Rosa Parks – the Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement

Some of the major themes that happened in the 1960s are the civil rights movement and the differences in youth culture. Firstly, it is the civil rights that happened and was the most remembered one as it is significant for people of color and women. The anti-segregation movement was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at that time and most of his influence assist in making a way for the desegregation of schools and other institutions. On the other hand, for women, there were books that motivated them to fight for gender equality and to embrace a feminist perspective.

All these that happened have made the Civil Rights Act changed to bar discrimination based on gender. However, even though the Act was there, the militant black activists saw the struggle that they had to go through for their liberation movement. They were not only looking for civil rights reformation, but they also had to face the political, economic, and cultural consequences of past racial oppression. African American was being oppressed and segregated even on public transport at that time. But what made the turning point of a whole year-long boycott of public transportation in Alabama was successful after Rosa Parks chose not to move to the back of the bus, however, equality has yet to be recognized universally under the law in the United States. Even until now in this century, this racial bias and oppression are still here, and it has never decreased.

Next, it is the differences in the youth culture. In the 60s, there were plenty of babies that born after World War II had become teenagers or young adults and they grew up with different mindsets and mentality compared to the other generation. During this era, parents had a more traditional mindset, conservative and dignified. However, during this period, many of the young ones were questioning almost anything and everything- from gender roles in the family, social class, and up to education. Due to this break away from the traditional way, it has brought upon the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll, an appreciation of non-Western ideas like boundless and mystical meditation and there was more production on the liberal film. In this era and phase, liberal values seem to be in place more than traditional religions.

We are able to see the shift within the subculture comparing with the culture in this 21st century. Music would be a great example as we can see the theme in this century, most songs are full of vulgarity and most of the music videos are accompanied by female dancers. The songs in this era are more towards a pleasure-seeking lifestyle with drugs and alcohol whereas the ones back in the 60s are non-vulgar and they are more towards being happy, enjoying life and music, or about love. This has shown how traditional and conservative back in the 60s were and how there is a difference in the youth culture.

These two issues are still relevant till today because there is still racial bias going on and there are also both traditional and conservative parents or youth still around, trying to change the world into a better place, and those that have advanced towards modernization and does not follow the past traditions or conservativeness. Most people approach this problem of racial bias or advanced culture that is full of vulgarity by organizing a riot, boycott, movement, and many more to get the attention of the public to realize that this issue is serious and should be deal with. The law has to be set up in order to have equality between everyone regardless of gender, sexuality, race and culture. 

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