What Is Kennedy's Commitment To Civil Rights

In Profiles in Courage, Kennedy writes short biographies of bravery and integrity displayed by eight U.S. senators in the history of American Senate. In his view, these individuals defied the opinions of their parties and those of their constituents to take the direction they deemed right. Consequently, these senators had to bear the brunt of their actions such as severe criticism and loss of popularity. Kennedy wrote the book, while he was recuperating in hospital after surgery during his reign as the Senator of Massachusetts. John Quincy Adams, Thomas Benton, and Sam Houston are some of politicians whom this book explores. Tied to these profiles were issues of party loyalty, favoring the compromise of 1850, and voting against party opinions. In this way, the book contains stories of men who recognized what needed to be done and did it (Kennedy 27). As the title suggests, Kennedy’s text explains how influential figures sacrificed their personal influence for their conscience despite severe rebuttals from their parties and alliances.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. During his campaign he had promised to lead the country down the right path with the civil rights movement. This campaign promise had brought hope to many African-Americans throughout the nation. Ever since Lincoln, African-Americans have tended to side with the democrats and this election was no different. The Kennedy administration had noticed that the key to the presidency was partially the civil rights issue. While many citizens were on Kennedy’s side, he had his share of opposition. Malcolm X differed on the view of the President and observed that the civil rights movement wasn’t happening at the speed Kennedy had pledged. Malcolm X possessed other reasons for his

Kennedy addresses that this is not a sectional issue. He uses logos to prove his purpose of addressing this speech of Civil Rights. President Kennedy explains that “The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the State in which he is born - one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much “(4). Kennedy uses evidence and logic that African Americans don’t nearly have the same rights and freedoms as whites. This proves that Americans should realize this inequality among them and put a stop to it. Kennedy also states that “segregation and discrimination occurs in every city of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics this is a problem which faces us all - in every city of the North as well as the South”(18). He uses evidence that explains that this not just a problem in the South but also in North and is a problem all over the nation. Kennedy addresses that “negroes unemployed, two or three times as many compared to whites” (18). He uses statistics to thoroughly state his argument that all Africans Americans are facing the obstacle of segregation and discrimination. With the use of logos Kennedy does a good job at proving to Americans that racial segregation needs to end.

Kennedy advocates greater civil rights for African Americans. Because of increasing violence and chaos between whites and blacks, Kennedy felt the need to address the nation concerning racism. In John F. Kennedy's speech, The Nation Faces a Moral Crisis in Regard to Race, Kennedy hoped his audience would consider and support equal rights for all men “I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents […] This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds […] It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights

On April 4, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy began his political campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Indiana. Before boarding his plane, Kennedy found out that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot in Memphis, Tennessee. At his arrival in Indianapolis, Kennedy was informed that Martin Luther King, Jr. had died from the incident. Kennedy was scheduled to speak to a large African-American audience, and was advised by the Indianapolis Police to not speak. The Chief of Police warned Kennedy that he would not be responsible for whatever may happen, making this speech even more dangerous. Kennedy chose to ignore the warning signs, went into the conference campaign, and spoke to the audience. Robert Kennedy, putting his political aspirations aside, advises the Indianapolis African-American audience not to retaliate to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination with violence, but with prayer, understanding, and love as Martin Luther King, Jr. taught. This is done through the use of motivational appeals, rhetorical devices, and expressing to the audience a purpose.

Johnson’s first step after becoming president was to help the citizens of the U.S. and the world cope with the death of JFK. “American people actually were 190,000,000 dazed individuals; he had to give them that unity and confidence; he had to represent it to the world” (Wicker, 161). This was a great task for any man to take on and he did so with care. He showed compassion and provided comfort for the people, promising to continue the dreams Kennedy had and to make them become a way of life. These dreams caused most people to look up to Kennedy, and it turned him into a legend in the history books even though he did not accomplish all he had tried. To achieve what Kennedy had set out to do would take a great man, and a great man Johnson showed himself to be. He also “carefully honored the Kennedy legacy…and remained deeply respectful of JFK’s cabinet and top officials” (Schulman, 69).

