Overview

This simulation, a television talk show set in the present, provides students with the opportunity to understand and discuss the impact that the 1960s has had on American politics and society. Students will comment on the tumultuous decade from the perspective of a moderator or historian or of someone who participated, usually as an activist, in the decade's events. To prepare for the debate, students will research their characters and submit a pre-simulation writing assignment to you. During the simulation itself, your students will discuss the decade and its influences—good, bad, or mixed. In the post-simulation writing assignment, students will explain how the debate either changed or reinforced the thoughts they previously held about the 1960s and its impact on future generations, including their own.

Historical Background

Historians disagree on the impact that the social and cultural changes of the 1960s have had on American politics and society. Now holding the reins of power in many quarters of government and society are men and women who came of age during the 1960s, and that makes the cultural revolutions of the 1960s particularly relevant for discussion in today's classrooms. For more background on the historiography of the 1960s, you might want to consult the two point-counterpoint essays I wrote for Alan Brinkley's e-seminar 8, The 1960s: Cultural Revolutions.

Many historians and political scientists hold that during the 1960s great progress was made in the effort to alleviate poverty and to ensure that the citizenship rights of all would be guaranteed. They cite government commitment to the Great Society, which encompassed the War on Poverty, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These programs and laws demonstrated a remarkable degree of government intervention for the purpose of fostering equality of opportunity and social and economic justice. Many of those who celebrate or defend the Great Society also view favorably the 1960s youth culture, which contrasted sharply with the comparatively reserved manners and mores of youth in the 1950s. Arguing in favor of the 1960s, these advocates attribute the expansion of our democracy since then to the culture, laws, and programs of that decade.

For others, however, the 1960s were a period of excess, resulting in more harm than good. In the view of critics of the cultural revolutions of the 1960s, what characterized the decade were, for example, rioting (in the decade's later years), permissive social mores (widespread drug use, sexual experimentation), a sense of entitlement fed by the expansion of government entitlement programs, and a general questioning of the nation's social and political institutions.

To some observers, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush represent the two sides of the present-day culture wars whose antecedents, or at least many of them, can be located in the 1960s. In this view, Clinton is made to stand for the celebration of permissiveness and Bush for the conservative reaction.

What should be the role of the United States in the world? What should be the role of government in solving social problems? What degree of freedom is considered permissible for individual, social, and cultural expression without offending societal norms? These are some of the many questions that were debated vigorously in the 1960s. They remain controversial today, and so this project is designed to give students the opportunity to begin to wrestle with some of them.

Pre-Simulation Phase

Step 1: Assigning Historical Characters

Since you know what the particular strengths and weaknesses of your students are, you should assign them the historical characters they will represent. Your students can begin research on their respective characters by reading the Web sites mentioned in the biographical entries below.

The Panelists: Individuals from the Left and Center-Left

• Stokely Carmichael (1941–88)
  For a comprehensive obituary of Carmichael, a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), search the archives at the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com.
• Cesar Chavez (1927–93)
  For a highly favorable biographical sketch of Chavez, who fought to protect Latinos against economic exploitation, see the United Farm Workers (a union founded by Chavez), http://www.ufw.org/cecstory.htm.
• Tom Hayden (b. 1939)
  For a short biographical sketch of Hayden, the principal author of the Port Huron Statement, see Alan Brinkley's Cultural Revolutions, e-seminar 8 in the series America Since 1945.
• Abbie Hoffman (1936–89)
  Hoffman is perhaps best-known for his leadership role in the demonstration at the Democratic National Convention in 1968 and for the ensuing trial in which he was a defendant. For links to various resources about him, see the Abbie Hoffman Web Page.
• Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
  Steinem is the founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW). For a timeline and a list of both print and Internet sources about her life and career, see the National Women's History Project Biography Center.

The Panelists: Individuals from the Right and Center-Right

• William F. Buckley Jr. (b. 1925)
  Buckley, a conservative columnist, author, and former talk-show host, founded the opinion journal the National Review and remains a guiding force behind Young Americans for Freedom, an organization of American youth (many of them college students) advocating for conservative causes. For a biography of Buckley, see the Heritage Foundation, http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed080900.cfm.
• David Horowitz (b. 1939)
  Horowitz is a former radical activist who is now an outspoken conservative commentator. For a discussion of his life, career, and several of his books about the 1960s, see the biographical sketch at Salon.com, http://www.salon.com/columnists/dhorowitz.html.
• Richard M. Nixon (1913–94)
  Thirty-seventh president of the United States (1969–74), Nixon appealed to the "silent majority," as he called them—middle Americans who shared Nixon's cultural conservatism and resistance to what they saw as the cultural excesses of the 1960s. For biographical information, see the White House, the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff and the Richard Nixon Library.
• Phyllis Schlafly (b. 1924)
  Schafly, a conservative activist perhaps best-known for her campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment, founded the Eagle Forum. For a biographical sketch of Schlafly, see the Eagle Forum, http://www.eagleforum.org/misc/bio.html.
• George Wallace (1919–98)
  Wallace was governor of Alabama (1963–67, 1971–79, 1983–87). He ran for president in 1968 on a third-party ticket and emerged as a leading spokesman for "law and order" during the late 1960s and early 1970s. For information about Wallace, see PBS's The American Experience, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wallace/.

