John F. Kennedy's Presidency, Civil Rights, and Communism 1960-1963
"Early in the Cold War, Truman officials decided that since they could not hide the U.S's legacy of slavery and discrimination, they would incorporate it into a story of redemption." - Laurie B. Green, Law and History Review, 2002
By the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was at least half a decade underway with the Cold War being waged for over double that length and the election of 1960 reflected this political situation. The Cold War and communism played an important enough role in the 60s election for Richard Nixon to deliver the following message as a part of his presidential campaign.
Nixon lost the election and John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the United States. When John F. Kennedy became president, seventeen African nations achieved independence. During his time as president, eight more nation joined the list. In their new found independence, African nations paid attention to the racial issues in the U.S. [1] According to Dudziak's Cold War Civil Rights, this troubled the States Department officials because they believed that racial discrimination would have an unfavorable outcome in Cold War alliances. They worried that racial discrimination would make it less likely for African nations to ally with U.S. against the Soviet Union. It also created the possibility that U.S. might have difficulties obtaining support from African and Asian nation in United Nations politics. [2] On June 1961 Malick Sow, an ambassador from the newly independent African nation of Chad, was refused service at a diner because it did not serve blacks. This certainly did not create a favorable first impression. After all, why would a nation that just fought for its freedom ally itself with someone who was oppressing it?
It didn't help that just a few months prior a bus with Freedom Riders was firebombed in Anniston, Alabama. This event occurred on Mother's Day. The next day a photograph of the event appeared on the front page of the New York Times which, according to Menand, "horrified" Kennedy because he had no idea who the Freedom Riders were or what they were doing in Alabama. [3] Freedom Riders were civil rights activists that rode segregated buses in protest of the unenforced court ruling which stated that the segregation of public transportation was unconstitutional. One of the survivors, James Zwerg, was interviewed in his hospital. Zwerg's message was that they will not stop Freedom Rides until they could ride free of segregation "just as American citizens."[4] Kennedy, on the verge of meeting with Khrushchev, was angered by this because this was “exactly the kind of thing the Communists used to make the United States look bad around the world.” [5] Kennedy was right about this event making the U.S. look bad. The United States Information Agency (USIA) reported that "assessed in terms of its impact on the American image abroad, the Alabama racial incident was highly detrimental.” However, it should be noted that Kennedy did send 600 marshals to Alabama in order to stop the violence and as a result earned praise for taking control of the situation from certain nations. It it interesting to note that in a recorded interview in 1965, Harris Wafford, an aid to Kennedy that drafted a lot of his speeches on Africa, said that he did not feel that Kennedy was particularly personally interested in Civil Rights issues but saw it as a political problem for "foreign policy and peace and relations with the Soviet Union.” [6]
It didn't help that just a few months prior a bus with Freedom Riders was firebombed in Anniston, Alabama. This event occurred on Mother's Day. The next day a photograph of the event appeared on the front page of the New York Times which, according to Menand, "horrified" Kennedy because he had no idea who the Freedom Riders were or what they were doing in Alabama. [3] Freedom Riders were civil rights activists that rode segregated buses in protest of the unenforced court ruling which stated that the segregation of public transportation was unconstitutional. One of the survivors, James Zwerg, was interviewed in his hospital. Zwerg's message was that they will not stop Freedom Rides until they could ride free of segregation "just as American citizens."[4] Kennedy, on the verge of meeting with Khrushchev, was angered by this because this was “exactly the kind of thing the Communists used to make the United States look bad around the world.” [5] Kennedy was right about this event making the U.S. look bad. The United States Information Agency (USIA) reported that "assessed in terms of its impact on the American image abroad, the Alabama racial incident was highly detrimental.” However, it should be noted that Kennedy did send 600 marshals to Alabama in order to stop the violence and as a result earned praise for taking control of the situation from certain nations. It it interesting to note that in a recorded interview in 1965, Harris Wafford, an aid to Kennedy that drafted a lot of his speeches on Africa, said that he did not feel that Kennedy was particularly personally interested in Civil Rights issues but saw it as a political problem for "foreign policy and peace and relations with the Soviet Union.” [6]
