Читать книгу Anglo-American Cultural Studies - Jody Skinner - Страница 64

Brown v.Boar d of EducationIt’s a shame that important events don’t always fall nicely into decades. One important social trend was – as so often in American history – started by yet another Supreme CourtSupreme Court decision. Remember the last decision mentioned at the end of the 19^th century, separate but equalseparate but equal? It had become more and more obvious that the “equal” part of the doctrine was only on paper. A father from TopekaTopeka, KansasKansas, named Oliver Brown objected to his daughter having to walk a long distance to reach a school for blacks when a school for whites was much closer. He contributed to one of the most famous Supreme Court decisions, one that ended the official segregation in schools ( 7).

JFKKennedy, John F. (JFK) and MLKEveryone has of course heard of Martin LutherLuther, Martin KingKing, Martin Luther and his rhetorically brilliant “I Have a Dream” speech given during the famous March on Washington in 1963. Two and a half years before MLK’s stirring speech on the steps of the LincolnLincoln, Abraham MemorialLincoln Memorial, another young man, who would also become known by three initials, JFKKennedy, John F. (JFK), had spoken on the steps of the Capitol immediately after taking the oath of office to become the youngest presidentpresident of the US: “Finally, whether you are citizens of AmericaAmerica or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.”

from the Cuban Crisis to WoodstockWoodstockThe very first test of strength and sacrifice happened less than two years after JFKKennedy, John F. (JFK)’s inaugural address. As you probably know, the Cold WarCold War was the roughly forty years of tension between the Soviet Union and its allies around the world and the United States and Western Europe, a cold war that ended with the fall of the [52]BerlinBerlin Wall in 1989. Perhaps the most dangerous near confrontation didn’t take place in Europe or in Asia but on and around CubaCuba, barely 100 kilometers from the tip of FloridaFlorida ( 6). The threat of nuclear warnuclear war between the US and the USSR marked the beginning of the 60s; the slogan “make love not warmake love not war” had become the slogan heard by the end of the decade. In August 1969 hundreds of thousands of young people came to a farm about fifty kilometers from the small town of WoodstockWoodstock, New YorkNew York, to enjoy the music of some of the greatest musicians of the 1960s; the celebration became world famous and a symbol of the 60s ( 11).

Perhaps you’re surprised about my choice of influential events and expected some events taken from the most devastating experience in modern American history. The Vietnam WarVietnam War deserves its own question.