My name is Charles Blow.
I’m a columnist at “The New York Times.”
I write about politics, culture, and equality.
With all of the protests on college campuses,
it reminds me of the protest movement
that happened in 1968 ahead of that year’s Democratic Convention in Chicago.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The reason that it matters to look back in 1968 is that it feels,
in some way, like we could very well repeat the mistake of 1968
when it comes to liberal politics.
Nixon goes on to win that election, not the Democrat.
And part of that is discontent in the country
but also within the natural base of the Democratic Party.
1968 was a fascinating time.
The country was volatile at that moment.
People had just come off of watching the civil rights movement play out over years.
(SINGING) We can overcome.
We can —
But they'd also watched tragedy in the country.
They’d had assassinations of President Kennedy —