and workweeks, job sharing,
and work-at-home arrangements
PART III: THE FIGHT FOR RIGHTS
CONTINUES
DIFFERENT GROUPS OF PEOPLE CONTINUED TO STRUGGLE
FOR EQUAL RIGHTS.
INCREASING BLACK AMERICAN
REPRESENTATION
• In the 1980s, black Americans made many gains
• Black American mayors led many American cities – L.A.,
Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Philadelphia,
and D.C.
• Also served as sheriffs, school board members, state legislators,
members of Congress
• 1990 – L. Douglas Wilder is the first black governor, Virginia
• Jesse Jackson ran for the Democratic nomination for president
in 1984 and 1988
MIXED GAINS
• In the economic and career sector, black
Americans were making gains, as well:
• Many middle-class black Americans held professional and
managerial positions
• However, for poor black Americans, things were still
not so good
• The Supreme Court made several case decisions that
impacted civil rights, for instance, limiting the scope of
affirmative action
LATINOS AND AMERICA
• In the 1980s, Latinos became the fastest-growing
minority in the U.S.
• As the Latino population grew, many supported bilingual
education – many did not want to lose their heritage or
language
• Bilingual Education Act, 1968 – enabled Spanishspeakers to attend Spanish-speaking schools
• 1975 Amendment to the Voting Rights Act – enabled
Spanish-speaking people to vote in Spanish
• Many critics believed that these laws would slow the rate
at which Spanish-speakers entered mainstream
American culture – feared a split between English and
Spanish in America
NATIVE AMERICANS AND AMERICA
• Native Americans also worked to increase respect
for their heritage and culture
• Many organized schools to teach young Native Americans
about their past
• Also began to fight for the return of ancestral lands that had
been taken
• The Reagan administration slashed aid to Native
Americans for health, education, and other services
• Many Native American groups opened casinos on
their lands as a way to raise money
• These did bring in some income, but left many
problems in Native American societies
ASIAN AMERICANS AND AMERICA
• The number of Asians immigrating to the United
States also began to grow
• Some people cited Asian Americans as an example
of a successful minority group in the United States
• Low crime rates, low school dropout rates, and low divorce
rates
• Still, Asian Americans faced many difficulties:
• Higher poverty rate than national figures
GAY RIGHTS
• During the 1970s and 1980s, gay men and lesbians
began to fight openly for civil rights
• AIDS had been a setback for the gay community,
as it appeared to be a “gay man’s” disease, but
increased knowledge of the disease dispelled this
myth
• The conservative movement largely condemned
gay activism as an attack on traditional values
• However, gay Americans were able to get many
states to pass anti-discrimination laws
MAIN IDEA AND OBJECTIVES
• Main Idea: Beneath the surge of prosperity that
marked the conservative era of the 1980s lay serious
social problems.
• After this section, we should be able to:
– Identify national concerns about education, drug use,
health issues, and urban problems
– Summarize political, economic, and social gains achieved
by women
– Describe how conservative policies affected minority
groups
WRAP-UP
• So…
• One of the concerns about American education was…
• Many people were concerned about drug issues in
America because…
• One of the health issues that concerned many Americans
was…
• One of the problems that cities were having was…
• One of the gains that women made in the 1980s was…
• One of the gains that minority groups made in the 1980s
was…