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Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________

A Time of Social Change Biography

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

6 A Time of Social Change

Ruben Salazar 1928–1970

Ruben Salazar was born in Cíudad Juarez, across the

river from El Paso, Texas, in 1928. He moved to El Paso with his family

when he was a baby and eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

After high school, he joined the U.S. Army and served for two years. Then

he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas

at El Paso. While still in college Salazar worked as a reporter for the El

Paso Herald-Post. It was there that Salazar first reported on alleged abuses

against Mexican Americans by police and in prisons. It was an issue he

would continue to investigate throughout his career.

Salazar went on to work for the Santa Rosa (California) Press Democrat

and the San Francisco News, finally landing at the Los Angeles Times in

1959. There, he covered Mexican American issues, writing about prejudice

experienced by Latinos and taking a special interest in the problems

Chicanos, or Mexican Americans, faced in public schools. He earned

journalism awards for a series of stories on the Los Angeles Latino

community.

The Times sent Salazar to cover the Vietnam War for two years, then

made him bureau chief in Mexico City. He was called back to Los Angeles

in 1968 to cover the city’s rising Chicano movement. When Salazar took a

job at KMEX, a Spanish-language television station in Los Angeles, the

Times asked him to continue writing weekly columns about the Chicano

community.

In his columns, Salazar reported the high rate at which Latinos were

dying in the Vietnam War. He spoke out against police abuses, racism,

residential segregation, and substandard education. Along with William

Restrepo of KMEX, Salazar began investigating allegations that Los

Angeles police officers and sheriff’s deputies had beaten residents and

planted evidence when arresting people.

Salazar’s writings did not make him popular with the law enforcement

WHY HE MADE HISTORY Ruben

Salazar was an award-winning journalist

who focused public attention on the

prejudice and social injustice suffered by

Mexican Americans.

As you read the biography below, consider the

price Ruben Salazar paid in his fight for social

justice. Was he a hero? Was he a martyr?

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community. In the eyes of some, Salazar was a radical and a danger to the

country. FBI files released later through the Freedom of Information Act

show that Salazar was being monitored and investigated. He was also

under surveillance by the Los Angeles Police Department.

In 1970 some 30,000 antiwar demonstrators gathered in an East Los

Angeles park to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the

disproportionate number of Mexican Americans dying in the war. Salazar,

Restrepo, and a cameraman were covering the event for KMEX.

Interactions between police and demonstrators became violent and erupted

into a riot, and police threw tear gas to break up the crowd. As the

disturbance was ending the KMEX crew went to a local café, either to take

shelter or to rest. While they were inside, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s

deputy shot a 10-inch tear gas canister into the building. The projectile hit

Salazar in the head, killing him instantly.

The coroner ruled that Salazar’s death was an accident and no charges

were ever brought against the deputy. Controversy over the incident raged.

Many Chicanos believed Salazar had been killed intentionally. Salazar’s

family filed a civil suit against the county, which admitted no wrongdoing

but paid the family $700,000 to settle the suit.

For many Mexican Americans, Salazar was a hero who gave his life to

help Chicanos achieve true equality in America. After his death Salazar

received a special Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Today a library

in Santa Rosa, where Salazar once worked as a reporter, bears his name.

The park where the 1970 demonstration took place has been renamed

Ruben Salazar Park. Salazar has also received one of the highest honors for

Mexican Americans. A corrida—a song about his contributions to his

people—was composed in his honor.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

1. Recall How did Ruben Salazar’s journalism career develop?

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____________________________________________________________________

2. Evaluate Return now to the questions suggested before you read the biography. Do

you think Ruben Salazar was a hero? Was he a martyr? Explain your answer.

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John Lennon

1940–1980

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, in 1940.

While he was in high school, Lennon met another teen named Paul

McCartney who shared his love of American rhythm and blues music.

Lennon and McCartney played together in a band and later, with the

addition of guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr, became

known as the Beatles.

