Contigency Plans: Reagan’s FEMA Administrator Giuffrida

[YoungDemCA]

1. Not surprising, unfortunately.

Beginning in the 1970s, the United States took an especially reactionary turn in domestic politics (though some of that was foreshadowed by Reagan's election in California in 1966, among other things). Politically speaking, a lot of this was motivated by many white Americans" fears regarding the radicalization of black Americans and other minority groups. The Black Panthers, Malcolm X, and the race riots of the 1960s all seemed to confirm the fears and prejudices of white people. Plus, a lot of people were genuinely scared by crime, and they were more likely to support harsher punishments for black criminals. Of course, the media and politicians exploited and stoked these fears.

The race issue is really key to understanding how American society-and the American class system-operates.