Summer of Hate and Hollywood/Fiction

The topic about “Summer of Hate and  Hollywood/Fiction” is going to be discussed, analyzed and explored.  This theme is historically significant in U.S. history. It caught my attention and I would like to tell you about those events happened in 1968. The main goals of my work are to describe and research the information about that period of time and to find out how those events impact us today.

In the beginning it is necessary to say that the 1967 summer of love was gone after the 1968 summer of hate. This period of time led to a whole chain of troubles and tragedies. Tet Offensive was a military campaign started between 30 January and 23 September 1968. The main goal of the offensive was to strike military and civil control centers and control of all Southern Vietnam and to spark a general revolt among the population which would then dethrone the Saigon government, thus putting an end to a war in a single blow. Moreover, during this period of time Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis in April and Robert Kennedy was killed in Los Angeles in June 1968.

These events have caused mass protests in Chicago. The students and workers were involved in those protests in 1968. The police dispersed the demonstrators and established order. That is why, the protests in Chicago were unhappy. U.S. presidential elections in 1968 were passed on the 5 of November.  It was one of the most difficult elections in an American history. Democrats nominated a candidate for a U.S. president Hubert Humphrey, and Republican Ex-Vice President Richard Nixon. As a result, the Republican Nixon has won in this election campaign.

Nixon’s victory is considered to be a realigning election in U.S.  It is important to mention that from 1932 till 1968, the Democratic Party was the main and majority party in American politics. But the election of 1968 has changed this situation completely. The Republican Party was the main party from 1968 till 2008. After this period of time, the Democrat, Barack Obama, has won a presidential election.

Reading the essay described the 1947 activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee I can draw a conclusion that the exact date of the appearance of Hollywood blacklist is November 25, 1947. According to Dan Georgakas (1992): “The investigation of Hollywood radicals by the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 and 1951 was a continuation of pressures first exerted in the late 1930s and early 1940s by the Dies Committee and State Senator Jack Tenney’s California Joint Fact-finding Committee on Un-American Activities. HUAC charged that Communists had established a significant base in the dominant medium of mass culture.

Communists were said to be placing subversive messages into Hollywood films and discriminating against unsympathetic colleagues. A further concern was that Communists were in a position to place negative images of the United States in films that would have wide international distribution”. In autumn 1947 the Commission launched an investigation into Hollywood. 20 October 1947 held a public hearing in Washington. The Commission has compiled a list of 43 people who offered to testify. In 1950, all participants of “Hollywood Ten” were imprisoned for one year for “Contempt of Congress”.

To take everything into consideration, I want to underline that I discussed, analyzed and explored the theme “Summer of Hate and Hollywood/Fiction”. These events are the integral part of U.S. history.  It is important to know about that period of time and how those events impact our society nowadays.