OVERVIEW
John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the united states from 1961 until he was shot and killed in 1963. He was one of the most crucial things during the civil rights movement, because he helped push civil rights legislation through Congress, supported the integration of schools and universities throughout the South, and collaborated extensively with leaders of the civil rights movement.
Originally , when JFK was elected, blacks weren't allowed to live in the same neighborhoods as whites, vote, eat at the same restaurants, and more things that any citizen should be able to do, but the Civil rights act led to the integration of blacks in office and as citizens.
President Kennedy had to deal with many serious problems here in the United States. One of the biggest problems was racial discrimination. The US Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that segregation in public schools would no longer be permitted. Blacks and whites, the decision mandated, should go to school together. This was the law of the Entire US. However, there were many schools, especially in southern states, that did not obey this law. There was also racial segregation on buses, in restaurants, movie theaters, and other public places.
One of the Biggest moments of the Kennedy administration was on June 25, 1962. James Meredith had applied to the University of Mississippi, had been rejected based on his skin color, and thus filed a complaint for racial discrimination in the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Fifth circuit ruled that the University should admit Meredith, but Governor Ross Barnett stated that he would physically stand in the way of integration. As a result, Kennedy sent 300 federal marshals to enforce the court's decision. There were riots on campus that yielded the deaths of 2 people , and many federal marshals sustained serious injuries. JFK then put the MNG (Mississippi National Guard) under federal jurisdiction and made sure that Meredith was admitted. In June of 1963, JFK took the same action versus George Wallace in the desegregation of the University of Alabama.
MOVING FORWARD
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963. He was riding in a convertible down a street in Texas, when a man known as Lee Harvey Oswald Shot Kennedy in the head, Leaving the president severely wounded, and to die a short time later. Kennedy had a great impact on the Civil rights movement, and without his influence, things in our daily life could've ended up much differently.
After Kennedy's assassination, Vice president Lyndon B. Johnson was moved up to president of the united states. Johnson Passed the civil rights bill of 1964, and was committed to making an equal country, just like how JFK wanted.
WORKS CITED
- Stoughton, Cecil William. ST-22-1-62. Kennedy Family in Hyannis Port. 1962. JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, Columbia Point, Boston MA.
- Pickett, Otis Westbrook. "John F. Kennedy." The American Mosaic: The African American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2017, africanamerican.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1477387. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017
- "Life of John F. Kennedy." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The New Frontier Network, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2017
- "Civil Rights Movement." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.