The aftermath of King’s death and Kennedy’s response can go multiple ways, from violent riots to peaceful protests to change in the way America thinks. If it were not for Kennedy’s speech, chaos would’ve swept the nation, and equality would’ve become out of African Americans’ grasp. In a way, Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination was a burning fire, and Robert F. Kennedy’s speech was a small

Ted Kennedy forever lived with the “Kennedy Curse.” In 1963, Ted’s oldest brother and President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. Less than a year later in 1964, Ted was flying his small airplane for campaign purposes and crashed. Ted suffered from a broken back and had reoccurring injuries for the duration of his life (Special Report, 2015, Political Life section, para. 3). In 1968, a second brother and United States Senator, Bobby, was assassinated. Shortly over a year later, the Chappaquiddick incident struck. Politically, Kennedy had a strong background that continued still after the incident. He was elected to serve in the United States Senate in 1962 where he remained serving until his death in 2009 (Lengle, 2015, para. 1). Kennedy was a successful Senator who served on many different chair committees that promoted basic civic and equal rights (Lengle, 2015, para. 1). In 1980, he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination; however, due to raised unanswered questions about the Chappaquiddick incident, he lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter (Lengle, 2015, para. 2). The Chappaquiddick incident marked as yet another episode of the “Kennedy Curse” and also marked the end of Ted Kennedy’s career as a presidential

President Kennedy was initially concerned about the march. Multiple incidents in America prior to this protest, have contributed to his concern that the protest would become violent and that the support for his civil rights bill would be weakened. Some incidents include the events that had occurred in Birmingham, Alabama and the 1896 court case involving Homer Plessy and Judge John H. Ferguson. These occurrences utilize violence and industrialize racism and discrimination. ____In 1963, thousands of African-Americans had participated in nonviolent protests, boycotts, and voter-registration drives in Birmingham, Alabama. Although the protesters had exhibited nonviolent resistance, authorities had reacted to their actions with violence. On page

As Kennedy was a young boy, we learn that he feels a sense of being alone, and a deficiency in seeing the contrast between him and his “superior” brothers, John and Joseph Jr.. We see Robert grow not only as a powerful leader of his own, but a person.

John F. Kennedy was a fantastic president by most accounts, but that does not mean he was without his flaws. He was a good man, with many fans in and out of politics, including one of the authors of Killing Kennedy, Bill O’Reilly. He says, “To them (his family), he was a saint.” (9) his thoughts reflecting those of most

Kennedy’s family are hard to ignore. King Arthur’s father was the king beforehand, and his brother, Sir Kay, became seneschal of all his lands. John F. Kennedy’s father was the Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and his brothers all were involved in politics long before John F. Kennedy became president. “Rather than the lightning strikes which characterized his brothers’ forays in national politics, Ted Kennedy became the master of the long slog, placing a deep imprint on the American fabric.” Both men were praised for the beauty of their wives, and for their pulchritudinous styles. Because of these family similarities, both King Arthur and John F. Kennedy are inexplicably similar.

Similarly, Robert Kennedy’s speech also concerns with the assassination of a great man – civil activist Martin Luther King. In his speech, Kennedy, as in Mark Antony’s eulogy, also uses repetition, especially anaphora, to augment and stress the purpose of his speech – that peace and solidarity, instead of anger and division, should be the response to such a devastating event. In his speech, he describes the appropriate course of action in response the recent assassination, “What we need in the United States is not division;” urges Kennedy, “what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and

Throughout the world we constantly see injustice thankfully we are following Kennedy's dream and we intervene when we can. In the following quote Kennedy states his dreams and promises to defend liberty, even defend the liberty of those who we don't always see eye to eye."We shall not always expect to find them strongly supporting our view but we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their freedom" (Kennedy) This statement from Kennedy shows his desire for our nation, A nation that will make sure people get their rights even if we don't agree

Kennedy is trying to persuade his audience to make an effort to understand and surpass those difficult times. He wants to convince them to understand and comprehend, instead of being filled with hatred and revenge toward white people for his death. Robert F. Kennedy also used logical and emotional appeals to make a convincing argument. For instance, an emotional appeal that he used was “We have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times”. This is an emotional appeal because it expresses Kennedy’s thoughts as to what he thinks they should do in the situation. A logical appeal that Kennedy uses is “I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.”. This quote is a logical appeal because it is a fact that his brother, John F. Kennedy, was killed by a white man. This was an effective argument, because it contained emotional and logical appeals to persuade his audience to go beyond the difficult times that they were