History of the counterculture
History of the countercultureThe 1950's in America were considered a true awakening of youth culture. If this is true then the 1960's was a decade of discovery. It was a decade marred by social unrest, civil rights injustice, and violence abroad. These were some of the factors that lead to a revolution that attempted to bifurcate the fabric of American society. Teenagers were breaking away from the ideals that their parents held, and were attempting to create their own society. If they were to accomplish this they would turn the current system upside down. In 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said his most famous words: "I have a dream." (Constable, 144) He was not the only one who felt this way. For many, the 1960s was a decade in which their dreams about America might be fulfilled. For Martin Luther King Jr., this was a dream of a truly equal America; for John F. Kennedy, it was a dream of a young vigorous nation that would put a man on the moon; and for the hippie movement, it was one of love, peace, and freedom. (Constable, 34) The 1960s was a tumultuous decade of social and political upheaval. We are still confronting many social issues that were addressed in the 1960s today. In spite of the turmoil, there were some positive results, such as the civil rights revolution. However, many outcomes were negative: student antiwar protest movements, political assassinations, and ghetto riots excited American people and resulted in a lack of respect for authority and the law. However, with all the talk and the tension that this movement created it turned out to be an empty rebellion. While it did voice important concerns about civil rights, the Vietnam War, and the injustices of society. (Constable, 27-28)
It is important to first examine the change in music that was the fuel of the counterculture revolution. Rock n� Roll was born in the 1950's. It was this birth that allowed the counterculture to be born. Without the innovation of the Rock n' Roll of the 1950's the rock of the 1960's would have never evolved. It became an outlet for the teenagers of the 1960's to express themselves and voice their concerns about society.
Rock n' Roll emerged from rhythm and blues, a music similar to jazz played by blacks. This kind of music started to attract white teenagers. Disc jockey Alan Freed was the one who introduced this music and later gave it the name of Rock n� Roll. (Groliers, 1) Record companies distributed records played by whites but composed by blacks. Whites were frustrated because there weren�t any white artists and they didn�t want the blacks to be the stars until Bill Haley appeared with his "Rock Around the Clock". This typifies the racial attitudes of the decade. It showed the segregated view of society that existed among the races....
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