John F. Kennedy and His Role in the Civil Rights Movement Master’S Diploma Thesis
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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies EnglishLanguageandLiterature MichaelaLupačová John F. Kennedy and His Role in the Civil Rights Movement Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor:doc.PhDr.TomášPospíšil,Dr. 2008 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………… 2 I would like to thank my supervisor, doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. for his help and guidance throughout my work. 3 Contents INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________________ 6 1 PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC _________________________________ 8 1.1 AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE USA _________________________________________ 8 1.2 THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT __________________________________________ 10 1.3 JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY ____________________________________________ 11 1.3.1 FAMILY BACKGROUND _________________________________________________ 12 2 PART II: EARLY POLITICAL CAREER __________________________________ 14 2.1 CAMPAIGN FOR CONGRESS ______________________________________________ 14 2.2 YEARS IN CONGRESS ___________________________________________________ 16 2.3 CAMPAIGN FOR SENATE ________________________________________________ 17 2.4 YEARS IN THE SENATE (1953 – 1960) ______________________________________ 20 2.4.1 BROWN V . BOARD OF EDUCATION ________________________________________ 21 2.4.2 SITUATION IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ___________________________________ 22 2.4.3 THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957 __________________________________________ 24 2.4.4 LITTLE ROCK CRISIS ___________________________________________________ 27 2.4.5 CONVENTION OF YOUNG DEMOCRATS IN JACKSON , MISSISSIPPI ________________ 28 3 PART III: PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN __________________________________ 29 3.1 EARLY CAMPAIGNING __________________________________________________ 29 3.2 KENNEDY TEAM _______________________________________________________ 30 3.3 RELIGION ____________________________________________________________ 31 3.4 WISCONSIN PRIMARY __________________________________________________ 31 4 3.5 THE ISSUE OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE CAMPAIGN _____________________________ 33 3.6 WEST VIRGINIA PRIMARY _______________________________________________ 33 3.7 FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS DURING KENNEDY ’S CAMPAIGN ____________ 34 3.8 SIT -IN MOVEMENTS ____________________________________________________ 35 3.9 NATIONAL CONVENTION IN LOS ANGELES _________________________________ 37 3.10 AFTER THE CONVENTION ______________________________________________ 38 3.11 PHONE CALL TO CORETTA KING ________________________________________ 40 3.12 TELEVISED DEBATES __________________________________________________ 42 3.13 NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND AMERICAN FREEDOM 44 3.14 ELECTION RESULTS ___________________________________________________ 45 4 PART IV: PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE ______________________________________ 48 4.1 FIRST MONTHS IN THE OFFICE ___________________________________________ 48 4.2 DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AFRICAN DIPLOMATS ____________________________ 50 4.3 VOTING RIGHTS _______________________________________________________ 51 4.4 FREEDOM RIDES _______________________________________________________ 53 4.5 ALBANY MOVEMENT ___________________________________________________ 58 4.6 INTEGRATING THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI _____________________________ 61 4.7 BIRMINGHAM _________________________________________________________ 67 4.8 INTEGRATING THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ______________________________ 71 4.9 KENNEDY ’S CIVIL RIGHTS BILL __________________________________________ 73 4.10 THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON __________________________________________ 74 CONCLUSION ____________________________________________________________ 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY __________________________________________________________ 82 5 Introduction Numerous books have been written about Kennedy’s political, as well as personal life, about his great achievements and his flaws. John F. Kennedy, who has become a myth,has beenfascinatingpeople of several generations.His political career was developingduringthe fifties andat the beginningof the sixties,whichare regarded as the most remarkable decades of the twentieth century.It was the time of social and political upheaval – new movements emerged and the traditional values were questioned.The ColdWar andVietnam War were fought,BerlinWall was constructed andthe worldfacedthe threat of nuclear war. Apart from these challenges