Get Down and Funky With It

Don Cornelius- host of Soul Train

You know what’s hip and happenin’? Soul Train. Feel the funk of the music of today when you switch your TV channel to Soul Train. The show watched by millions started out in Chicago as the love child of Don Cornelius, a disc jockey from the same city. Thanks to the financial support of Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Johnson Products Company, the show was expanded for the rest of the nation to watch. Don Cornelius hosts the one-hour show, and opens up a window to black culture some have not seen before. The show consists of a showcase of popular black music artists; there’s disco, jazz, soul and R&B played throughout the hour. Moreover, the hippest dance moves right now are displayed by the dancers in the show. Meanwhile the latest fashion trends are also in display. The people in the audience are not paid dancers, instead they are guests of the show who have shown up to have fun. The audience at home can enjoy watching people play the Soul Train Scramble Board. A scramble of letters is set up for two guest dancers to decipher the name of that night’s performer or a notable person in the black history in sixty seconds. Another signature of the show is the Soul Train Line. The Soul Train Line is perhaps one of the best reasons to watch Soul Train. Guests of the show line up in two lines opposite one another. Then when it is a couple’s turn, the couple “meets up” in the center of the line and dances down the aisle. This is where the guests can show the nation their groovy dance moves and talent. Although couples often try to outdo one another during the Soul Train Line, the show gives an aura of fun and not of competition. The show is now being broad cast to 8 cities nationwide: Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston, Cleveland and Detroit.  Catch Soul Train on the TV set and join in the excitement until Don Cornelius ends the show with "...and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace...and SOUL!"

Withdrawing the Troops from the Vietnam War- Politics in the 1970's

After three years of the Vietnam War’s proceedings President Lynden B. Johnson’s determined to not seek reelection in 1968, allowing the election of Richard Nixon. Serious negotiations began and continued throughout the next five years. 

The United States war movement in Vietnam triggered the largest anti-war movement in the nation’s history. Initiated by the bombing of North Vietnam in 1964 and the introduction of the draft for combat troops, war protest steadily increased for the next ten years. Students, government officials, labor unions, church groups and middle class families increasingly opposed the war as it climaxed in 1968, forcing a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces. Some opposition was merely vocal at the start; however, it continued to escalate as the war progressed. Several examples led to violence such as the Kent State shooting in 1970.
Many factors played into this war’s great unpopularity with the people. The length of the war, the high number of U.S. casualties, and the exposure of U.S. involvement in war crimes such as the massacre at My Lai, helped to turn many in the United States against the war.

In September of 1969, Nixon attempted a new tactic to slowly begin the withdrawal of troops. His idea was proceed in force and intensify bombings directly of the communist sanctuaries in Cambodia. Lack of internal support made Nixon’s popularity difficult, though progress continued.
A battalion of the U.S. 9th Infantry Division left Saigon in the initial withdrawal of U.S. troops. These soldiers were the first of 25,000 troops that were withdrawn in the first stage of the U.S. disengagement from the war. There would be 14 more stages in the withdrawal, but the last U.S. troops did not leave until after the Paris Peace Accords were signed in January 1973.

In January of 1973 the United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Vietnam Congress all signed a peace treaty that would withdraw the rest of the American troops with in a time frame of sixty days. This also created a political process and a transition into a peaceful ending and the resolving of the conflict in South Korea. This agreement did not end the fighting, however. 

The main goal if the US withdrawal of troops was called ‘Vietnamization’. This term was simply the idea in which South Vietnam would need to take on larger role in this fight against communism. The United States government simply wanted to enable to South Vietnamese to be able and take full control of their country.

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The Watergate Scandal- Politics in the 1970's

            In the high tide of the Vietnam War, Republican President, Richard Nixon was up for reelection. However, the nation was divided internally. In the midst of such a harsh political campaign, Nixon’s advisors (known as CREEP) felt the need to use forceful tactics, leading to the illegal espionage known as the Watergate scandal. Several unidentified burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) office, located in the Watergate building in Washington D.C. The burglars stole top-secret documents as well as proceeding to wire tap the phones.

On June 17, 1972, the wiretapped phones were malfunctioning, leading to another break in. However, this time a security guard noticed the locks on the doors being taped and called the police, who arrived in time to catch the burglars red handed inside the Watergate building. However, unfortunately to the credit of the President, this was no ordinary robbery. The burglars were caught in possession of top-secret documents and though it could not be directly linked to Nixon, suspicions were raised as they were in possession of the white houses campaign phone number.

In August of 1972, Nixon made a speech denying any knowledge of the scandal. Most voters believed Him, leading to his reelection in November. After the election, it still could not be proven that Nixon knew exactly about the events, which occurred. His actions in the aftermath may have been even more severe.

It is no secret that he did do what he could to try and cover up the scandal. First it came to light that he was attempting to raise millions of dollars in “hush money” for the burglars trying to cover up their actions. Secondly, and perhaps even more severe than the scandal itself, Nixon tried to initiate a plan for instructing the CIA to secretly impede the FBI’s progress of the investigation. This was an obvious abuse of presidential power as well as a clear obstruction to justice.

Nixon continued to be backed into a corner as many of his aids began to be arrested in the wake of the prosecutor’s pursuit of justice, with some even testifying to his guilt. It became known that Nixon taped every conversation held in the oval office. After it became clear that the president could no longer hide the tapes and keep his role in the scandal under wraps, he resigned. Following this, his successor Gerald Ford made a bold move by pardoning Nixon on all accounts. Nixon never actually admitted to his guilt, but his reputation was certainly tainted for the rest of history.

Kent State Shooting- Politics in the 1970's

On April 30, 1970, in the midst of the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon went on national television to make a monumental announcement. In this announcement He addressed the United States recent invasion of Cambodia and the need for 150,000 additional draftees. News of the draft demands provoked rioting all across the nation, particularly on collegiate campuses. Most notable being at Kent State University in Ohio, where protesters got out of hand leading to the engagement of the entire Kent police force, as well as well the surrounding communities.

On May 2, the governor of Ohio felt the need to dispatch 900 members of the National Guard, in hopes of striking fear into the uncontrolled hooligans. However, the riots continued to escalade. As the National Guard arrived, they were witnesses to a scene of the ROTC building being set ablaze.

May third was about the last attempt for peace for peace by the overseeing officials. Ohio Governor, James Rhoades prepared a statement that was anything but calm. He noted that they would use whatever force necessary to subdue the crowd, which he called the worst people in America.

On May 4, an anti-war rally was scheduled to be held; however, the government officials did their best to ban this rally from occurring. As a result of guard’s attempts to disperse the crowd, it only resulted in thrown rocks, and shouts of protest. The police were forced backwards, provoking twenty-eight guardsmen to open fire on a crowd of protestors. Approximately sixty shots were fired in thirteen seconds. Most of them aiming in the air or at the ground; though, unfortunately a few shot directly into the crowd wounding nine and killing four. If were not for University faculty marshals, further tragedy would have surely occurred. They pleaded with the students to not risk their lives any further by continuing on in protest.

Following the shooting, disturbance across the nation increased dramatically, leading to the shutdown of 500 college campuses. Despite the public outrage, the Justice Department initially ignored the need to instigate a grand jury investigation of the shooting. Though the president’s commission did release a statement acknowledging that the action of the guardsmen had been "unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable." Eventually, a grand jury indicted eight of the guardsmen, but the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. Some forty years later, this event is still remembered as a tragedy, with love and support still going out to those families who lost loved ones.