John F Kennedy Civil Rights Movement Essay

565 Words3 Pages

Clyde Farmer John F. Kennedy and Civil Rights Movement John F. Kennedy is not quickly reference with the Civil Rights Movement. Although, before he was president or thought about running for it he voted against Eisenhower’s 1957 Civil Rights Act, it was meant to increase the number of African-American voters, and as he was nominated to take the democratic nomination in his speech, he said that civil rights was a priority. And some saw this as a way to get the blacks to vote for him, since he voted against an earlier bill for civil rights. The Civil Rights movement started with the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, where four African-American college students went into an all-white diner; they were allowed to be in there, but not able to be served. …show more content…

As the Freedom Riders continued to ride across the country as they got to Birmingham, the head of the police, “Bull” Connor, gave the police the day off and wouldn’t you know it they were attacked without police protection, but this gave the movement even more meaning. And in May 1963, Connor let the police loose on black protesters, in which they beat them, sprayed them down with high pressure fire hoses, and let dogs out on them too; all of this was broadcasted on television and was a “win” for the Civil Rights Movement. As the protest continued in Birmingham, the whites there questioned themselves and wondered if they were more in common with the blacks or the violent segregationist. Continuing with the last sentence, in June 1963, a sniper killed a leader of the NAACP and 4 little girls were killed in a church bombing; and it wasn’t until 2002 that those that committee the crimes were tried and convicted. John F. Kennedy said that Birmingham was damaging America, and Kennedy was the one that got Martin Luther King out of jail. The result of the Birmingham Protest was that stores desegregated, African-American jobs opportunities improved, and a white-black committee was set up to deal with the city’s