As I took a second look at JFK's speech about what was unfolding in Little Rock, I saw with much more clarity Dan's point that JFK's perspective that justice is protected by the executive branch. Several quotes jumped out at me:
- "...necessary for the Executive Branch...to use its powers and authorities to uphold federal courts, the president's responsibility is inescapable."
- "The very basis of our individual rights and freedoms is the certainty that the President and the Executive Branch of the Government will support and insure the carrying out of the decisions of the Federal Courts, even, when necessary with all the means at the president's command.
I was also struck by the lack of personal committment to the ideas of desegregation that JFK had in his speech:
- "Our personal opinions about the decision have no bearing on the matter of enforcement"
- obviously, he is making a point to say that the governor may not like the idea but he needs to enforce the law- this would have been an opportunity for REAL leadership by actually committing to the idea of desegregation but he doesn't take the opporunity.
- I understand that this is because he doesn't want to alienate southerners but never in the speech does he encourage Americans to see the benefits of desegregating schools and I believe that this lack of vocal support allowed some Americans to continue to operate under the assumption that the president didn't even necessarily support the court ruling.
His insistance on making the issue about following the rule of law- detracted from the real issue at hand: Americans were trying to hurt their own citizens because of their deeply engrained racism and liberty was not accessble to African Americans.
I also noticed that Kennedy followed some of John's rules of persuasion by making Americans feel like there were certain issues that everyone could agree on such as, "The overwhelming majority of people in every section of the country are united in their respect for observance of the law..." and then he goes on to talk about how he likes people from the south and even has southern friends (oh my!).
The best point that Kennedy makes was that the world was using this situation to ridicule the ideals that America stood for, which I agree was an embarassing instance of our flaws being exposed in a very raw way. I did chuckle at the last line of the document which declares that the American image of a country that values "liberty and justice for all" would return once the Little Rock incident was under control. When I think about how many foriegners view America now, it is clear that Little Rock was only one episode in tarnishing our image as a just society.
Still, I am glad I live here where institutes like the one we are finishing up today, can exist under the very presidency that I deplore.
Cheers
Jen
Jen Martin
Brookline High School
History Department