Light green text on a green background

"Culture Wars" refers to a conflict between traditionalists (conservative) values and progressive (liberal) values. The phrase on the button, “The 90's are the 60's” demonstrates that the number 90 is the number 60 “backwards & upside-down turned.” The 90s and the 60s can be comparable in that they both have an era of rebellion. The 90s explored important social issues through music, theater, and literature, just as the 60s had done. During the 60s, there was an anti-establishment cultural event that spread around the world. Because of conflicts of social values, there was widespread social tension concerning cultural issues in both the 60s and the 90s. 

Illustration of an American flag with white and blue text on a white background

Political satirist and folk singer Dave Lippman created the character of George Shrub, a satire of George Bush, who worked for the Committee to Intervene Anywhere (abbreviated CIA). Lippman has been touring and giving performances as Shrub since the 1980s when he launched his "Reagan for Shah" campaign satirizing Reagan's presidential campaign. As Shrub, he satirizes the CIA and U.S. intervention in Latin America and around the world, including both Gulf Wars.

Illustration of paper doll type people in green across the button with blue text above and below on a yellow background

"Child Care not War fare" is a slogan used from the 1980s to the early 2000s in Canada, the United States, and Australia. It was used by Socialist and Feminist peace activists to express opposition to the First and Second Gulf Wars and to request that money spent on war instead be spent on welfare and other social programs to help children and mothers. This slogan helped bring poor people and minorities into the peace movement by pointing out the connection between military spending and absence of social programs, such as childcare for working mothers, which they need.

Grey illustration of a wheel chair next to blue text on a white background

This button is most likely in support of the disability rights movement that really started to gain ground and social awareness in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s. The specific goals and demands of the movement are: accessibility and safety in transportation, architecture, and the physical environment; equal opportunities in independent living, employment, education, and housing; and freedom from abuse, neglect, and violations of patients’ rights. The message of this specific button is most closely related to the issue of accessibility, suggesting that instead of the government funding the building of weapons, they should provide more funding for the building of wheelchair ramps. 

Illustration of two hands breaking a purple gun in half with a red flower and yellow wheat coming out of the gun with a rainbow behind it and black text on a white background

The "Stop War Toys Campaign" is a campaign to spread the education of peace and non-violence. Supporters of the campaign want to protect children from exposure to the "tools of violence and war". The image of two hands breaking a toy rifle is the logo used by the War Resisters League. The War Resisters League is a group that has been resisting war at home and war abroad since 1923. They promote this campaign and believe that “war is not a game” and people shouldn’t buy war toys.

Yellow text on a red background

Free Tibet is a non-profit, non-government organization, founded in 1987 and based in London, England. Their mission statement advocates “a free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected.” The organization campaigns for “an end to China’s occupation of Tibet.” There are campaigns that advocate a boycott of Chinese-made products with the slogans "Boycott Chinese products", or "Boycott Made in China". 

Black text over a photograph of characters from the Little Rascals on a white background

Bored of Education is a comedy short that chronicles the attempt to get out of school by children named Alfalfa and Spanky. It won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film under the One-Reel category. It was the first contribution in the Our Gang series by the director Gordon Douglas. Bored of Education was loosely based on Robert F McGowan's short "Teacher's Pet." Hal Roach produced the series in the 1920s and 1930s. He bought back the rights from MGM and repackaged the shorts for television under the name The Little Rascals.

Red text on an upper left side with white background and white text on a blue background in the lower right

This is a protest button against “the Generals”: General Electric, General Foods, General Motors, General Dynamics, and General Schwarzkopf. During the 1950’s and 1960’s these companies were considered to be some of the largest and most powerful companies in the world and led their respective markets. Most of “the Generals” are not as powerful today due to smaller companies catching up, though General Electric is currently one of the most powerful manufacturing companies in the United States. 

White text on an orange background

The quote on this button is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India, who inspired movements for freedom and civil rights across the world.  The quote implies that responsibility begins and ends with one’s own behavior. According to a 2011 article in the New York Times, there is no reliable documentary evidence for the quotation. The closest matching quote is “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him…We need not wait to see what other do.” 

Black text on a white background

During the October 1991 Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice nominee, Clarence Thomas. a report was leaked to the press that contained allegations against Thomas for sexual harassment. The allegations came from Anita Hill, who had originally worked with Thomas for two years as his personal assistant when he was the head of the Office of Civil Rights at the Education Department in Washington D.C.. Upon the reports release, Hill was called to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a televised hearing where her statements proved divisive amongst the American people. Though Hill was hailed by supporters as a voice for the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, many found Hill to be delusional, being unable to produce any credible evidence to support her claims. 

Despite her testimony, Thomas would go on to to be sworn into the position of Supreme Court Justice with a vote of 52-48. Though the allegations were never proven, Anita Hill continues to be hailed by her supporters as a champion for women's rights and for bringing the issue of sexual harassment into the national spotlight.

Anita Hill is an American lawyer and a professor at Brandeis University, where she teaches social policy, law, and women’s studies.