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Some men go through life and live it quietly and dont change the world, however they make a difference. However then there are other men who change the way of life for an entire nation. John Kennedy was the second type of man. John Kennedy was an icon to the American culture and this is shown through the momentous changes in civil rights he made, the stands for equal rights that he made, the civil rights leaders that he was affiliated with, and the reasons behind his support.
John F. Kennedy was the first president to make major adjustments in civil rights which would affect the way that some Americans lived their daily lives and would correct history by allowing all Americans to share in the ideals of equality of all in the American culture. While he didnt make very many changes he opened the eyes of the American public to the injustices being done to some African Americans and other minorities. While Kennedy was campaigning he promised to address some civil rights issues. His speech is given in a book edited by Doris Saunders. Saunders recalls Kennedys speech, I assure you in a new Democratic administration there will be far better representation, on the basis of merit, of persons of all our racial groups, including particularly those who in the past have been excluded on the basis of prejudice.
For no American should be disqualified for any office because of his race, color, religion, or family origin. It is time for us to practice what our constitution preaches (22). With these simple words President Kennedy started the ball of civil rights moving. He pushed it at the top of the mountain and not even he could keep up with the pace that it would start to roll down the mountain. He also showed the American culture that all men were not given a chance to share in the life that they were freely given. He showed that although the constitution stated that all men were created equally, they were not considered equal in the eyes of the men that one should be free of oppression, their equals, not their superiors.
Kennedy did make changes to the civil rights, and his most aggressive changes were in the Civil Rights Acts of 1964. Kennedy made changes to the way that Americans were living their lives and extended the basis of the American culture to all Americans. John Fonte talks it about in an essay. Fonte explains, The consensus was based on the principle nondiscrimination for all individuals regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, and sex. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forged a meaning to the word justice, and equality in American life (paragraph 2). The Acts of 1964 were quite significant.
They were: The right to vote, Defendants were allowed voting rights, public accommodations, public facilities, education, federal programs stopping segregation, and employment. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also gave defendants the right to jury trials on demand except for in voting cases for anyone that violated the rights. It also stated that nobody could be convicted for criminal contempt unless the intent to discriminate could be proven. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also stated that no one person could be tried for criminal prosecution and criminal contempt for the same violation of the same act. These acts gave the state and local fair employment time to gain the compliance of the employers before the federal government would take action (Fonte 11 - 22). These acts that were eventually passed by Congress are the fist major strides towards the African Americans battle for equality.
The advances in creating equal rights for the entire American public as a whole. This furthered the enforcement of the basis of the American cultures belief in a democratically appointed society of equals. Kennedy created these acts to show the world that in the United States all men, regardless of race and color, are equals in the American culture and will be treated as equals or else there will be consequences for the people that violate the rights of these equal citizens. Kennedy however did not do this by himself.
He had dealings with many great men directing the path of civil rights. John Kennedy dealt with many of the civil rights leaders of the 1960 s, which gave the rights denied to the majority of the American culture to all citizens. Kennedy had relations with many civil rights leaders while in office. One of these men was Roy Wilkins who was the Executive Director of the NAACP. Wilkins headed the oldest and largest of all of the civil rights organizations. Wilkins wrote Kennedy many letters concerning civil rights groups actions, and the inaction of the groups that they protested against.
Kennedy also dealt with A. Philip Randolph who had helped with past presidents to help reform civil rights. Randolph had helped to give equal rights in the armed forces, and had improved other aspects of Black American Culture. Bayard Russian helped organize the enormous civil rights march on Washington. He aided the cause for civil rights and equality in the American culture by setting up such events as the march on Washington, and other events. Kennedy however was not pushed or bullied at all by these men as much as he was by another.
Kennedy faced many challenges and forced decisions that he had not planned to make as quickly as he had to. Kennedy fought for equality and protected the Americans cultures ideals of equality of all men and races of men. He fought for the average ordinary American and for him to have a say in the representation of his thoughts in the government, which is guaranteed by the constitution. The same constitution that guarantees equality to all minorities no matter how much they were out numbered showed the beliefs of the original spirit of the American culture. Kennedy had dealings with one man who was a major supporter of the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama and he went on to march to Washington and tell of his dream.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a man that pushed John Kennedy to the brink of anger at times where other men had never dared to in changing the view of the American culture. He was a man that pushed Civil Rights harder than many other leaders with the President was Martin Luther King Jr. King once stated, In the election when I gave my testimony for Kennedy, my impression then was that he had the intelligence, and the skill and the moral fervor to give the leadership weve been waiting for and do what no other President has done. Now, Im convinced he has the understanding and political skill, but so far I am afraid the moral passion is missing (Wofford 128, 129). While Kennedy at first did not wish to anger the Southern Democrats that had supported him in his race for the presidency, he answered the call to preserve the basis of the entire American culture, freedom and justice for all mankind in the free society.
He would not allow a sub class to exists in a society, which was created by a government that states that all men are equal and share equal rights under the law of the land. Kennedy was especially not going to let the world see the federal government be stopped up by the administration of the state. So none the less when the federal courts ended segregation and the South didnt want to, Kennedy didnt back down. President Kennedy faced many challenges when desegregating the south and changing the viewpoints of the minority in the American culture to a more knowledgeable viewpoint of integration. The first major conflict in the desegregation of the South was when James Meredith applied to be accepted at Ole Miss during the year 1962. The following account is from a book by Blaustein Zangrando about the beginning of the civil rights path to equal higher education.
Zangrandos account tells about how the Governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, had himself appointed University Registrar and denied Meredith entry after Meredith had went to a federal court and received the right to attend the public institution. However Barnett still was interfering with Meredith's acceptance, and thanks to civil rights leaders this had caught national attention. So President Kennedy then issued and executive order demanding Mississippi's compliance with the federal court ruling (483). After this obstruction of justice, President Kennedy addressed the nation to bring attention to the hate to the African American community. He shed light on how the American cultures dream was being denied to a group of people not due to a mental or physical deficiency at all upon the fault of the entire people of the African American nation in America. Instead this belief of a part of the American culture and the belief of the American dream were being denied to an entire group of people due to the color of their skin.
Kennedy gave an address to the nation during the incident as it was peaking. President Kennedy believed in th...
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Research essay sample on John F Kennedy An American Icon