In 1963, the Beatles released their first single, “Love Me Do,” in

England. Theirs was a new sound that mixed rock and roll with rhythm and

blues. In an era when trios and quartets crooned soft melodies, Lennon

screamed and shouted in “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

The January 1964 release of the album Meet the Beatles in the United

States brought instant fame. Approximately 73 million people watched the

band’s performance on the Ed Sullivan Show the next month. By March

1964, the Beatles held the top five spots on the Billboard singles chart.

The Beatles’ music brought not only a new sound but a new sensibility.

They sang about love and loss, but also questioned materialism in “Can’t

Buy Me Love,” and wrote of empty lives in “Eleanor Rigby” and

“Nowhere Man.” With each successive album, the songs written by

Lennon and McCartney music incorporated more influences and sounds.

Even mind-altering drugs were reflected in songs such as “Yellow

Submarine” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

The Beatles became leaders in the 1960s counterculture. Albums like

Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966) opened up for teenagers a world

of possibilities beyond the cultural confines of the society in which they

had been raised. The single “All You Need Is Love” was embraced an

anthem for the summer of love.

Lennon, the band’s lead singer and its most vocal member, spoke freely

on social and political issues. He infuriated many when he claimed the

Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” He openly opposed the war in

WHY HE MADE HISTORY John Lennon

was a member of the Beatles, one of the

most popular rock groups of the 1960s, and

became a vocal antiwar activist.

As you read the biography below, consider

how John Lennon’s life reflected the times in

which he lived. How was his life influenced by

the changes in the world around him?

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Vietnam, both in concerts and in interviews, which led to more criticism of

him and the band.

In 1968 Lennon met Yoko Ono, an artist and performer from Japan. The

two quickly became inseparable. Lennon divorced his first wife (with

whom he had a son) and married Ono in 1969. With Ono, Lennon became

more politically active. The pair staged events to protest the Vietnam War.

They called their honeymoon a “bed-in for peace” and spent it in bed in

front of TV cameras talking to reporters about the horrors of war. During

the honeymoon, Lennon wrote the antiwar anthem “Give Peace a Chance.”

After the Beatles broke up as a band in 1970, Lennon and Ono moved to

New York, where he joined other antiwar leaders to mobilize young people

against the Vietnam War. In September 1971 Lennon released a solo

album, Imagine, whose melodic title track urged listeners to “Imagine

there’s no countries/ . . . Nothing to kill or die for.” Lennon’s increasingly

vocal criticism of the Vietnam War and his plans to protest at the 1972

Republican National Convention attracted the attention of the Nixon

administration, which tried to deport him.

Lennon fought the government in the courts for years, a battle that was

financially and emotionally draining. For a time Lennon turned away from

music, dedicating himself to raising his second son, Sean.

Lennon returned to the recording studio in 1980. One night as he was

returning home, a deranged fan approached him outside his New York

apartment building. The man shot Lennon in the back, killing him.

Millions of fans still gather to observe a day of remembrance and sing

the song “Imagine” every year on the anniversary of Lennon’s death. In

New York City, a section of Central Park that had been one of Lennon’s

favorites was renovated and named Strawberry Fields in his honor. More

than 100 countries have recognized Strawberry Fields as a garden of peace.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

1. Recall What song by John Lennon became an antiwar anthem?

____________________________________________________________________

2. Evaluate Do you think musicians should or should not use their music to promote

their political views? Why?

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Phyllis Schlafly 1924– 2016*

Almost 50 years after the Equal Rights Amendment

was first introduced, Congress passed it in 1972 and sent it to the states for

ratification. Betty Friedan and the National Organization for Women

supported the ERA. Many women, including Phyllis Schlafly, did not.

Phyllis Schlafly was born into a large, working class family in 1924. She

put herself through college and graduated from Washington University in

St. Louis at the age of 19. She earned a master’s degree from Harvard and

a law degree from Washington University.

