Contemporary United States
American society has undergone important changes during the last fifty years. Three causes of these social and cultural changes have been: 1) the expanded role of women in the workplace; 2) the influence of new immigrant groups, particularly Asians and Latin Americans; and 3) the impact of the technology revolution. In 1963 Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique. This book examined the isolation, boredom, and lack of fulfillment felt by many American housewives. Friedan argued that women required opportunities for personal achievement in addition to those provided by marriage and motherhood. Many women began to seek such personal satisfaction in the workplace. In 1966 Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women (NOW), an organization dedicated to gaining equality for women in American society. The modern women’s movement had begun.
As a result of the modern women’s movement, women have made up an increasingly large percentage of America’s labor force. For example, in 1960 women made up only 32 % of the American work force. By 1994 this percentage had increased to 46%. In 1960 only 35 % of American women were working outside the home. By 1990 this percentage had risen to nearly 60%, and there were millions of working mothers. By the end of the 1970s many American women were working in nontraditional jobs. Two outstanding examples of this were Sandra Day O’Connor and Sally Ride. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor the first woman to the Supreme Court. Two years later Sally Ride, who was the first female astronaut in the United States, became the first American woman in space. Of course, women in the workplace have faced discrimination, because of their sex. Since the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibited sex discrimination by employers, American women could seek relief from job discrimination in federal court. The federal courts have consistently protected employment opportunities for American women by citing not only the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but also the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Nevertheless, American women still suffer discrimination because of their sex. Four problems with which American women must deal are: 1) the need for affordable day care; 2) equitable (fair, equal) pay; 3) the “pink collar” ghetto; 4) the “glass ceiling.” The term “pink collar” ghetto refers to how American women often receive only low prestige, low paying jobs. For example, clerical jobs, which are almost exclusively held by women, remain relatively low paying. The phrase “glass ceiling” refers to the perception (belief) that career advancement for women is not equal to that for men. For example, corporations often promote women to middle management positions, but few American women are CEOs (chief executive officer) of major corporations.
New immigrant groups are a second factor causing social and cultural change in the United States in recent decades. Since 1970 new and increasing immigration to the United States has been taking place from many diverse (different) countries, especially Asian and Latin American nations. These contemporary immigrant groups have increased American diversity and redefined American identity. Recent immigrants have come to America for the same reasons as many of their predecessors. When Fidel Castro led his successful communist revolution in Cuba in 1959, thousands of Cubans fled to south Florida in search of both political freedom and economic opportunity. As the South Vietnamese government crumbled in the mid-1970s, tens of thousands of Asian immigrants also fled to the United States to gain political freedom and economic opportunity. Economic opportunity has served as the primary reason why hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans, especially Mexicans, have flocked to the United States during the last thirty-five years.
This contemporary immigration has had several important effects on American society and culture. First, bilingual education has become a major issue in the public education systems of several states. Many states’ public schools now offer English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. Second, contemporary immigration has sometimes influenced American public policy. For example, following Castro’s revolution in Cuba, the United States government placed an embargo on trade with Cuba. An embargo is an order by a government prohibiting trade with another country. Because the Cuban-American community in south Florida opposes any improvement in American relations with Castro’s government, the United States continues its trade embargo on Cuba and refuses to recognize formally the Castro regime. Third, recent trends in immigration have also affected American politics and voting patterns in states with large immigrant communities. For example, because Cuban-Americans have believed the Republican party has followed a harder line on Castro, most Floridians of Cuban descent consistently vote Republican in both national and state elections. In California Mexican-American voters have become a key ingredient in the recent election victories of Democratic candidates for the United States Senate, governor, and other statewide offices. As a Republican candidate for governor of Texas in 1994 and 1998 and as a presidential candidate in 2000, President George W. Bush worked hard to attract Hispanic voters away from the Democratic Party. Finally, contemporary immigrants have already made lasting contributions to American culture. Mexican food aisles have appeared in supermarkets throughout the nation, and Salsa music has become increasingly popular among American youth. In addition, contemporary immigrants often fill necessary but low paying jobs in the economy, which most native-born Americans find unappealing. For example, many Mexican immigrants work on American farms, harvesting crops by hand.
The technology revolution of the late twentieth century has forever changed American culture and society. The American space program was a triumph of American technological prowess (ability). In the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy pledged increased support for the American space program. The race to the moon continued through the 1960s. United States astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. In 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first person to step onto the moon’s surface. Armstrong proclaimed, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Dramatic advances in technology in the closing years of the twentieth century have affected life in America in many significant areas. Over the past three decades improved technology and media have brought about better access to communication and information for rural areas, businesses, and individual consumers. As a result, many more Americans have access to global information and viewpoints. Recent technological advances include cable television with such twenty-four hour news channels as CNN, personal computers, cellular telephones, and the World Wide Web. Such advances have brought changes in work, school, and health care. Telecommuting through the Internet has allowed workers to do their jobs from home. The Internet has also opened up educational possibilities through distance learning. Rapid growth of the technology field has created an entire new category of white-collar careers in the American economy. Finally, technological advances in the second half of the twentieth century have resulted in important breakthroughs in medical research. For example, Dr. Jonas Salk, a microbiologist from New York City, developed a lifesaving vaccine for polio in the mid-1950s.
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