African American Counterculture 1960s

In 1960, the United States was on the edge of a major social change, there were many changes for some groups of people that had been inhibited or subordinate such as Afro-Americans, Native Americans and women. These groups were mostly helped and supported by young people who were aware about politics and laws in the U.S. These helpers were often affiliated with "counter-cultural" lifestyles and radical politics, many descendants of the Second World War generation emerged as promoters of a new United States characterized by a cultural and ethnic. Civil rights movement, counterculture and music were some of the remarkable changes U.S. encountered during the 60’s; but on the other hand there were things that never changed at all. African-Americans …show more content…
Long hair and beard was another characteristic of that decade. Jeans and sports shirts replaced wide pants, jackets and ties. The consumption of illegal drugs increased. Rock and roll prevailed and gave rise to many musical variants. Heavy rock was a success and the singer Bob Dylan became very famous in those days. The youthful counterculture culminated in August 1969 at Woodstock, a three-day New York State music festival held in New York, attended by nearly half a million people. The festival became myth thanks to the cinema and many recordings and gave name to all that time, known like "the generation of Woodstock". Young people felt like that was their decade and that they had control over everything they wanted to do. The Hippie Movement was also part of the culture lived during the 60’s;“By the late 1960s, the hippies’ more androgynous look became trendy. Such trends bespoke the new popular ethos of the 1960s: freedom, rebellion, and individuality”. (The American Yawp Ch.27) These young people were tired of racial segregation and other laws and rules they had to follow in order to be legally living in the United States. Those were the main reasons for creating this movement and new culture where love, liberty and peace were the outstanding …show more content…
The most frequent use of drugs came after counterculture when adolescents and middle age people started consuming drugs even more openly than before. This led to more violence and anger between people. “If the more famous Woodstock music festival captured the idyll of the sixties youth culture, Altamont revealed its dark side. There, drugs and music and youth were associated not with peace and love but with anger, violence, and death.” (The American Yawp Ch.28) Violence didn’t really cease after the decade of the 60’s. In conclusion, the United States experienced a great amount of changes not only in social issues but also in culture and liberalism. People started to think differently and everyone wanted to experience and participate more in “the new culture” The nation had a more open minded society but at the same time people also revealed against each other or against the government and this brought violence to an endless