Whether one lived through the 1960s or did not, it is an understood fact that the decade was tumultuous, violent, and often confusing. Full of energetic political figures like Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and startling events such as the Vietnam War, it was a time for individuals young and old to decide how they felt about their lives, their country, and their future. Many fought for civil rights and peace, while others fought to keep America as it was. King’s, “I Have a Dream” speech and the Vietnam War created irreversible change, while the assassination of Robert Kennedy marked the end of a long battle fought throughout the whole of the 1960’s. The documentary remarks about many events throughout the 60’s, but these three things are perhaps the most noteworthy.
Martin Luther King was a prominent figure in, “The Sixties – The Years That Shaped a Generation.” Most poignantly, his crusade for civil rights, his speech on the step at the nation’s capital, and his murder were the highlights of the video. Avoiding violence for his entire life amidst a world that was determined to beat him down, his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered during 1963, is singlehandedly credited for sparking the Civil Rights Movement . Many of those close to King stated these public assemblies were to gain the attention of the government, but were also about King purging his fear of death; he stated numerous times he did not believe he would live to see forty years of age. As he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, stating the dream he had for the United States of America, the government began to listen. The House and Senate took notice, and it appears that if he had not been able to gather such a peaceful assembly, which contrasted deeply with the physically outbursts often seen at that time by law enforcement, the government may not have taken such keen notice of King’s words and message . At a time of war, King was preaching peace, and it was a message that according to, “Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict,” everybody was able to relate to more and more with each passing day, regardless of their race or background .
The Vietnam War was also a focal point of the documentary. The peace-loving, experimental hippies were upsetting to law-enforcement and what was labeled as the “establishment .” The 1960s ushered in a revolution full of music and peace, breaking away from traditional thoughts and customs; these customs were blamed for leading the United States, its military, and its young men to the Vietnam War. People were dying, seemingly for no explainable reason. The war itself spurned two factions within the United States: those for the war, and those against it. Those against the war vowed to try the untraditional, realizing that traditional reasoning and living had not allowed citizens to live a sufficiently satisfying life . Those for the war, often labeled “square” and “afraid” by the anti-war movement, typically expressed their disinterest in the hippie movement through violence, perhaps showing the inefficacy of the Vietnam War without realizing it. Conservatives, outraged by the growing counterculture, used this violence in an attempt to control the hippie movement, but it only served to fuel the hatred for the Vietnam War and everything it was supposedly going to accomplish.
Former Senator Robert Kennedy was also included in the documentary, as an essential piece of the decade’s history. The documentary outlines Kennedy’s campaign, and its anti-establishment approach, as he built a relationship with Cesar Chavez and the migrant worker unions, and took on causes that were untraditional for presidential candidates. He became more relatable to the average youth, especially the youth partaking in untraditional thinking, as the documentary went on. Kennedy won a primary on June 5th, 1968, against McCarthy with his rebel yell for change within the system, which rang louder and truer with the reformers of the 1960’s. Kennedy even spoke about peace in Vietnam. As he left the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California after winning, he was assassinated. His death fell heavily upon the nation, as he was the second Kennedy to be assassinated in the public eye. The first was his brother, former president John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated in 1963. Robert Kennedy’s assassination was arguably one of the final moments throughout the decade that began to silence the 1960’s and all it stood for.
In sum, though there were many notable moments, figures, and events throughout the 1960’s, Martin Luther King’s speech, the Vietnam War, and Robert Kennedy’s assassination stand above the rest. King’s, “I Have A Dream,” speech captured the attention of President Kennedy during 1963, spearheading the civil rights movement, and setting the 1960’s on a course that would change history not only for African Americans, but for everybody. The Vietnam War, and the injustices felt by citizens caused a division between liberals and conservatives that sparked unparalleled violence between law enforcement and the military, and many students across the nation. Robert Kennedy’s assassination was one of several punctuation marks at the end of the decade that began to silence the rebel yell of those who were trying to change the country for the better. “The Sixties – The Years That Shaped a Generation,” showed how one decade was able to divide a country while simultaneously bringing them together.
Works Cited
The Sixties - The Years That Shaped a Generation. Dir. David Davis. 2005. Documentary.
van Evera, Stephen. Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013. Print.
