C-SPAN: BookTV Afterwords- Darryl Scott Interviewing James Patterson: 'The Eve of Destruction'

Source:C-SPAN- Author James Patterson, on CSPAN's BookTV. 

"The historian explores a year that he says began with a sense of optimism but that ended with a bitterly divided country and a conservative resurgence that would define later decades.  In 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, sent additional U.S. troops into Vietnam and presided over the race riots in major cities.  The Bancroft Prize winning historian discusses the pivotal year with former Howard University History Chair and author of "Contempt & Pity," Daryl Michael Scott."

From C-SPAN

Very interesting program about race relations in America in the 1960s. I agree with James Patterson that the 1960s wasn't really like one decade, but probably more like two, two-year decades, culturally, politically, how people presented themselves, talked, related to each other. 

1962 doesn't look much different from lets say 1957. Late 1963 post-JFK Assassination is where you see the decade change with Baby Boomers growing up and seeing an America that they don't like that much and don't seem to fit into.

You have the civil rights movement that young adult Americans from the Silent Generation (people born in the 1920s and 1930s) who were a big part of and you have Baby Boomers who were in college and coming of age in the 1960s, becoming part of the civil rights movement. 

The Vietnam War starts becoming controversial as far as America's role in it in 1965. If you look at the movies and music language starts becoming stronger and harder. No more what the devil or darn to express anger and amazement, but instead what the hell and damn, started becoming mainstream words and expressions in American culture. Even though today they would just be considered moderate swearing.

African-Americans, women, gays, started to feel the freedom to be themselves in America and expect that their constitutional rights would be enforced as well as everyone else in the country. 

The mid and late 1960s is where you really start to see free expression and individualism becoming a big part of American culture, as well as our diversity the two things that really make America exceptional. 

So yeah, 1965-69 looks much different from 1960-64, but the 1963-64 looks much different than 1960-62. So you could definitely make a good argument that the 1960s was actually three decades in one, instead of one ten-year decade.