McGraw-Hill OnlineMcGraw-Hill Higher EducationLearning Center
Student View | Instructor View | Information Center | Home
Web Links
Career Opportunities
Using the Internet
Study Skills Primer
Chapter Objectives
Chapter Overview
Chapter Outline
Multiple Choice Quiz
Professional Vocabulary
Timelines
Internet Exercises
Website Suggestions
Crossword Puzzle
Feedback
Help Center


School and Society Book Cover
School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 4/e
Stephen E. Tozer, The University of Illinois, Chicago
Paul C. Violas
Guy Senese, Northern Arizona University

Diversity and Equity Today: Defining the Challenge

Timelines

In Part 2 of this text, significant events of the last 40 years of U.S. social and educational history, from the 1970s through 2000, are listed in each chapter. As in Part 1, these events are illustrative; you might have chosen different ones if you were constructing such a timeline. Most of these events are not mentioned in the chapter and might lead you to further inquiry. For the purposes of studying Chapter 9, you might ask of each decade: Which five events from this decade (the 1970s, the 1980s, and so on) have the most direct significance for the specific issues of literacy and liberty as discussed in this chapter?

Because the 1960s were in some ways a watershed decade for the latter half of the 20th century, we have given extra attention to that decade in this timeline.

1960's
1960Six years after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision against school segregation, the modern “sit‑in” movement begins when four black students from North Carolina A&T College sit at a “whites‑only” Woolworth’s lunch counter and refuse to leave when denied service
1960President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which acknowledges the federal government’s responsibility in matters involving civil rights
1960John F. Kennedy elected president
1961Kennedy names Eleanor Roosevelt to chair Commission on the Status of Women
1961Michael Harrington publishes The Other America, revealing widespread poverty in United States
1962Students for a Democratic Society formed at Port Huron, Michigan
1962 The All‑African Organization of Women is founded to discuss the right to vote, activity in local and national governments, women in education, and medical services for women
1962The Supreme Court orders the University of Mississippi to admit James H. Meredith; Ross Barnett, governor of Mississippi, tries unsuccessfully to block Meredith’s admission
1962Supreme Court upholds ban on public school prayer
1963Publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan revitalizes the feminist movement
1963More than 200,000 marchers from all over the United States stage the largest protest demonstration in the history of Washington, D.C.; the “March on Washington” procession moves from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial; Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King delivers “I Have a Dream” speech
1963Medgar Evers, field secretary for the NAACP, is killed outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi
1963Assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas
1964Civil Rights Act passes Congress, guaranteeing equal voting rights to African‑Americans
1964Martin Luther King is awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1964Head Start, U.S. educational program for low‑income preschool children, is established
1964President Lyndon Johnson elected; calls for “Great Society” programs as part of “war on poverty”
1964Fannie Lou Hamer and Ruby Davis lead Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic Convention
1964Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed
1964Escalation of U.S. presence in Vietnam after the alleged Gulf of Tonkin incident
1964Student Mario Savio leads Free Speech Movement at University of California at Berkeley
1964Economic Opportunity Act funds Job Corps and Head Start programs
1965United Farm Workers strike
1966The Medicare Act, Housing Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a new immigration act, and voting‑rights legislation are enacted
1966The Autobiography of Malcolm X is published; he is assassinated this year
1966Black Panther party founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale
1970s
1970A subcommittee of the House of Representatives holds hearings on sex discrimination in education, the first in U.S. history
1970Ohio National Guardsmen kill four students who were protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University; students are also killed protesting at Jackson State University
1970Supreme Court upholds new 18‑year‑old voting age
1970Computer floppy disks introduced
1971Busing to achieve racially balanced schools is upheld by the Supreme Court
1971New York Times publishes top‑secret Pentagon Papers, revealing U.S. government duplicity in Vietnam War
1972Title IX Educational Amendment passed, outlawing sex discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal financial assistance
1972Congress passes Equal Rights Amendment
1972Five men arrested for breaking into Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.; Nixon administration begins cover‑up of its role in the break‑in.
1973Supreme court bars state restrictions on abortions (Roe v. Wade)
1973Native Americans defy federal authority at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
1974Nixon resigns due to public outcry over Watergate cover‑up; Vice President Ford becomes president and pardons Nixon for all crimes
1974Pocket calculator is marketed
1975First desktop microcomputer becomes available
1975Congress passes Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94‑142)
1975Last Americans escape Vietnam as Saigon falls to North Vietnamese
1975Congress votes to admit women to Army, Navy, and Air Force academies
1976Jimmy Carter defeats Ford for presidency
1978Proposition 13 in California begins U.S. “taxpayer revolt” against government spending
1978In University of California v. Bakke, Supreme Court disallows a quota system in university admissions but gives limited approval to affirmative action plans
1978For the first time in American history, more women than men enter college
1979The Moral Majority is founded, forming a new coalition of conservative and Christian fundamentalist voters in resistance to “liberal excesses” of 1960s and early 1970s
1979U.S.‑supported dictator Shah of Iran flees revolution; Iranian militants seize 66 U.S. hostages, and nightly television coverage for next 444 days of captivity establishes news program, Nightline
1979Inflation hits highest level in 33 years due to Mideast control over oil prices
1980One million African‑American students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States
1980Ronald Reagan is elected president, promising to reverse the “liberal trends in government”
1980Microcomputers begin to appear in U.S. classrooms
1981

