DNC Protests of 68

On August 28th, 1963, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez took the stage at the March On Washington to

sing When The Ship Comes In, an act which symbolically tied the Student Protest and Civil Rights

Movements together. From the outside, the larger Movement of the Sixties seemed unified and

optimistic. The students were bright, their President young, and unlike the generation before them they

had begun to see themselves as a catalyst for political change. The opening of the Port Huron Statement

describes it best: We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in

universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit.

The roots of this movement are found in a combination of structural and cultural trends that

extend back into the the beginning of the century and probably farther. In the book The Movement of

The Sixties, Anderson argues that the rise of the megauniversity was the primary structural change

which would go on to foster the protest movement. The megauniversity was, after all, the battleground

on which the fight between the students and the university's poorly imposed conservative social norms

took place. The rejection of the middle-class, conservative, and suburban attitudes that had flourished

alongside the development of post-war anti-communism spread across college campuses like wildfire.

Crackdowns by college officials only inspired further protests for the right to freely voice opinions on

campuses. By the time these privileges were being won, students turned their attention to the civil

rights movement which was now growing in visibility and actively making attempts to win over the

left-liberal youth.

The moderate demands of the protest generation soon gave way to a ideological radicalism as

the latter half of the sixties began. The reasons for this are largely cultural. First, the Civil Rights

movement gave way to a more radical Black Power movement. This, in combination with the increase

of urban riots, and the increased focus on de-facto problems rather than de-jure ones, helped to stoke

white backlash in both conservative and liberal circles. For instance, in 1966, King decided to lend his
support to a Chicago march for fair housing. The reaction from the white community was hostile. In his

own words, I have never seen such hate, not in Mississippi or Alabama, as I see here in Chicago. The

race problem was no longer seen as a problem contained to a backwards south. In contrast to the Civil

Rights movement, which originally went to great lengths to contextualize its goals within the prevailing

anti-communist attitudes of the cold war, the Black Power explicitly rejected the more moderate and

conciliatory strains within the movement, eventually rejecting capitalism, nonviolence, and religion, as

well as nonviolently expelling whites from organizations such as the SNCC.

Radicalization within the protest movement followed a similar path. Relative to their ideas in

the late 60's, the Protest movement began as rather moderate and tempered rejection of the conservative

values of the 50's. But, as the Civil Rights movement fragmented, the Vietnam war escalated, and

disillusionment rose, the Protest Movement began to position itself in complete opposition to

everything America represented. America, of course, had long since positioned itself in opposition to

whatever Russia represented. Though, due resistance to the draft, the radicalization was accompanied

by the movement becoming more mainstream among the students and youth. By 1967, the main issue

of the white protest movement was no longer domestic civil rights, it was the war abroad and how that

war disproportionately effected the poor, the black, and the youthful.

As radicalism became more and more common for youths, the College Campus became a place

to protest much more than just campus politics. Columbia, for instance, was shut down by a long

protest that, in rhetoric, turned revolutionary. And at the peak of this radicalism, the 1968 election

season began. McCarthy and RFK both ran as representatives of the New Left, the ideology that many

of the student protesters had already left behind. Humphrey ran, basically, as an extension of the LBJ

administration. The eventual assassination of RFK was seen as the end of hope for a lot of the protest

movement, especially the first wave of now older students and young adults.

The DNC of 1968, held on August 28th, was nearly as wild inside the event as it was outside.

The Yippies managed to procure a pig named Pigasus who they quickly nominated to the presidency on
the platform of garbage. On the inside, the functioning effect of LBJ's administration came into full

light. Southern Delegates clashed with Black Delegates from the north and the strain over Vietnam

policy intensified. To the Americans watching, both the inside and outside of the convention were

representative of the problems that had come up in the 60's. The protest itself was split up into three

nights. On the first night, a thousand protesters at Lincoln Park made the mistake of staying out past

11pm curfew. After curfew passed, antagonism between the police and protesters began to escalate,

eventually leading the o the harsh crackdown on protesters and journalists alike. The second night, with

about the same number of protesters in both Lincoln and Grant Parks, police cracked down similarly.

The last day, nearly 10 thousand people participated in a protest at grant park, police would in turn,

crack down harder than they ever had before.

The generation that was spurred to activism by the words of John Kennedy and the example set

by King had now watched both their heroes die. The SNCC was fragmenting due to the growing

number of radicals and, within a year, The Weathermen would splinter off of the SDS forming a fully

fledged terrorist organization. The protesters who arrived at the 68 Democratic Convention were

seasoned, jaded, and radical in comparison to just five years earlier. Their candidate of choice (Robert

Kennedy) had, too, been taken from them. In the end, Humphrey's establishment stance won him the

seat over McCarthy. With any illusions that the change they sought could be enacted from above was

abandoned; the protesters sang "The whole wide world is watching" from outside the convention as the

police began to beat them on live television.

"Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society, 1962." Port Huron Statement of the

Students for a Democratic Society, 1962. June 15, 1962. Accessed November 29, 2015.

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/huron.html.

Anderson, Terry H. The Movement and the Sixties. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
 The Chicago Riot of 68

The 1968 Democratic National Convention was a major turning point in American political and

social history. And while these historic events took place in 1968, strong indicators of what was to

come can be traced back a year in advance; when movements started to oppose the reelection of

Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson. This was an effort put together by students, equal rights

activists, anti-war activists, hippies, and yippies. There was much dissention within the nation at the

time, and this became the outlet for many disgruntled American citizens. This was becoming ever more

apparent through the growing number of student movements in and around college campuses. After Dr.