Schlafly first gained the attention of Republicans during the 1964

presidential campaign. The election pitted Democrat Lyndon Johnson

against Republican Barry Goldwater. Schlafly’s first book, A Choice Not

an Echo, argued that the Republican Party should return to traditional

conservative values, such as those Goldwater promoted. She believed that

wealthy East Coast Republicans had compromised their conservative

values in order to get elected. She urged readers to vote for western

Republicans like Goldwater. Goldwater lost the election, but Schlafly won

a place of influence in the conservative movement.

With the revival of interest in the Equal Rights Amendment in the

1960s, Schlafly gained national attention. She argued that the amendment

could take away the legal protection women already had without

conferring any new rights. She argued that it could result in public

restrooms shared by men and women, in gay marriage, and in the draft for

women. In her book Who Will Rock the Cradle?, Schlafly warned that the

traditional family would be damaged if women were granted the same

rights as men.

Schlafly’s words reached many people who shared her conservative

beliefs. She appealed to people who did not identify with the values and

beliefs of more vocal liberals. In large part because of Schlafly’s work, the

WHY SHE MADE HISTORY Phyllis

Schlafly was an outspoken leader in the

conservative movement. She led a

successful effort to defeat the Equal Rights

Amendment.

As you read the biography below, note Phyllis

Schlafly’s accomplishments and political

beliefs. What made her successful?

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ERA was not ratified by the required number of states in the time Congress

had originally allotted.

Congress extended the time for ratification to June 1982, and it seemed

likely that the amendment would become law. Schlafly went to work again,

heading the conservative effort to defeat it. Finally, the ERA fell three

votes short of ratification. It has been introduced into every session of

Congress since then but has not passed.

Phyllis Schlafly founded and heads a conservative group, the Eagle

Forum, which supports conservative candidates and causes. Schlafly,

known as the champion of women’s traditional place in the home, raised

six children. Now in her 80s, Schlafly still delivers a regular radio

commentary, writes a newspaper column, contributes articles to Eagle

Forum’s Web site, and lobbies for conservative Republican causes.

Schlafly also hosts a radio talk show on education. She has written a book,

Turbo Reader, on teaching young children to read.

Schlafly died of cancer in 2016.*

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

1. Define What were Phyllis Schlafly’s personal achievements in the areas of education

and politics?

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____________________________________________________________________

2. Evaluate Phyllis Schlafly says she works as a “volunteer,” calling her involvement

in politics “a lifelong hobby.” Explain your reaction to this self-assessment.

____________________________________________________________________

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* Added to the original text of the document to show when Schlafly died.

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A Time of Social Change Primary Source



Gloria Steinem Testifies in

Support of the ERA

My name is Gloria Steinem. I am a writer and editor. I have worked in

several political campaigns, and am currently a member of the Policy

Council of the Democratic National Committee.

During twelve years of working for a living, I’ve experienced much of

the legal and social discrimination reserved for women in this country. I

have been refused service in public restaurants, ordered out of public

gathering places, and turned away from apartment rentals; all for the

clearly-stated sole reason that I am a woman. And all without the legal

remedies available to blacks and other minorities. I have been excluded

from professional groups, writing assignments on so-called “unfeminine”

subjects such as politics, full participation in the Democratic Party, jury

duty, and even from such small male privileges as discounts on airline

fares. Most important to me, I have been denied a society in which women

are encouraged, or even allowed, to think of themselves as first-class

citizens and responsible human beings.

However, after two years of researching the status of American women,

I have discovered that I am very, very lucky. Most women, both wage-

earners and housewives, routinely suffer more humiliation and injustice

than I do.

As a freelance writer, I don’t work in the male-dominated hierarchy of

an office. (Women, like blacks and other visibly-different minorities, do

better in individual professions such as the arts, sports, or domestic work;

anything in which they don’t have authority over white males.) I am not

one of the millions of women who must support a family. Therefore, I

haven’t had to go on welfare because there are no day care centers for my

ABOUT THE SOURCE Alice Paul wrote the first Equal Rights Amendment.

