The state of Oklahoma voted overwhelmingly this week to strike AP American History from its available courses because it omits "American exceptionalism," which is the popular belief that rules and such apply differently for the United States. You know, like, "The British killed Native Americans because they were land-greedy imperialists" versus "The United States killed Native Americans to expand its wonderful democracy Westward."
Don't get us wrong: We think the U.S. is pretty great, but we have to admit that sometimes we struggle to live up to our own glorification of the whole freedom of speech (and, in Oklahoma's case, accepting reality). Things have gotten better than they were however. The '60s really brought it to light that we thought way too highly of ourselves. Here are seven examples of censorship over a variety of issues that shook music in American during the tumultuous decade.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Oklahoma is also looking to cut Advanced Placement courses of all stripes, not just American History. So this might just be a glorified volley at education cost-cutting. Or they really hate the idea of kids thinking they should pursue college credits.)
1962: The Weavers on Jack Parr
The Weavers are one of the reason why acts such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary are as hugely renowned as they are now. The folk group's performance of everything from spiritual standards to political songs set the standard for what we know (Pete Seeger was one of the original members). Although we salute folkies for their political involvement now (i.e. Dylan at the March for Freedom), it made people significantly less comfortable during the peak of the Cold War. We had long gotten past the reign of Joseph McCarthy at this point but no one wanted to take the chance on associating with possible communist sympathizers. The Weavers were booked to perform on NBC's The Jack Parr Show during 1962 but they were turned away because they refused to sign a statement confirming that they hadn't been members of the Communist party at some point.
1963: Bob Dylan on Ed Sullivan
Jack Parr? Who even is Jack Parr? At least a national icon such as Ed Sullivan would never impeded on the freedom of music because of silly political concerns, right? Yeah right. Dylan was due to appear alongside Sullivan during 1963 but Sullivan and CBS took exception to the folk performer's desire to perform "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," a narrative that deals with the title character and the monomania created by his persistent and illogical fear that the Soviets were infiltrating his American life. So basically the biography of most denizens of the Cold War era. Dylan was offered the chance to play something else but he refused.
1965: Barry McGuire and Vietnam
The most productive era in terms of protest toward the Vietnam War was when Lyndon Johnson began escalating American involvement following his rise to the Presidency. Needless to say, there are hundreds of songs that the government would have liked to turn off during this era but few were as noteworthy as Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," which went beyond the war in Asia and looked at wars in the Middle East and violence against the Civil Rights marchers in Selma, and even hinted at the ultimate pointlessness of space missions. It was about as cynical as could be and more patriotic radio broadcasters weren't having it, labeling it as "an aid to the enemy in Vietnam." Others embraced the message however, helping the song climb to no. 1 on the Hot 100.
1965: "How Would You Feel" by Curtis Knight and The Squires
Curtis Knight is best known for serving as a launching off point for the young Jimi Hendrix. Before his guitarist could make a break for The Experience he got his first taste of censorship however. Knight wrote the track "How Would You Feel," a heartfelt question aimed at those holding down Civil Rights activists and black citizens of the United States in general. It as far from the most successful that Knight and his Squires would experience, mostly because radio broadcasters avoided playing it due to its discussion of serious subject matter. Which, you know. White people didn't want to hear about when they turned on a music station.
1967: Sonny & Cher and The Rose Bowl
Sonny & Cher were set to be the guests of honor at the 1967 Tournament of Roses Parade (better known simply as the Rose Bowl Parade now) until they had the gall to speak out on the political happenings going on around nearby Los Angeles at the moment. The situation was this: Los Angeles officials, like most figures of authority at the time, didn't take too kindly to the hippie movement. As a method of combatting them and their destructive music, the city passed an absurd 10 PM curfew in the hopes of squashing all hippie activity and concerts. Protesters took to the streets as part of the "Sunset Strip curfew riots," which had a large number of celebrity supporters, including participants Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda. Sonny & Cher also lent their support, which lost them the support of the more uptight community. The good news is that events inspired classic tracks such as Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and The Monkees' "Daily Nightly."
1967: "Society's Child" by Janis Ian
Janis Ian was just 16 when she released her single "Society's Child," which dealt with the subject matter of a white girl dating a black boy and being unable to deal with the social stigma that resulted from it. Essentially, the "Like A Prayer" music video 20 years early. Due to the narrative surrounding the very taboo topic of interracial dating, many radio stations refused to play it, even those in Northern cities such as Chicago. Good thing that in the last 50 years it's gotten so much easier for society to address this topic, right? RIGHT?
1968: The Rolling Stones and the Democratic National Convention
We tend to associate Republicans with being the more hawkish of politicians but things weren't always so: Lyndon Johnson was a die-hard Southern Democrat and therefore he was on the receiving end of much of the ire of Vietnam protestors. This in turn made his political party the subject of public disapproval. When the 1968 Democratic National Convention rolled around, everyone was expecting trouble in the streets of the Windy City, and mayor Richard Daley was looking any way to minimize it in advance. One of these actions was to ban the Rolling Stones single "Street Fighting Man" because it, you know, addressed fighting in the street, inspired by protests outside the U.S. embassy in London. Despite the lack of Stones, violence commenced, including the infamous "police riot" where massive amounts of tear-gas clouded the city.
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