Daniel J.B. Mitchell: ‘Campus Unrest at UCLA in The Late 1960s’

Source:Daniel J.B. Mitchell– UCLA Professor Angela Davis in the 1960s.

“These news clips show the inauguration of Chancellor Charles Young in 1969 despite concerns about student demonstrations. Not long after his inauguration, the chancellor was confronted with the Angela Davis controversy, also shown.”

Source:Daniel JB Mitchell

If the reason for UCLA or the State of California for firing Professor Angela Davis was because she threatened the administration at UCLA and called for mass-violence, etc, then that would be one thing and they would have real reason to fire her. But that wasn’t why she was fired, at least from everything that I’ve seen so far. She was back then at least a self-described Communist who was teaching philosophy at UCLA. Who was calling for the release of men that she saw as political prisoners in California state prisons.

The 1960s was a crazy, radical time. Especially compared with the very conservative establishment status-quo decade of the 1950s, culturally. And by 1968 or 69 and perhaps especially in California where radical leftist movements tend to get started, it was even more so. And it looked like the country might be falling apart over Vietnam and other cultural issues.

The emergence of the New-Left (Socialists and Communists) that Professor Davis was obviously was part of is now on the scene. And they want to take America apart and create a different type of country. That is more collectivist and communitarian and even socialist and less individualistic.

1966 was the exception to this social revolutionary period in California, where Mr. Status Quo Establishment Conservative Ronald Reagan is elected Governor of California. And one of the first things that he does as Governor in 1967 is take on the campus radicals in California. And goes a step forward and takes on a radical professor in Angela Davis and has her fired at UCLA.

California takes it a step forward then that and tries to make a criminal out of Professor Davis and get her sent to prison. And charge her with a court shooting in the Oakland area that she wasn’t part of. When you take on the establishment, they can hit you back. Which is what happened to Angela Davis.