Proposed to Congress in 1923, the amendment declared that “men and women

shall have equal rights throughout the United States . . .” Paul and her

supporters pushed the amendment each year throughout the 1930s. The

growing women’s movement revived the issue in the 1960s. Revised wording of

the ERA asserted that “equal rights under the law shall not be abridged or denied

. . . on account of sex.” Conservative groups strongly opposed the amendment.

The passage below is from feminist Gloria Steinem’s testimony before Congress

in 1970.

As you read, note the injustices that Steinem describes. The following words may

be new to you: remedies, subsist, median. You may want to use a dictionary to

look them up.

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A Time of Social Change Primary Source



children while I work, and I haven’t had to submit to the humiliating

welfare inquiries about my private and sexual life, inquiries from which

men are exempt. I haven’t had to brave the sex bias of labor unions and

employers, only to see my family subsist on a median salary 40 percent

less than the male median salary.

I hope this committee will hear the personal, daily injustices suffered by

many women—professional and day laborers, women housebound by

welfare as well as suburbia. We have been silent for too long. We won’t be

silent anymore.

The truth is that all our problems stem from the same sex-based myths.

We may appear before you as white radicals or the middle-aged middle

class or black soul sisters, but we are all sisters in fighting against these

outdated myths. Like racial myths, they have been reflected in our laws.

Source: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Constitutional

Amendments, Hearings, The “Equal Rights” Amendment, 91st Cong., 2d sess., 1970, 335–337.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

1. How does Gloria Steinem compare the injustice that women face with the injustice

that blacks and other minorities face?

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2. Why does Steinem believe that her experience with discrimination is not as bad as the

experiences of most other women in America?

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3. What do you think Steinem hoped to accomplish with her testimony before

Congress?

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A Time of Social Change History and Geography



The Equal Rights Amendment Many people believed that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not provide

equal rights for women. To address this, they campaigned for an

amendment to the Constitution that has been called the Equal Rights

Amendment (ERA).

In order for a new amendment to become part of the Constitution, it

must first be passed by both houses of Congress. After this step, the

amendment must be ratified, or approved, by three-fourths of the states.

Congress sets a time limit for how long the states have to approve the

amendment.

The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972, and

then sent to the states for ratification. Congress established a 1982 deadline

for ratification. The chart below shows what years each state ratified the

ERA. If a state does not appear on the chart, it did not ratify the

amendment.

State Year State Year

Alaska 1972 New Hampshire 1972

California 1972 New Jersey 1972

Colorado 1972 New Mexico 1973

Connecticut 1973 New York 1972

Delaware 1973 North Dakota 1975

Hawaii 1972 Ohio 1974

Idaho 1972 Oregon 1973

Indiana 1977 Pennsylvania 1972

Iowa 1972 Rhode Island 1974

Kansas 1972 South Dakota 1973

Kentucky 1972 Tennessee 1972

Maine 1974 Texas 1972

Maryland 1973 Vermont 1973

Massachusetts 1972 Washington 1973

Minnesota 1973 West Virginia 1972

Montana 1974 Wisconsin 1972

Nebraska 1972 Wyoming 1973

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A Time of Social Change History and Geography



MAP ACTIVITY

1. Gather six highlighters or pens of different colors. With the first highlighter or pen,

fill in the box next to “1972” in the map’s key. Use the same highlighter or pen to

shade the states that ratified the ERA in 1972. Use the table to find this information.

2. Use the second highlighter or pen to fill in the box next to “1973” in the map’s key.

Use the same highlighter or pen to shade the corresponding states in the map.

3. Use the third highlighter or pen to do the same for “1974.”

4. Use the fourth highlighter or pen to do the same for “1975.”

5. Use the fifth highlighter or pen to do the same for “1977.”

6. Use the sixth highlighter or pen to do the same for “Did not ratify.”

ANALYZING MAPS

1. Analyze How many states ratified the ERA in 1972?

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2. Analyze What was the last state to ratify the ERA? In what year?

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3. Analyze How many states needed to ratify the ERA for it to become an amendment

to the Constitution? How many states had ratified the ERA through 1977? How many

more states would have needed to ratify the amendment for it to have taken effect?

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