You might be asking yourself, what the heck is facilitation friday? Well it is this new thing our teachers decided to try out. Every friday there is 3-5 presenters who lead a 10-15 minute discussion about a topic they chose within the era we were learning about that week. The main reason I am not a huge fan of this layout is that not everyone strives and does their best when they are forced to speak and lead a discussion. Some people thrive the most with hand on projects or with digital projects and with this format you are forced to do this project one way. For me when I am put in front of the class to speak I get a lot of anxiety and don’t enjoy it at all so for this assignment I don’t think I reached my fullest potential.
My week was the 60’s so I decided to talk about the impact of the anti-war protests during the vietnam war. I found this topic quite interesting because it one of the biggest anti- war protests to this day. I thought it was crazy that at one point during this this whole kerfuffle that 50% of the people were against what JFK was doing. After the Tet Offensive and Eugene McCarthy’s entry into the presidential race there was a massive realization of what was actually happening in vietnam and what was to come of it all, which was that there was not a end of the war in sight. It had a massive impact on the outcome as in the end JFK stepped down from his presidency. People were outside the white house chating “Hey hey JFK, how many babies did you kill today”. JFK had children that were being exposed to an enormous amount of hatred and disagreement at such a young age he did that he believed what was best for them and stepped down. He was the first ever president to resign which was a big deal not only for the white house but for the turn out of the war.
For our discussion we were asked to do a brief overview of our topic and then start with our discussion questions.
Here was my overview:
Eugene McCarthy’s entry into the 1968 presidential race gave a huge boost to the antiwar movement, if elected, McCarthy said, he would withdraw American forces and seek a negotiated peace with North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. The campaign appealed to youths who were tired of the establishment and dissatisfied with government.
McCarthy’s prospects were greatly improved by the Tet Offensive, which exposed the Johnson administration’s lack of progress in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive changed the minds of many, as americans came to the realization that the North Vietnamese refused to be worn down and the end of the war was nowhere in sight. At one point 50% of the people were in disagreement with what LBJ was doing, which sparked the most intense period of anti war protests to this day. It wasn’t just leftist students and hippies who opposed the war. Many people were against it because there was no sense that the United States could win.
These are the questions I had ready, though I didn’t have enough time to ask them all.
- What impacts did the anti war protest movements in the united states during the war have?
- Do you think the protests would’ve looked different if the Beatnik and then Hippie movement didn’t get so many young people involved in politics during the 60s?
- What similarities and differences do you see on the social movements in the late 60s vs those of today?
- Do you think there would have been a different out come without the protests?
- What do you think would have happened if LBJ remained as president?
Overall I found that people added greatly into the convo and had great things to agree with or contradict. I do think that I could have done a better job if I had put a bit more effort into it but an ever better job if I could have presented my learning in a different way.