Commentators and Moderators

As moderators, students can impersonate Ted Koppel, Bill O'Reilly, Chris Matthews, James Carville, or other hosts. Or they can develop their own identities, provided that the political right and left are equally represented. In addition, teachers can add the role of two historians who have written books on the 1960s, one from the perspective of the New Left and one from that of the New Right. For a discussion of the interpretations of some of these historians, see Michael Flamm's point-counterpoint for Brinkley e-seminar 7, The U.S. Entry into Vietnam.

Journalists and Historians

The number of journalists and historians assigned for students to play will vary according to class size. Teachers can have students double up or add other publications as needed.

• National Review (conservative)
• The Wall Street Journal (right, pro-business)
• The New York Times (center)
• The Washington Post (center)
• Mother Jones (progressive, left)
• The American Historical Review (academic)
• The Journal of American History (academic)

Step 2: Writing the First Assignment

From the perspective of the character assigned to him or her, each student will write a two-page paper on the legacy of the 1960s. The papers of the panelists, representing individuals from the 1960s, will be written as memoirs and offer the perspectives of the historical characters the panelists represent. In the memoirs, the writers should examine how their characters (dead or still living) would view the impact that the movements they participated in have on subsequent events. As for the commentators, moderators, journalists, and historians, each of their papers should be devoted to a single issue or movement and should provide the historical context for its course of development from the 1960s to the present. To help them narrow their focus sufficiently, you can ask them to select one issue or movement from a list of several. The list could include, but would by no means be limited to, the counterculture; student protests; the antiwar movement; anticommunism; civil rights for women, African Americans, Latinos, or Americans Indians; the rise of feminism and the opposition to it; civil liberties and the Supreme Court's decisions affecting them, such as abortion rights; and efforts to restore school prayer.

In addition to this paper, students will prepare a one-paragraph statement on what they believe the legacy of the 1960s to be. This will help them prepare for the television debate. The statement can be drawn from the ideas the students raised in their papers. Acting as journalists, the students, will create a list of five questions to ask the panel members. (Time will probably not permit them to ask all five questions, but the exercise of formulating them will lead your students to think about important issues of the decade.) Before the simulation begins, they can review the questions as a group and eliminate redundant questions.

Step 3: Preparation

In the days leading up to the simulation, students can prepare materials to help them get into the spirit of their roles and the upcoming television debate. They can wear costumes, buttons, and special makeup. Journalists can create press passes. A table placard for each panelist should be made. Microphones can be placed on the panel.

The Simulation Phase

During the day of the simulation, the classroom can be structured to resemble a television studio. There will be 10 to 12 speakers, divided evenly between left and right. The panelists can be seated in groups of 5 to 6, leftists on the left, rightists on the right. The two commentators can sit between the two sides. The journalists, historians, and audience members can be seated so that they face the panelists.

Step 4: Beginning the Debate

Each of the two moderators, designated in advance, can introduce the television program and provide a two-minute summary of their view of the legacy of the 1960s, one discussing the views of the left and the other discussing those of the right.

Step 5: Panelists Speak

Each panelist provides a one-minute statement, reflecting his or her viewpoint, on the events and legacy of the 1960s.

Step 6: Journalists Speak

Journalists ask questions of the panelists.

Discussion Questions

In addition to the questions developed by the journalists, the basic questions below can help stimulate discussion:

• What that is good came of the 1960s?
• Who benefited from the period and the aftermath of the events that marked it?
• What that is bad came of the 1960s?
• Who was harmed by the period and the aftermath of the events that marked it?
• What single event or individual best captures the spirit of the 1960s?
• What are the lessons of the 1960s?

Step 7: Moderators Speak

• Moderators will monitor the amount of time each person has to respond to a question. The idea is to move quickly through the questions and answers and to prevent anyone from making long speeches.
• To conclude the television discussion, either the moderators or the historians can summarize the issues that were raised during the simulation. (These roles should be assigned to students who are quick to assimilate information and speak extemporaneously.)

Post-Simulation Phase

Step 8: The Final Writing Assignment

• The students representing historical actors will write a one-page entry in the diary of their respective characters. Maintaining their characters' identity, in their entries they will reflect on their experiences at the conference and discuss what they learned from the debate. Did anything that transpired change their minds? Or was what they already believed only reinforced? They should explicitly refer to points raised by other panelists.
• The students representing journalists will write a news article on the conference, according to the perspective of their publication. If there is more than one student for each publication, one could be asked to write a news article and the other an op-ed piece. Again, they should explicitly refer to points raised by other panelists.
• The students representing historians (perhaps the authors of their textbooks) will write a summary of the debate, pointing out the major issues discussed. The historians will comment on whether or not their perspective on the 1960s changed as a result of their having heard the historical actors (the panelists). Would they rewrite the section on the 1960s in their respective textbooks?

Step 9: A Debriefing Exercise

If time permits, you can hold a class discussion to allow all students to summarize what they have written. Here the students who did not have an opportunity to speak at the television show can present their analyses of the effect that the 1960s had on American politics and society, and they can indicate whether the debate changed their minds in any way.

Concluding Remarks

The legacy of the 1960s is still an open question, as both the foreign and domestic issues that came to the fore in that decade remain unresolved. What America's role in the world should be, what the proper relationship of government to society is, what should be the limits to freedom of self-expression—these are questions that Americans wrestle with and that your students are bound to face increasingly as they mature. This project should help them begin to think about the issues underlying those questions and to formulate their answers to them.