As more tension manifests itself through protests and violence following a series of instances of police brutality throughout America, many parallels can be drawn between the current turmoil and the tension of 1968. Both eras contain a multitude of movements surrounding perceived injustices.
Leading up to ’68 in America, the tension boiled around movements for civil rights, anti-capitalism, and campus free speech – just to name a few. Today much of the tension stems from intense political polarization and immense frustration as the US confronts the Covid-19 pandemic. While the causes of the tension aren’t exactly the same – as one would (hope to) expect more than 50 years later – the most apparent similarity is that major events coupled with the mounting tension to set off the conflict and extreme radicalism of both eras.
As Geoff Brown said, in Britain in ’68 he considered himself a radical socialist. He stated that it was the Vietnam War that truly radicalized him and launched him into activism. This seemed to be the case for many ’68ers in America. Today it was the death of George Floyd that coupled with the built-up tension in order set off conflict. Cities have been damaged, widespread looting has occurred and two people were killed during a protest in Kenosha on Tuesday night following another case of police brutality.
People change, movements change and times change. However, the trajectories of these two eras seem to be quite similar. While activism now primarily takes place on social media as opposed to ’68 when people were declaring their views via posters and the radio, the attitudes of current activists appear to be familiar. It’s too early to tell how our current situation will play out, but it might not be a terrible idea to turn to the aftermath of ’68 for an idea.
The 2020 election is still not far enough down the road to see the legitimate effects of the current turmoil; however, a swing toward the opposite extreme is a corollary of radical eras. The longer these movements play out, the more time it gives people to question the motives of the radicals and it provides more of an opportunity for people with ulterior motives to stain the cause. If I had to give my opinion on how the protests and violence will affect the election, I think at this point they’ve gone on long enough that there is a large amount of people who simply want law and order which helps the conservatives. I don’t think the events are predetermined, but I think that there is a natural, broad progression to these moments of conflict. It’s not going to follow the exact same timeline but I believe there is a pattern of issues piling on top of each other and then a burst of conflict and then at some point a backlash of an attempt to achieve “normalcy.”
I enjoyed the parallels that you drew from what happened in ’68 to what is happening now concerning what you consider the ‘catalyst’ of both times to be and what the tensions are. You do mention that to look at how our current situation will play out, it may not be a terrible idea to turn to the aftermath of ’68. My question here is do you think the results of our protests and attempts for 2020 are predetermined? Will the events inevitably unfold in a similar trajectory as the events of ’68 did? Or do you believe that we can learn from ’68 and try to steer the movements in a direction that will offer us better results? During ’68, Enoch Powell gave his polarizing “Rivers of Blood” speech that had a lot of racist rhetoric and criticized immigration into the UK. Many protests happened as a result, yet many historians link the conservative’s victory of the general election in 1970 to the speech. What is your opinion on how the events of 2020 will affect the 2020 presidential connection considering that we may be on a similar trajectory as the movement of ’68?