Was John F Kennedy A Hero Essay

Was Kennedy a civil rights hero, or was it LBJ? One of the most important things to communicate to students about the Civil Rights Act is why it was needed. Legislation focusing not only on public acts of discrimination, but also on private prejudice. The comprehensive civil rights bill won the endorsement of House and Senate Republican leaders, but it was not passed; however, before 22 November 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated. The bill was left in the hands of Lyndon B. Johnson. Before becoming vice president, Johnson had served more than two decades in Congress as a congressman and senator from Texas. He use his connections with southern white congressional leaders, and with the assistance of Robert Kennedy’s Justice Department and the outpouring of emotion after the president’s assassination, the Civil Rights Act was passed as a way to honor President Kennedy.

Provisions of the legislation included: (1) protecting African Americans
Kennedy became president in 1961, African Americans throughout much of the South were denied the right to vote, barred from public facilities, subjected to insults and violence, and could not expect justice from the courts. In the North, black Americans also faced discrimination in housing, employment, education, and many other areas. But the civil rights movement had made important progress, and change was on the way.

Big Universe provides eBooks on the Civil Rights movement. “Black people sympathized with Kennedy’s otherness, with the fact that as a Catholic and having an Irish background, he wasn’t supposed to win,” Wilson said. “He was the underdog. It’s an American story that African Americans could relate to, and we empathized with him because of it.” Kennedy did contribute to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He supported the legislation and went to the public to stump for it when it got bogged down in Congress. His public address on June 11, 1963, was one of the most meaningful speeches he