IBM personal computer is marketed

1981Sandra Day O’Connor becomes first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice
1981 Minutes after Reagan is sworn in, Iranian hostages released after 444 days
1982Equal Rights Amendment fails to win state ratification
1982Reagan establishes “new federalism,” transferring social programs to local and state control
1982Unemployment exceeds 10 percent for first time since great depression of 1930s; federal budget deficit exceeds $100 million for first time
1983A Nation at Risk, a report by the Presidential Commission on Excellence in Education, advocates a “back to basics” education; becomes the first major document in the current reform movement
1984Education for Economic Security Act (Public Law 98‑377) passed, adding new science and math programs at all levels of schooling
1984Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act continues federal aid for vocational education until 1989
1986Reverend Jesse Jackson becomes first African‑American to challenge for major party nomination for president but loses to Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro (first woman vice presidential candidate in U.S. history); they are defeated in Ronald Reagan’s landslide reelection
1986New Hampshire teacher Christa McAulliffe killed along with six astronauts when space shuttle Challenger explodes on national TV
1987As national debt mounts, Reagan submits first trillion‑dollar budget to Congress; later that year, stock market dives in worst one‑day plunge in history
1988George Bush becomes first sitting vice president elected president since 1836
1989L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia becomes first African‑American to be elected a state governor.
1990s
1991U.S. Operation Desert Storm, in conjunction with UN forces, drives Iraq’s army out of Kuwait after air bombardment and 100‑hour ground war
1991Unemployment rate rises to highest level in a decade
1992American with Disabilities Act, the most sweeping antidiscrimination legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, guarantees equal access for disabled people
1992With unemployment at 7.8 percent, Bill Clinton defeats George Bush and Ross Perot for presidency; Bush pardons six Reagan administration officials for involvement in scandal involving trading arms to Iran for money to be used in secret U.S. involvement in Nicaragua
1993United States follows other industrialized nations with Family Leave Act that guarantees workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical emergencies
1993Supreme Court rules unanimously that public schools must permit religious groups to use their buildings after hours if they allow community groups to do so
1993Pentagon rules “don’t ask, don’t tell”: gays and lesbians may serve in military but may not proclaim or openly practice their sexual orientation
1994Dollar dips below Japanese yen in value, a post–World War II low
1994Number of prisoners in state and federal U.S. prisons tops 1 million, giving United States the highest incarceration rate in the world
1995Economy signals strong recovery, with Dow Jones index topping 4,000 for the first time
1995Supreme Court rules against any affirmative action program that is not “narrowly tailored” to accomplish a “compelling government interest”
1995Walt Disney Company acquires Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion; Chase Manhattan Corporation merges with the Chemical Banking Corporation to create the largest bank in United States
1996Hubble Space Telescope reveals new “truths” about the universe: there are 50 billion galaxies, or five times the number thought to exist, and the sun is one of 100 billion stars in the Milky Way
1996Census Bureau reports that the gap between the richest 20 percent of Americans and everyone else has reached postwar high
1996Federal Trade Commission approves merger between Turner Broadcasting and Time‑Warner, creating largest media company in the world
1996Clinton signs welfare reform legislation, ending more than 60 years of federal cash assistance to the poor and replacing it with block grants for states to administer
1996Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, denying federal recognition to same‑sex marriages
1996U.S. economy continues to grow, driving unemployment below 5 percent for first time in 24 years; Dow Jones industrial average tops 7,000 in February and 8,000 in July; mergers and acquisitions of major corporations reach all‑time high
1997Supreme Court rules 5–4 that public school teachers can work in parochial schools that need remedial or supplemental classes
1998Students at schools in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Springfield, Oregon, open fire on students and teachers, killing seven and injuring many others
1998Merger mania continues: Citicorp and Travelers Group merge to create world’s largest financial services business, NationsBank merges with Bank America, and BancOne merges with First Chicago; SBC Communications acquires Ameritech to create nation’s largest local phone company
1998President Clinton announces budget surplus of over $70 billion, the first since 1969 and the largest ever
1998U.S. House of Representatives approves, strictly along party lines, two articles of impeachment against Clinton: perjury and obstruction of justice
1999Full U.S. Senate acquits Clinton on both articles of impeachment, falling short of even a majority
1999In Littleton, Colorado, 2 students kill 12 other students and 1 teacher, wounding 20 before killing themselves
1999Viacom acquires CBS for $37.3 billion
1999Dow Jones hits record high above 11,000 shares
1999Kansas Board of Education votes against testing any Kansas students on science curriculum related to theory and science of evolution (but it would be restored in 2001 by new School Board)
1999 Federal Communications Commission loosens restrictions on any one company controlling too much of the cable industry, allowing AT&T to win more than a third of the nation’s TV, phone, and high‑speed Internet franchises
1999For fourth straight year, Senate Republicans kill legislation to reform nation’s campaign finance system by using filibuster to prevent cloture vote
2000
2000Campaigning on a platform emphasizing ethical character, George W. Bush loses popular vote to Vice President Al Gore but wins the Presidency by a 5–4 Supreme Court ruling ending the recount of disputed votes in Florida