Radicalism in California Radicalism was a big problem for California in the 1960s, especially the Bay Area. The University of California at Berkley was the birthplace of radicalism. The radicals included students and non-students, all very liberal and some were "hippies". The radicals set out with good intentions, fighting for free speech and to stop racial discrimination. Unfortunately the radicals lost track of what was really important and became violent. Who knows what they could have achieved if they had remained peaceful protesters and had found different, legal ways to make their case. Radicalism began to grow as early as the 1960s, when college students were angered by their exclusion from a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing in San Francisco. At about the same time, Black college students in the Southern states began organizing strikes in segregated areas. This idea came from the union strikes in 1927. This established radicalism for the Bay Area, Berkley students had spent time in the South protesting with black college students. They decided they would do the same thing in the Bay Area, they protested unfair hiring activities by many Bay Area employers. This was the beginning, but the real success began in September 1964. The University announced that it would not allow students to use the sidewalk near the school for political recruitment and meetings. Partly because the government was trying to limit political discourse and support. However, when the administration attempted to enforce the new order, students organized the free speech movement. They called a student strike and used civil rejection... middle of paper... they intervened on many occasions and when the radicals tried to take back the "people's park" the national guard flew there and shed a tear gas on everyone and prevented them from leaving the area. This was a turning point, the radicals realized that they were not being taken seriously and that the opposing force was too strong to fight, so radicalism faded away. The "radicals" began as students fighting for a noble cause, such as free speech and racial equality. By using peaceful protests they have achieved a lot. But they ended up being a bunch of punk kids who threw tantrums about anything they didn't agree with. They behaved immaturely, as if they were spoiled children away from home for the first time. Which, in some cases, was exactly what they were. It's a shame they went this way, who knows what else they could have accomplished peacefully.