John F. Kennedy inspired with his words.
He disappointed with his deeds.
The American left puts a gauzy halo on the memory of JFK. Today's guest post author Herb Rothschild takes off the halo.
Herb Rothschild worked as a civil rights activist in the deep south in the 1960s and 1970s and as a peace activist throughout his adult life. Rothschild sent this guest post because two of my recent blog posts began with quotations from Kennedy's inauguration speech. I cited Kennedy's words because I was making a point about the verdict of history as it relates to Trump's effort to overthrow the 2020 election. I wrote that history will judge harshly the Republicans who actively or passively enable Trump. Think of history, Kennedy wrote. Liz Cheney also cited history.
Rothschild refreshes our memory of Kennedy's legacy of action and inaction on civil rights. Rothschild finds it disappointing. It doesn't live up to his words or to the unexamined halo that surrounds Kennedy's memory.
Rothschild has a B.A. from Yale, a Ph.D. from Harvard. He taught English Literature at Louisiana State University. He is the author of The Bad Old Days, a memoir of his years as a civl rights activist in Louisiana. He lives in Talent, Oregon.
Guest Post by Herb Rothschild
Every black household I visited in Louisiana during the late 60s and the 70s had two pictures on the living room wall, one of MLK, one of JFK. These weren’t the homes of professionals but of ordinary--meaning fairly poor--folks with whom my work for civil rights and civil liberties brought me into contact. I consider them representative of black folks, at least in the South.
What I knew but never mentioned to my hosts was that the only reason JFK was side-by-side with MLK was that MLK had dragged him into the Civil Rights movement. He and Robert, his attorney general, for more than two years regarded the insistence that the U.S. live up to its best self as a problem to manage, not an opportunity for moral leadership.
Despite having pledged during his campaign to end racial discrimination in public housing with “a stroke of the pen,” President Kennedy only signed Executive Order 11063, Equal Opportunity in Housing, on November 20, 1962 after tremendous pressure from black leaders. Similarly, he and Robert very reluctantly acted to protect the Freedom Riders, beaten and threatened with death, in the late spring and summer of 1961. Finally, on June 11, 1963, JFK delivered a nationally televised speech calling for a federal civil rights bill. That speech is what blacks remembered. They didn’t know that he tried to dissuade lack leaders from staging the March on Washington ten weeks later, or that on October 10 Robert--doubtless with John’s knowledge--authorized J. Edgar Hoover to wiretap MLK.
Peter began his Up Close blog last Sunday by recalling how thrilled he was when, at age 11, he listened to JFK’s inaugural speech. He added, “I remain moved by words that connect community and country to some greater purpose.” I hadn’t voted for Kennedy in 1960, which was the first time I could vote. Still, I too was stirred by that speech.Revisiting it later, and in light of JFK’s abysmal performance on civil rights, I wondered to what greater purpose he had called us if justice wasn’t it. I was called by the extraordinary bravery of Southern blacks and whites like Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and Viola Liuzzo who died standing with them. The historical record suggests that, as President, JFK never felt called to anything except screwing woman after woman whom Secret Service agents smuggled into the White House.
Bill Clinton’s political career might be dated from July 24, 1963, when the 16-year-old highschooler shook hands with JFK in the Rose Garden. Clinton lived down to his role model by having no greater purpose than his own career and screwing around. But to their credit, in a culture that prizes appearance over substance they both projected considerable charisma.
I agree that Kennedy was not perfect, but I do not agree that "he never felt called to anything except screwing woman after woman whom Secret Service agents smuggled into the White House". This statement is harsh, untrue and unprofessional. I do not condone his behavior, but he gave his life for our country and was an inspiration for many.