Port Huron Statement Summary

The Port Huron Statement was a manifesto written by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) that details the paradoxes in American society and the need for social change. This manifesto was written in 1962 during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. During this period, African Americans continued to struggle to become integrated into American society. There was still segregation although African Americans were promised equality by the American government that was supposed to be “of, by, and for the people.” The Port Huron Statement was a form of civil disobedience that argued for the active participation of students in democratic institutions to create social change and equality for all. The group discussed nuclear warfare, participatory democracy, and forming an anti-hierarchical society. They wanted to bring students together to fight for an equal and just society. However, they faced difficulties that stood in the way of their goal. They noticed that America did not have any explicit values or practical alternatives to the present. America was not trying to improve. Rather, they continued to live the same and influenced others to

remain the same. Also, many students were not involved in the Civil Rights Movement, demonstrating their lack of interest for equal rights. The Port Huron Statement also proposed solutions to these problems. One solution would be to establish values that benefit society, which can facilitate social change. Another proposed solution is that universities, which have the ability to socially influence its students, should persuade students to actively participate in social movements to produce a more autonomous and democratic republic.
The Port Huron Statement was essentially an ambitious agenda for a new social movement that argues for radical leftism.

Leftism is a type of political position that supports social equality and is against the idea of social hierarchy. The students wrote this statement as they “began to see complicated and disturbing paradoxes in [their] surrounding America” (SDS 173). They noticed that the declaration that “all men are created equal” did not apply to the African Americans in the South. Thus, “the permeating and victimizing fact of human degradation, symbolized by the Southern struggle against racial bigotry, compelled most of [them] from silence to activism” (SDS 173). When the students realized that African Americans were not getting fair treatment, they formed the Students for a Democratic Society and wrote the Port Huron

Statement.
The manifesto points out some of the obstacles that stood in the way of the ultimate purpose for the declaration of the statement and the formation of the association. They noticed that “America rests in national stalemate, its goals ambiguous and tradition-bound instead of informed and clear, its democratic system apathetic and manipulated” (SDS 174). America failed to produce new values and goals, and as a result, they did not progress. America believed that there were “no viable alternatives to the present” and continued to follow the hegemonic, or dominant, ideologies, which were ideas that were accepted by the majority (SDS 174). One main ideology was the idea that African Americans should be placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy. This was a recurring ideology throughout American history, one that emanated from the notion of white supremacy. White supremacy is the artificial construction of a racial hierarchy based on which race is considered to be in authority or control. Because of the history of white supremacy, the Students for a Democratic Society found it difficult for American society to create values that would benefit not only the hegemonic group but also minorities, mainly African Americans. American people had the “pervading feeling that there simply are not alternatives, that [their] times have witnessed the exhaustion not only of Utopias, but of any new departures as well” (SDS 174). Because many people did not have hope for further change in American society, SDS found it difficult to persuade students to become actively involved in the fight for a more equitable society. This was a significant obstacle that needed to be overcome in order to facilitate social change in America.
Detailing some solutions to create a more just society, the Port Huron Statement acts as an outline for social transformation. “A first task of any social movement is to convenience people that the search for orienting theories and the creation of human values is complex but worthwhile” (SDS 176). The first solution that the students proposed is for America to establish explicit values and alternatives that aid in the formation of a more equitable society. SDS believe that this new generation cannot move forward successfully because there is no vision for further change (SDS 175). They must create alternatives that allow for individual participation of students to determine social decisions that influence their surroundings. Their two aims are “that the individual share in those social decisions determining the quality and direction of his life; that society be organized to encourage independence in men and provide the media for their common participation” (SDS 177). They believe that everyone should be actively participating in the pursuit of social change.
In addition to the need for values and alternatives to create social change, students in universities can be challenged by their institutions and can ultimately be persuaded to participate in social movements. Universities could serve as a “significant source of social criticism and an initiator of new modes and molders of attitudes” (SDS 179). Because the university is located in a permanent position of social influence, it has the ability to influence the attitudes of its students. Also, it is the “central institution for organizing, evaluating, and transmitting knowledge” (SDS 179). Universities can reveal and discuss the contradictions in American society. One of these contradictions is that although the Declaration of Independence says that “all men are created equal,” African Americans continue to be discriminated against and are not treated with equality.