Regarding social activism of the 1960s...?

Question

Why do you think social activism of the 1960s went from peaceful demonstrations (i.e. Teach-Ins, civil disobedience) early on to violence and chaos by the later 1960s?

Answer 1

frustration..........and then groups with a different agenda found it an easy access to get their message out.

Answer 2

The peaceful demonstrations became violent when the National Guard shot to death 4 college students at Ohio State University during a peaceful protest against the war in Viet Nam.  It outraged the country and polarized sides.  That was the catalyst for all the angry groups to launch a terrible period of uglniness and retribution.  It gave hate groups a target and it gave police permission to use brutality.  I haunts me to this day.

Answer 3

Well, having lived through those years, I think non-violent protest always went on.  Civil disobedience was always the backbone of the anti-war movement.  

The problem was that this country is so right wing it put a creature like Richard Nixon into the White House.  The democrats had murdered themselves supporting and running the Vietnam War.  And along comes Nixon saying he'd end the Vietnam War.

Well, Jez!  Turns out republicans lie better than democrats.  Nixon was lying - he ran that Vietnam War for another 6 years through some of the worst fighting we ever had.  

All us kids were up for the draft - they'd already made out our death warrants - and Nixon wanted us dead in Vietnam.  So finally protests started getting real violent.  Also the black people had about had it with right wing America too, and some of those racial protests were pretty darned violent too.  

Those were interesting times.  But the lion's share of the people remained very non-violent in their protest.  It's just that the violent protest got all the headlines.  

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

angry back folk when MLK was shot sparked a country wide frustration.

Answer 5

I think violence and chaos became part of social activism for a few reasons. One of the reasons for the violence is because people involved in activism in the 1960s had guts. They were passionate about civil rights, the women's movement, welfare reform (not today's notion) and a number of other issues.  I also think a larger reason for the violence was desperation to be heard and not ignored. Unfortunately, desperate times calls for desperate measures. After all, if social change is going to occur people have to pay attention to the world's problems and understand them.  Just my two cents.