Sterngold is correct that the non-Communist left was fracturing in the 1950′s. I haven’t read Piereson’s book yet but, if Piereson does indeed allege there was some sort of serene 1950′s “consensus” on the left, he does err.
And the idea that Kennedy’s assassination radicallized anyone is ludicrous.
What JFK’s assassination did accomplish here was expose the by-then significant fracture between liberal intellectuals and the young “new left”, by removing the former’s leader so the latter would be more visible.
And Piereson’s alleged causal connection between urban black riots of 1965-67 and the new young radical left, if he does allege such a thing, is likewise incorrect. The “black power” movement had something to do with the riots, though not as much as one would think, but white lefties were a complete zero there.
