John F Kennedy - Civil Rights Speech

50 years ago today, June 11, 1963, President John F Kennedy gave a speech related to the entry of two African American students to the University of Alabama. This speech became the groundwork to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By the time this became law, JFK was dead.

This speech was delivered during the height of the civil rights movement, following a spring of horrid violence against blacks and the whites who defended them. Certainly, Members of both the House and Senate from the Deep South did not find favor with the message or the tone of the speech. Some of these people included Sens Al Gore Sr, J William Fullbright and Robert Byrd.

Americans of all backgrounds and regions were finally becoming aware of the racial strife which predominated the south but was not limited to it, thanks to the hard work and risks taken by so many journalists, and broadcast nightly on the three major TV networks of the time. Prior to 1963, President Kennedy took a tepid interest in the civil rights movement, believing that it was a state and local matter. But after the Birmingham disaster in May and the continued unrest at the University of Alabama, he knew he could no longer sit on the sidelines.

The following link provides both the written speech and an MP3 audio version in its entirety.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcivilrights.htm

After this speech, President Kennedy put the full moral character and legal resources of the United States behind this movement. He actively pursued the injustice of discrimination by speaking out against prejudice and bias, and pushed the Congress hard in delivering a Civil Rights law that would protect minorities from the continued discrimination which had been made legal by the Supreme Court ruling of Plessy v Ferguson, and the various state and local Jim Crow laws.

During the March on Washington in August, 1963, where hundreds of thousands of blacks and whites rallied at the Lincoln Memorial, speeches were given by many people calling for the ratification of the pending legislation, repeal of so many terrible laws and, respect and dignity for African American and other minorities. The highlight of the day's events was the riveting "I Have A Dream" speech given by Rev Martin Luther King Jr.

Later, when the march's leaders returned to the White House as invited guests of President Kennedy, he greeted MLK with "I have a dream, too."

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Johnson, is the basis for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and so many laws which protect all of us against discrimination in so many areas of our lives.

And it all started 50 years ago today, when President Kennedy started a speech with "Good evening".