in foreign affairs, Kennedy was also confronted with domestic issues during his career, particularlywiththe civil rights issue duringhis presidency.Racial inequalitybecame a very controversial topic in the USA. The civil rights organizations intensified their effort to fight segregation and to achieve full constitutional rights for African Americans.Sternconfirms that “civil rights andrace relations were the most passionate, obstinate and irrational issue in American history and politics” (“Eisenhower and Kennedy”4). Kennedy’s character withregardtocivil rights has beendiscussedbynumerous scholars and writers.While some see Kennedyas a keyfigure inthe struggle for racial equality,whocontributedsignificantlytothe integrationof AfricanAmericans intothe Americansociety,others criticize his performance for lack of actionandtheysee his contributionsasmere politicalcalculations.Thereareargumentssupportingbothviews. Inmydiploma thesis I am goingtoanalyze the role of JohnF.Kennedyinthe Civil Rights Movement. Did Kennedy play such significant role as his supporters 6 claim? Was his contribution to the racial problem so substantial or was it merely motivatedbyhis politicalneeds?Thethesisisdividedintofour parts. In the first part, I am going to introduce the topic of civil rights, the roots of racial inequalityinthe USA. I will brieflydescribe the development of the Civil Rights Movement andI will provide backgroundinformationabout JohnKennedy,his family andhis earlylife.In the secondpart of mythesis I am goingtofocus onKennedy’s early political career andhis approachtothe problem of civil rights duringhis years in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. I will focus on his early political campaignsandhisvotingrecordintheCongress. The thirdpart is goingto deal with Kennedy’s presidential campaign.I am going toanalyze his speeches andacts regardingcivil rights,particularlyhis telephone call to Mrs. King which is believed to have contributed significantly to his victory. In the fourthpart I am goingtoexamine Kennedy’s recordoncivil rights duringhis years in office.I am goingto outline President’s relationtoracial inJustice andcivil rights issues and its development. I am going to discuss individual events which occurred during Kennedy’s presidencyandanalyze Kennedy’s role inthem. The aim of this thesis is to find out whether John Kennedy contributed to racial equality in the USA, how significanthiscontributionswere,andwhatwerethemotivesforhisacts. 7 1 Part I: Introduction to the Topic 1.1 African Americans in the USA The first Africans arrived at the Continent of North America in 1619 as indenturedservants.Trans-Atlantic trade brought millions of Africans toAmerica and new social order based on skin color was gradually established in the colonies. Although according to the Declaration of Independence (1776), all men were equal, blacks were owned by white masters as slaves, primarily but not exclusively in the Southof the United States where theyworkedontobacco,rice andcottonfields.The Civil War (1861–1865) brought anendtoslavery.EmancipationProclamationissued in 1863 freed all slaves in the states of Confederacy. During the so called Reconstruction era 1 three amendments 2 were passed. These amendments aimed to modify the social position of black population. However, during the period of Reconstruction, new groups and organizations arouse and their main aim was to threaten African Americans and prevent them from trying to exercise their rights. Southernstates startedenactingthe socalledBlackCodes,laws limiting civil liberties offormerslaveswhichhelpedestablishsegregation. In1896,the Supreme Court announcedinthe case of Plessy v. Ferguson that separate facilities for white andcoloredpeople were legal as longas they were of equal quality,whichlegitimizedracial segregationandenabledit tobecome aninherent part of the Americansociety. Segregation was present at all spheres of public life –schools, 1 Reconstruction (1865 – 1877) was a period following Civil War during which the United States planned to reconstruct the South. 2 13 th Amendment from 1865 abolished slavery, 14 th Amendment, passed in 1866, guarantees citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States; and according to the 15 th Amendment, the right to vote cannot be denied “on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude” (“The Constitution”). 8 restaurants, accommodation and transport facilities were all segregated. As Morris claims: “Racial segregationwas the linchpinof Jim Crow,3 for it was anarrangement that set Blacks off from the rest of humanityandlabeledthem as aninferior race” (517). Desegregationbecame one of the maingoals of the civil rights advocates.During the First World War, African Americans were given the opportunity to “serve their country” (Rosenberg 17), however, despite this new achievement other changes regarding racial equalization did not occur between the First and the Second World Wars.Withthe beginningof the SecondWorldWar African Americans were provided new opportunities inthe