President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address: Roles and…

Question Answered step-by-step President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address: Roles and… President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address: Roles and Perspectives Directions: After reading and annotating President Kennedy’s inaugural address, from a  Civil Rights Activist perspective  You are a college-aged, African-American member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a group of young civil rights activists formed in April 1960. Although the Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 in their Brown v. Board of Education decision that public schools must be integrated, you attended an all-black elementary and high school in Alabama and are now attending Fisk University, a private, all-black college in Nashville, Tennessee. A few months ago, you participated in a sit-in in an effort to desegregate the lunch counter at the local department store. Your organization is planning more non-violent demonstrations. Initially, you did not support John F. Kennedy for president because you thought that Richard M. Nixon, raised as a Quaker, might be a stronger advocate for civil rights. But, after hearing Kennedy speak during his campaign about ending discrimination in federally subsidized housing “by a stroke of the presidential pen,” and after learning that he had called Coretta Scott King when her husband, Martin Luther King Jr., was unjustly thrown into jail in October 1960, you have been hopeful that Kennedy might help gain equality for African Americans. You are sitting in the college dining hall with your friends, watching President Kennedy’s inaugural address on the university’s black and white television set. As a civil rights activist, what are your reactions to his speech? What hope, if any, do you have about Kennedy’s plans to address civil rights? What worries, if any, do you have about President Kennedy’s administration and what it will do to help solve issues related to civil rights? Be sure to explain your thoughts with evidence from the speech.   History US History HISTORY 201 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)