1980s

1980s Notes and Questions




 * Reagan Revolution
 * Trickle Down
 * Election of 1984
 * Conservative Justices
 * Election of 1988
 * Evil Empire
 * Gaddafi
 * Iran-Contra
 * Tianenmen Square
 * Soviet Baltic Republics
 * Racial Profiling
 * Spanish-Speaking Communities
 * Bakke Case

I. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) a. Reagan Revolution i. “new morning in America” Reagan pledged that his administration would do four things 1. Lower taxes, reduce govt spending on welfare, build up the US armed forces, and create a more conservative federal court b. Election of 1980 – Reagan & H.W. Bush as VP – GOP also gained control of Senate for first time since 1954 i. Marked the end of half a century of democratic dominance of Congress c. Reaganomics – supply side economic theory i. Declared an end to a “tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity” ii. Reduce tax burden on those who pay the most, and their profit will “trickle down” and stimulate economic growth 1. //Example by giving a student 100 note card dollars. The govt used to take 60%, but now it takes 30%. How does that affect how you spend it? How does that affect how others receive money?// iii. Reduced taxes by 25% over three years in the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 iv. Also created the tax shelter IRA investment – invest 2,000/year without paying taxes on it. 1. Leads to short-term bust (81-82 worst years since great depression of 30s) 2. Critics charge the 80s recovery caused a long-term crisis for the 90s v. Cut budget for welfare – AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) was funding parents who had worked four months out of the year – their budget was cut, and the AFDC payments ended for 400,000 homes. 1. People were reliant on a “safety net” vi. Volcker (FRB chairman) kept interest rates high and money supply low during this time, helping sustain the boom vii. 19 million jobs created, unemployment was below 5%, had labor shortages, per capita income grew by 17% d. Cutting Regulation and Welfare Measures i. Nominated Sandra Day O’Connor (first woman supreme court justice) ii. “pruned” rather than clear-cut the regulatory forest 1. conservative critics think he could have done more with a conservative supreme court and GOP majority in Senate e. Routing the Dems, 1984 – defeates Mondale & Ferraro (first woman VP) (they win MN-Mondale’s home state and DC) i. Two groups voted for Dems. African Americans and those earning less than $12,500/annually f. Social Issues i. Reagan put a conservative chief justice (Rehnquist), also O’Connor, Scalia, and Kennedy as conservative Justices. 1. Scaled back affirmative action, limited Roe v. Wade (restrictions on abortion such as requiring minors to notify their parents before having an abortion) g. Election of 1988 – George H. Bush (Quayle) v. Michael Dukakis i. Bush wins by 7 million votes, Dems gain seats in Congress

II. Renewing the Cold War i. Began to denounce USSR as an “evil empire” b. Defense Buildup – Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to protect US against any incoming missiles i. Reagan launched an initiative to construct, rather than just imagine, a defense shield that would eliminate a nuclear threat ii. CIA also began more involvement in not-so-covert operations (Afghanistan and Nicaragua) c. Deploying Military Power i. Aided the //contras// in Nicaragua – opposed Sandinista govt that opposed the US ii. Attacked Libya’s al-Qaddafi and unsuccessfully killed him d. Iran-Contra Controversy i. Iran and Iraq had been at war since 1980 ii. We sold antitank and antiaircraft missiles to Iran for help in freeing the Americans held hostage iii. We would take the profits of these arm sales to fund the //Contras// in Nicaragua 1. Reagan and H.W. Bush said they did not have any involvement, and their paper trail was destroyed, so they were never brought into trial e. Beginning of the end of the Cold War i. Gorbachev takes over and preaches glasnost (openness) and perestroika (economic liberalization) ii. Gorbachev scrapped the policy that forbade nations under Soviet influence from denouncing communism à in effect ending the Cold War f. Tianenmen Square (1989) – prodemocracy students demonstrated, but were crushed during the night by Communist tanks – hundreds killed. g. Iron Curtain Falls (1989-90) – Gorbachev no longer supports eastern European communist governments with Soviet armed forces – Poland, Hungary, Czech, Bulgaria, Romania – all replace communism i. Berlin wall falls – NATO and Soviet Union recognize the unification ii. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (1990) (Soviet Baltic republics) each declare their independence

III. Race, Ethnicity, Social Activism a. African Americans i. Black moves, hip hop and rap, “afrocentric” curriculum, Black Entertainment Television ii. Discovered “racial profiling” – harsher punishment for “black” drugs crack cocaine than “white” drugs – cocaine, marijuana. Blacks were 10 times more likely to be imprisoned than white counterparts. b. American Indians i. Indian Bill of Rights – section of civil rights act of 68 – undo termination and relocation policies ii. Allowed for “tribal self-determination” iii. Supreme court ruled the govt had no right to limit gambling on reservations à casinos iv. Fighting for the reduction of use of indian slang in mascots “chief” “redskin” etc c. Spanish-Speaking communities i. Chicanismo – movement of new young Hispanic/latino – old term of ridicule, young generation embraces it to define their culture ii. Puerto Ricans in NY – mixed ideas about the status of PR iii. Cubans arrive in Miami – many are still waiting for Castro to leave iv. Mexican Americans in LA – politically active d. Asian-Americans i. A broad Asian-american identity raised questions of inclusion, exclusion, and rivalry ii. 1988 congress paid 20k to each family that had been confined in executive order 9066

e. Dilemmas i. Affirmative action – was it fair to make businesses and programs “set aside” jobs for minorities, while passing up very qualified workers for less qualified but “ethnic” ii. Bakke case – endorsed importance of multiculturalism in the school system – both redressing past discrimination and promoting diversity

I. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) a. Reagan Revolution i. “new morning in America” Reagan pledged that his administration would do four things 1. Lower taxes, reduce govt spending on welfare, build up the US armed forces, and create a more conservative federal court b. Election of 1980 – Reagan & H.W. Bush as VP – GOP also gained control of Senate for first time since 1954 i. Marked the end of half a century of democratic dominance of Congress c. Reaganomics – supply side economic theory i. Declared an end to a “tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity” ii. Reduce tax burden on those who pay the most, and their profit will “trickle down” and stimulate economic growth 1. //Example by giving a student 100 note card dollars. The govt used to take 60%, but now it takes 30%. How does that affect how you spend it? How does that affect how others receive money?// iii. Reduced taxes by 25% over three years in the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 iv. Also created the tax shelter IRA investment – invest 2,000/year without paying taxes on it. 1. Leads to short-term bust (81-82 worst years since great depression of 30s) 2. Critics charge the 80s recovery caused a long-term crisis for the 90s v. Cut budget for welfare – AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) was funding parents who had worked four months out of the year – their budget was cut, and the AFDC payments ended for 400,000 homes. 1. People were reliant on a “safety net” vi. Volcker (FRB chairman) kept interest rates high and money supply low during this time, helping sustain the boom vii. 19 million jobs created, unemployment was below 5%, had labor shortages, per capita income grew by 17% d. Cutting Regulation and Welfare Measures i. Nominated Sandra Day O’Connor (first woman supreme court justice) ii. “pruned” rather than clear-cut the regulatory forest 1. conservative critics think he could have done more with a conservative supreme court and GOP majority in Senate e. Routing the Dems, 1984 – defeates Mondale & Ferraro (first woman VP) (they win MN-Mondale’s home state and DC) i. Two groups voted for Dems. African Americans and those earning less than $12,500/annually f. Social Issues i. Reagan put a conservative chief justice (Rehnquist), also O’Connor, Scalia, and Kennedy as conservative Justices. 1. Scaled back affirmative action, limited Roe v. Wade (restrictions on abortion such as requiring minors to notify their parents before having an abortion) g. Election of 1988 – George H. Bush (Quayle) v. Michael Dukakis i. Bush wins by 7 million votes, Dems gain seats in Congress

II. Renewing the Cold War i. Began to denounce USSR as an “evil empire” b. Defense Buildup – Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to protect US against any incoming missiles i. Reagan launched an initiative to construct, rather than just imagine, a defense shield that would eliminate a nuclear threat ii. CIA also began more involvement in not-so-covert operations (Afghanistan and Nicaragua) c. Deploying Military Power i. Aided the //contras// in Nicaragua – opposed Sandinista govt that opposed the US ii. Attacked Libya’s al-Qaddafi and unsuccessfully killed him d. Iran-Contra Controversy i. Iran and Iraq had been at war since 1980 ii. We sold antitank and antiaircraft missiles to Iran for help in freeing the Americans held hostage iii. We would take the profits of these arm sales to fund the //Contras// in Nicaragua 1. Reagan and H.W. Bush said they did not have any involvement, and their paper trail was destroyed, so they were never brought into trial e. Beginning of the end of the Cold War i. Gorbachev takes over and preaches glasnost (openness) and perestroika (economic liberalization) ii. Gorbachev scrapped the policy that forbade nations under Soviet influence from denouncing communism à in effect ending the Cold War f. Tianenmen Square (1989) – prodemocracy students demonstrated, but were crushed during the night by Communist tanks – hundreds killed. g. Iron Curtain Falls (1989-90) – Gorbachev no longer supports eastern European communist governments with Soviet armed forces – Poland, Hungary, Czech, Bulgaria, Romania – all replace communism i. Berlin wall falls – NATO and Soviet Union recognize the unification ii. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (1990) (Soviet Baltic republics) each declare their independence

III. Race, Ethnicity, Social Activism a. African Americans i. Black moves, hip hop and rap, “afrocentric” curriculum, Black Entertainment Television ii. Discovered “racial profiling” – harsher punishment for “black” drugs crack cocaine than “white” drugs – cocaine, marijuana. Blacks were 10 times more likely to be imprisoned than white counterparts. b. American Indians i. Indian Bill of Rights – section of civil rights act of 68 – undo termination and relocation policies ii. Allowed for “tribal self-determination” iii. Supreme court ruled the govt had no right to limit gambling on reservations à casinos iv. Fighting for the reduction of use of indian slang in mascots “chief” “redskin” etc c. Spanish-Speaking communities i. Chicanismo – movement of new young Hispanic/latino – old term of ridicule, young generation embraces it to define their culture ii. Puerto Ricans in NY – mixed ideas about the status of PR iii. Cubans arrive in Miami – many are still waiting for Castro to leave iv. Mexican Americans in LA – politically active d. Asian-Americans i. A broad Asian-american identity raised questions of inclusion, exclusion, and rivalry ii. 1988 congress paid 20k to each family that had been confined in executive order 9066

e. Dilemmas i. Affirmative action – was it fair to make businesses and programs “set aside” jobs for minorities, while passing up very qualified workers for less qualified but “ethnic” ii. Bakke case – endorsed importance of multiculturalism in the school system – both redressing past discrimination and promoting diversity