There are then the enthusiasts, evangelists and individuals with a vested interest who clearly use social media to promote their cause. He explained how Nixon singled out the phrase and went on to make use of it in his speech: "We [had] used 'forgotten Americans' and 'quiet Americans' and other phrases. [20], Thirty-five years later, Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan recalled using the phrase in a memo to the president. Whatever the rationale, Nixon won a landslide victory in [33], The phrase "silent majority" has also been used in the political campaigns of Ronald Reagan during the 1970s and 1980s, the Republican Revolution in the 1994 elections, and the victories of Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. [29][30] The "silent majority" shared Nixon's anxieties and fears that normalcy was being eroded by changes in society. The problem is that no one ever seems to address the question of sample bias, and how representative any of this data is of the general population or group you are trying to understand. Our community is currently deciding our focus for this month. And in one memo I mentioned twice the phrase 'silent majority,' and it's double-underlined by Richard Nixon, and it would pop up in 1969 in that great speech that basically made his presidency." This goes against everything your parents, your teachers, and pretty much everyone else have always believed. Section 1: Racial Discrimination, Bias, and Privilege. In a time of dissent and 'confrontation', the most striking new factor was the emergence of the Silent Majority as a powerfully assertive force in U.S. Preceding Nixon by half a century, it was employed in 1919 by Calvin Coolidge's campaign for the 1920 presidential nomination. But they aspire to more and feel menaced by those who have less. Mr. Nixon's problem is to interpret what the silent people think, and govern the country against the grain of what its more important thinkers think. The views and sentiments you harvest are therefore highly unlikely to be representative. [22] Nixon's polarization survives today in American politics. CIO I must be right! This can be for all kinds of reasons, such as desire to look different, conform, please, impress or fear of criticism, discrimination, and persecution. At the beginning of the month, members vote on a focus area. A … [39], In 2019, the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, acknowledged the quiet Australians in his federal election victory speech. We look for organizations where our impact can be significant. Publisher Roy E. Larsen wrote that "the events of 1969 transcended specific individuals. There is a significant and very vocal minority of the academic community that prefers a leftist political orthodoxy to viewpoint diversity and open inquiry,” she wrote in an email. P2: Minority views are more true than majority views. Beyond this, the composition of the vocal minority is also interesting to consider. From a systems perspective, this brings us back to the importance of social analytics systems, and indeed big data solutions in general, being properly integrated into your broader landscape of analysis, planning and decision-making capability so you can work on the basis of a more holistic view of the customer. [20] In his speech Nixon stated his policy of Vietnamization would lower American losses as the South Vietnamese Army would take on the burden of fighting the war; announced his willingness to compromise provided that North Vietnam recognized South Vietnam; and finally promised he would take "strong and effective measures" against North Vietnam if the war continued. Anyone on the receiving end of a 'big data' presentation from mainstream IT vendors such as IBM, EMC, HP, Microsoft, SAP and others will have had analysis of social media feeds put to them as a use-case for high volume number crunching technologies. Describing French Conservatives of the 1870s, the writer opined that "their mistake was, not in appealing to the country, but in appealing to it in behalf of a Monarchy which had yet to be defined, instead of a Republic which existed; for in the latter case they would have had the whole of that silent majority with them. [22] They did, in some cases, support the conservative policies of many politicians. "[23], In his famous speech, Nixon contrasted his international strategy of political realism with the "idealism" of a "vocal minority." C: X is more true than Y. [36] He also referred to the silent majority in subsequent speeches and advertisement,[37] as did the press when describing those who voted for his election as President in 2016. In 2019, when the democratic movement became increasingly violent, the Carrie Lam administration and Beijing authorities appealed to the "silent majority" to dissociate themselves from the radical activists and to vote for the pro-government camp in the District Council elections, which were seen as a de facto referendum on the protests. Members then nominate nonprofits that meet our criteria: fighting for equity and justice, operating with less than a $1 million budget, and having good financial standing. [35], During Donald Trump's presidential campaign, he said at a campaign rally on July 11, 2015, in Phoenix, Arizona, that "the silent majority is back, and we’re going to take our country back". Nixon's silent majority referred mainly to the older generation (those World War II veterans in all parts of the U.S.) but it also described many young people in the Midwest, West and in the South, many of whom eventually served in Vietnam. Before that, the phrase was used in the 19th century as a euphemism referring to all the people who have died, and others have used it before and after Nixon to refer to groups of voters in various nations of the world. Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc. Only Americans can do that". [26], The silent majority theme has been a contentious issue amongst journalists since Nixon used the phrase. In 1975, in Portugal, then president António de Spínola used the term in confronting the more radical forces of post-revolutionary Portugal. People's inherent behaviour doesn't change that easily or quickly just because you give them a new way to communicate. At the other extreme, the 'wronged', 'disappointed', religious or philosophical objectors, and others with strong negative feelings are also going to be part of the vocal minority group. By pooling our resources in this way, we are capable of making an outsized impact. Vocal Minority is a community dedicated to fighting for equity and justice in America. In May 1831, the expression "silent majority" was spoken by Churchill C. Cambreleng, representative of New York state, before 400 members of the Tammany Society. Subscribe to access expert insight on business technology - in an ad-free environment. We believe a Trump administration poses a distinct threat to countless citizens: immigrants and blacks, muslims and gays, veterans and women. The opposition vote was split successfully, with 80% of George Wallace supporters voting for Nixon rather than George McGovern, unlike Wallace himself. [41] However, with a record turnout of over 70%, the pro-democracy camp won 80% of overall seats and controlled 17 out of the 18 District Councils. By Freeform Dynamics, "[24] After giving the speech, Nixon's approval ratings which had been hovering around 50% shot up to 81% in the nation and 86% in the South. 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"[11], Also in 1955, while Nixon was serving as vice-president to Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and his research assistants wrote in his book Profiles in Courage, "Some of them may have been representing the actual sentiments of the silent majority of their constituents in opposition to the screams of a vocal minority..."[12] In January 1956, Kennedy gave Nixon an autographed copy of the book. [20] The public reaction to the "silent majority speech" was very favorable at the time and the White House phone lines were overwhelmed with thousands of phone calls in the hours afterward as too many people called to congratulate the president for his speech. [18], In the months leading up to Nixon's 1969 speech, his vice-president Spiro T. Agnew said on May 9, "It is time for America's silent majority to stand up for its rights, and let us remember the American majority includes every minority. One group that's always likely to be over-represented is the 'naturally noisy'. According to him, past labels used by the media include "silent majority" in the 1960s, "forgotten middle class" in the 1970s, "angry white males" in the 1980s, "soccer moms" in the 1990s, and "NASCAR dads" in the 2000s.[32]. Phrases such as "gone to a better world", "gone before", and "joined the silent majority" served as euphemisms for "died". [7], In 1883, an anonymous author calling himself "A German" wrote a memorial to Léon Gambetta, published in The Contemporary Review, a British quarterly. The Silent Majority was mostly populated by blue collar white people who did not take an active part in politics: suburban, exurban and rural middle class voters. [34], The term was used by British Prime Minister David Cameron during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum; Cameron expressed his belief that most Scots opposed independence, while implicitly conceding they may not be as vocal as the people who support it. What's easy to overlook, however, is human nature. Let us be united for peace. This climate of resistance was not unique to the National Initiative training context. The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The phrase had been in use for much of the 19th century to refer to the dead—the number of living people is less than the number who have died throughout human history (in 2011 there were approximately 14 dead for every living person[4]), so the dead are the majority in that sense.