In 1962 another civil rights incident occurred that drew international attention. James Meredith was denied acceptance to the University of Mississippi on the grounds of his race. Meredith sued the University and the court ruled in his favor. Protesters came to the campus (to prevent Meredith from attending) and Kennedy once again sent federal martials to take control of the situation. With the marshals keeping order, Meredith was able to register for classes but not before a fight broke out between the protesters and the marshals. The incident resulted in two deaths. As a result of the incident, even some of the strongest critics of the U.S. found themselves praising Kennedy for his handling of the situation. [7] However, despite some of the praise that Kennedy's handling of the situation garnered, USIA noted that photos of the rioting and bloodshed left a more impressionable and lasting opinion of the event than the news coverage of the praise received. This, rightfully, worried Kennedy because it did little to improve the overall international image of the U.S. Kennedy also faced the difficulty between worrying about alienating southern voters for the upcoming 1964 election and managing the U.S. civil rights image for foreign affairs. |
Everything "came together" in one incident on May 3, 1963. A civil rights march that took place in Birmingham, Alabama resulted in the Police Commissioner Eugene Connor using fire hoses to stop the activists. These fire hoses were accompanied by police dogs that attacked the demonstrators. Photographs from the incident made international headlines about racial injustice in America. A few days later, the USIA reported that the Soviet propaganda and criticism increased to "campaign proportions." [8] The event caused wide spread international uproar and Kennedy reached the conclusion that this could needed to be addressed or irreparable damage could ensue. Not even a month later the University of Alabama was court ordered to admit two black students when the Governor of Alabama blocked the entrance door to the students. Kennedy rallied the Alabama national guard and the student were allowed to register. However, this incident (and possibly the Birmingham incident) prompted Kennedy to make the following national television speech. While the speech was addressed to the people of the United States, it had international applications.
A week after his speech, President Kennedy attended a congressional session and urged Congress to address the issue of civil rights. Kennedy's speech about civil rights was well received internationally but the Soviet Union, ignoring the speech, persisted with propaganda and criticism of racial inequality in the U.S. The Soviet Union continued to argue that racism and racial inequality were both a direct result of capitalism. On July, 1963 John F. Kennedy proposed to Congress the Civil Rights Act of 1963. The Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, took it upon himself to explain the importance and national security application of the act to members of Congress. [9]
An August, 1963 Harris Poll showed that seventy-eight percent of Americans thought that racial segregation harmed the nation as a whole overseas. The two biggest reasons given were that it provided communists with a weapon with which to criticize the U.S. and that it harmed the nations image. On August 28, 1963 more than 200,000 people marched on Washington to show their support of civil rights. This march was seen an international even and it even inspired similar marches throughout the world. However, on September 11, a bomb was set off in a Baptist church that killed four young girls. The explosion caused a massive stir internationally as well as in Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr. himself was afraid of what violence would be the result if the federal government did not get involved. As a result, the march on Washington was overshadowed by the violence and outrage of the Birmingham bombing. John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963 and Lyndon Johnson, the Vice-President of United States, took over as president. [10]
An August, 1963 Harris Poll showed that seventy-eight percent of Americans thought that racial segregation harmed the nation as a whole overseas. The two biggest reasons given were that it provided communists with a weapon with which to criticize the U.S. and that it harmed the nations image. On August 28, 1963 more than 200,000 people marched on Washington to show their support of civil rights. This march was seen an international even and it even inspired similar marches throughout the world. However, on September 11, a bomb was set off in a Baptist church that killed four young girls. The explosion caused a massive stir internationally as well as in Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr. himself was afraid of what violence would be the result if the federal government did not get involved. As a result, the march on Washington was overshadowed by the violence and outrage of the Birmingham bombing. John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963 and Lyndon Johnson, the Vice-President of United States, took over as president. [10]
Lyndon Johnson, Signing of the Civil Rights Act 1963-1964
To civil rights leaders, Lyndon Johnson was known as the man who "when he was Senate Majority Leader, had carefully emasculated Eisenhower's Civil Rights Bill in order to secure enough Southern votes for passage." However, as President Johnson surprised the civil rights leaders by becoming a staunch civil rights advocate. President Johnson pushed the 1964 Civil Rights Bill through the longest filibuster in Senate history. [11] The Civil Rights Act of 1954 was signed on July 2. Johnson admitted that the fight for civil rights wasn't finished and told Nicolas Katzenbach, "I want you to write me the goddamnest toughest voting rights act that you can devise." [12] However, Johnson became concerned that the opposition of more civil rights legislation would deter from the war on poverty and, as a result, asked King to wait. The Voting Rights Act was not signed until August 6, 1965.