Kings assassination, there was growing discontent, and a movement towards violence. With the war in

Vietnam turning after the Tet offensive, it seemed as if the current administration was losing its grip not

only on the war, but on the situation at home. There were already traces of activism spreading across

the States. Protests, marches, and civil disobedience littered the nation, leading to the issue of police

brutality to be brought to the forefront. This became a major source of unrest, and a major cause of the

Chicago riots. As protests grew in number and in size, police were left with the dilemma of how to

handle these precarious and delicate situations. Too little force and they would be ineffective. Too much

force and they would come under intense scrutiny and spark outrage, bringing out more people to the

next event. In many cases, officers chose the latter. There were cases of fire hoses, pepper spray, clubs,

rubber bullets and dogs being used to subdue, corral or disperse protesters. These egregious acts fanned

the flames of discontent with the federal government at the time, but what fueled the fire was the use of

the media. This became a major factor in the national opinion of the Vietnam War, bringing the battle

field to the home. This was also the case for police brutality. Media outlets aired footage of these

actions, spreading discontent from the streets of Oakland, as in October of 1967, to the TVs of people

in Chicago.
 While these were the main factors leading up to the Chicago riots, they were still prevalent in

the Chicago riots. Many of the talking points at the 1968 Democratic National Convention were

focused on how to handle and deal with the situation in Vietnam, as well as how to deal with its affects

back at home. Social reform was also at the forefront in Chicago, as black leaders began to organize

protests to be held during the DNC to bring the housing situation in Chicago to the peoples attention.

Police brutality was also a major issue days before and during the Chicago riots. Just days before the

start of the convention, the shooting death of a teenage Native American by police sparked outrage and

protests. The next few days were pockmarked with police and protestor violence, with thousands being

injured and arrested while protestor numbers continued to grow. The use of the media during this week

in particular can be seen in a very peculiar, yet insightful video clip that can be excerpted from Haskell

Wexlers film Medium Cool. This film revolves around many of the real and central issues at the time

leading up to and during the riots. It addresses the housing issue in Chicago, the hippie movement as

well as the use of media by the government. One scene in particular, shows live footage of a news crew

being escorted by police past the protestors. The film also gives first hand footage of events during the

riots, as police used real tear gas, as described by one of the production members as he warns the

director to stand clear. These images allow audiences to delve themselves into the period and see what

it was actually like during the DNC and Chicago riots.

The after effects of the riots were devastating to the area. There were hundreds arrested after

police and national guardsmen had their way. Thousands more were injured. There were millions of

dollars of damages done to the area. All of this contributed greatly to the deindustrialization of the area,

as businesses and people moved out, hoping to stay clear of the violence and turmoil. Federal funding

for the area also took a hit, as the federal government did not want to encourage these types of

destructive acts. The riots themselves had left two blocks worth of complete destruction in their wake.

Businesses, homes and anything in between were left to ash and rubble. This pushed away jobs and
families, forcing them to either relocate or to flee preemptively as unrest were still very much evident.

This caused the population and economy of the city to falter, forcing the city, those who run it as well

as its inhabitants to adapt.

While this may seem like a history lesson to many, this is still a very real and pertinent issue to

be learned from today. Within the last few years there have been new and growing student and social

reform movements that are taking the nation by storm. And to be even more nostalgic and ironic,

Chicago has become the forefront of these movements within the last few weeks. The issue of police

brutality, housing issues and social reform has led hundreds to the streets in protest. Police are faced

with the same issues of how to react as before, and as in 1968, there have been dozens arrested and

dozens more injured. Questionable tactics have caused the media to flock to the frenzy that has become

Chicago. Coverage of these events has led to outrage nationwide, just as it did almost fifty years ago.

There has also almost as much controversy surrounding these events as there was in 1968. While these

protests seem to be fighting for the greater good and for justice and reform, there have also been many

negative aspects surrounding it and the offshoot protests. Businesses have been looted, vandalized and

destroyed while calls for justice, reform and action ring across the city. These acts seem to mirror

almost identically those taken by protestors in 1968, while simultaneously mirroring many of the same

issues that they were fighting against and bringing attention to. So with this in mind, it begs the

question of how far have we really come as a nation since the tumultuous and strenuous times evident

in Chicago of 1968?

West Madison Street, 1968, West Madison Street, 1968. Accessed December 1, 2015,

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/6354.html.

Chicago 68, Chicago 1968 Democratic National Convention: Chronology, Accessed December 1,

2015, http://chicago68.com/c68chron.html.
 Bibliography

Primary

"1968 Chicago Police vs Protesters." YouTube. Accessed December 1, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYp1JgwotXU.

"Bob Dylan and Joan Baez 1963 March on Washington." YouTube. Accessed December 1, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLwHnNybADo.

"Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society, 1962." Coursesa. June 15, 1962.

Accessed December 1, 2015. http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/huron.html.

Secondary

Anderson, Terry H. The Movement and the Sixties. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

"Chicago '68." Chicago 1968 Democratic National Convention: Chronology. Accessed December 1,

2015. http://chicago68.com/c68chron.html.

McMillian, John Campbell. The New Left Revisited. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2003.

"West Madison Street, 1968." West Madison Street, 1968. Accessed December 1, 2015.

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/6354.html.