Conservative Backlash - Essay Example

Conservative Backlash The past 50 years have been one of the most prolonged and contentious periods of political polarization in the history of the United States. Liberal social policies have come under constant attack from the conservative right, as organizations representing the rights of special interest identities have increasingly become the target of the extreme right. The conservative blanket has been spread wide in an effort to target anti-war, anti-poverty, criminal justice, welfare reform, feminism, and gay politics as representations of a socialist state that is in direct opposition to the values and traditions of the established white Christian power structure. The era of the Southern Reagan Democrat was ushered in by racist attitudes that perpetuated the stereotypes about race, poverty, and the deterioration of the inner city. The conservative movement of the last half of the 20th century was based on reactionary politics against the social movements that sought a redistribution of legitimate political power. To a large extent the polarization of the political movements have been an ongoing struggle based on the politics of fear brought on by the Cold War in the 1940s and 1950s. All social movements, whether pro-labor or public health care, were labeled as communist inspired socialist programs. The Vietnam War became a significant factor in further defining the conservative movement. According to Meagher (2009), "their most notorious role in the development of the conservative coalition was to devise a post-Vietnam foreign policy in response to the perceived failures of Democrats to confront communism" (p.261). In this way, the conservative movement was able to turn the battle against liberal social programs into a front for the Cold War. The Vietnam War was also instrumental in forming a common cause base, which several other social groups utilized to form coalitions in an effort to solidify voting blocs. Identity politics, the Black Panthers, Civil Rights, feminism, and the environmental movement all fell under the anti-war umbrella. The left viewed Vietnam as a symptom of worldwide oppression. Though this was a worldwide war being waged by the left against imperialism in all its forms, political and economic, the Left was able to be translated it into the broader issues of community and neighborhood problems of housing, jobs, and education (Nakanishi and Lai, 2003, p.172). Social progress was viewed as redistribution of wealth and progressive programs were labeled as socialism. The conservative movement continued to dredge up racist attitudes based on the stereotypes of the welfare mom and worse. For example, during the last 50 years wealthy white property owners have been able to express their property rights in the court system, while "three to four million mostly poor and minority Americans have been displaced [...] as a result of federal and state court decisions allowing government to condemn property for virtually any reason" (Somin, 2009, p.429). Though the issue was the war, at home the battlefield was poverty, property rights, and social justice. In conclusion, The Christian Right was able to capture the conservative movement and further polarize the political landscape of America. By the late 1990s and into the next election cycle, the neo-conservatives were dominated by the white right wing and the politics of fear. Voters were afraid to abandon the status quo, and politicians were afraid to speak out against the extremism for fear of being targeted by the well-organized movement and money of the neoconservative right. Movements of the 1960s: Similarities and Differences No decade in modern history has spawned more political and social movements than the 1960s. Protestors organized to highlight their dissatisfaction with issues that ranged from poverty, free speech, and the fair treatment of workers. Mobilized by the anti-war movement, these protests gained national legitimacy as the protestors took to the streets in various actions that ranged from peaceful sit-ins to the bombing of public buildings. To a large extent, these movements defined the 1960s as the decade of protest, and grass roots organizing became a real political tool. While some of these movements continued to gain momentum for the next several years, others died out with the passing of the decade. Some have resulted in significant changes in out social and cultural attitudes, while others became a mere footnote in history. In all, the 1960s was a decade of protest, and a decade of political activity unrivaled in modern history. One of the most remarkable characteristics of the 1960s was the sheer proliferation of political movements, collectively known as the New Left. The 1950s had left young radical activists alienated from society on a wide variety of political issues. Movements, centered on college campuses, were organized such as the Student Peace Union, Free Speech Movement, the Student League for Industrial Democracy, and the Freedom Summer voter registration drive in the South (Isserman and Kazin, 2000, p.165-168). While their specific issues were diverse, their motivation and goals had the similarity of fighting the alienation of an impersonal society, and opposing an imperialistic government serving the interests of multi-national business. The diversity of causes that the political movements of the 1960s hoped to effect were accompanied by a diversity of tactics. While the Freedom Summer had the practical goal of registering voters to have a direct effect on the election, others were simply trying to gain attention to their cause. This was generally accomplished by the peaceful sit-in, but a lack of progress at times turned the movements towards violence. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began as a pacifist anti-war movement, but by 1967 its leadership was calling for "the disruption, dislocation and destruction of the militarys access to the manpower, intelligence, or resources of our universities" (Isserman and Kazin, 2000, p.172). This paved the way for the SDS, and other similar movements, to abandon their peaceful approach as exemplified by Gandhi and Martin Luther King. These organizations, known as the New Left, often grew up out of, and were fuelled, by a generation known as the counter-culture. The counter-culture was known for its "casual drug use, sexual experimentation, and rock music" (Isserman and Kazin, 2000, p.171). This was a dramatic departure from the left wing movements of three decades earlier that were characterized by Marxist theory and intellectual reasoning (Isserman and Kazin, 2000, p.171). In essence, by the end of the 1960s, the counterculture was more interested in lifestyle, and less focused on peaceful political change. In conclusion, the movements of the 1960s were fuelled by a generation of alienated intellectuals that challenged the formidable culture of the status quo. By the end of the decade, violence and impatience had become the most notable feature of the New Left. Some of these movements, such as Gay Rights, continue to be an effective political force, while others have diminished into historical obscurity. References Isserman, M., & Kazin, M. (2000). America divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. New York: Oxford University Press. Meagher, R. J. (2009). Backlash: Race, sexuality, and American conservatism. Polity, 41(2), 256-266. Nakanishi, D. T., & Lai, J. S. (2003). Asian American politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Somin, I. (2009). Lessons from the rise of legal conservatism. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 32(1), 415-430. Read More