nOt tO put tOO Fine a pOint On it, But
in 1969 life for a gay, black, young woman (or
any of the above) was pretty tough.
The baseline has moved so far, so fast that
it’s hard to explain what it was like in 1969,
particularly outside major metropolitan ar-
eas and in the South. Until 1967, some states
had laws that prohibited marriage between
people of different races. Before enforcement
of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, many towns
had sundown laws where blacks were subject
to arrest if they were out after dark. In 1981, a
young black man was lynched in Mobile, Al-
abama, by the Ku Klux Klan. In 1969, women
earned 59 cents on the dollar vs. men. Now it’s
82 cents Not great, but better. But before 1963,
employers didn’t even have to pretend to pay
men and women equally for the same work.
Until 1973, homosexuality was considered
a mental disorder by the psychiatric profes-
sion. BeforeRoe v. Wadein 1973, abortion was
a crime in many states.
We are far from living in a fair and equal
world, but it is decidedly fairer and more
equal than it was in 1969 and much of that
is due to boomers. We voted. We marched—
at our schools and in our hometowns, and
after piling into beat-up old cars and driv-
ing through the night to Washington. We
agitated and demonstrated. Sometimes we
even rioted—as in Chicago in 1968 and
New York City in 1969 (Stonewall). Some-
times we paid a heavy price—people went
to jail, and at Kent State University in 1970,
students were killed by the National Guard.
Today, there is at least some measure of
indignation when we see unfairness. And
there is redress, both legally and in public
shaming. We have not eliminated bias, but
we have delegitimized it.Human Rights
& Inclusivity
26 NEWSWEEK.COM
“SPOILER ALERT:
The world we’re leaving you is
way better off than the one we got.”