Also in the American political system there did not exist anyone to represent the minority blacks, as they did not have the power to vote until the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and even then there never was a black president voted into power as there is still a certain amount of non active racial discrimination in the American governmental system till the 1980’s.
Socially, Racism has always existed between the minority WASPs who hold the power in America and other racial groups, mainly the black American population who were originally brought to the USA as slaves. This discrimination on basis of skin colour was against the American constitution, and should have been illegal, but it was legalised with the inception of the ‘Jim Crow’ laws. These sets of corrupt racist laws had many preposterous clauses such as the ‘grandfather law’ and others, which basically denied black Americans of their inalienable civil rights.
This started the Civil Rights movement, but one case of racial discrimination was the trigger. This was the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 in which the black American majority bus users boycotted the bus service on command of Martin Luther King, later to be the leader in black civil rights. His movements gained many successes, such as the pre-mentioned 1965 Voting rights Act, which outlawed the discrimination of voting on basis of race, and most importantly the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gave black people the equal rights to do whatever they pleased, and gave them equal employment opportunities.
Other more radical black American movements also came into being, such as Black Power, with the Black Panthers being the main case. This movement charaded in the guise of militants, wearing a uniform and carrying unloaded guns, to show that they would use violence if needed, but they were indeed a charity organisation, providing shelters and soup kitchens for the poor. They were feared because of their leftist beliefs and were hunted down by the FBI.
Protest movements later became much more common in the 60s and 70s, following the lead of the Civil Rights movement. The Women’s Movement fought for equal rights based on sex and won their legal battle. The student movement generally rebelled against the norm, but they mainly protested against the Vietnam War as they felt there was no need for it. The Native Americans were the most disadvantaged minority, but their formation of AIM was a success in itself, and they still to this day fight to try and regained their lost balance of life.
Economically the USA has prospered, but not all parties in the USA have taken their share of prosperity. There is an increasing underclass, stuck in a vicious circle, with no education, therefore no employment, and no employment, therefore no money. This still mainly made up of black Americans living in the slums and ghettoes of modern day America. Also up to the 1970’s black Americans and women were discriminated against in the workplace, and their chances of getting jobs were minimal.
Many different cultures exist in the USA, mainly because of the largely immigrant population. This brings a lot of different cultures into the mainstream, creating such phenomenon as hippies. These people follow strange religions and practises, completely ignoring the age-old idea of civilisation and ‘pop’ culture. The government liked to think of things the ‘American way’, a father coming home from work to his wife who has baked him and his children an apple pie, but in most cases this almost ceased to exist, swamped by the counter-culture of drugs and outlandish clothes.
Overall I think that the USA was a greatly divided union in the decades from 1941-1980, and that this was destined to be in a new land full of immigrants from different societies, races and creeds.
