![]() ![]() He knew that segregation was morally wrong and he certainly intellectually committed himself to integration, but I could see that he didn't have the emotional involvement then. John Kennedy did not have the grasp and the comprehension of the depths of the problem at that time, as he later did. He said that since that time, if he had to face the issue again, he would reverse his position because many of the developments during the sitin movement had pointed up the injustices and indignities that Negroes were facing all over the South, and for this reason he had reevaluated many of these things. I raised the question with him about 1957, when he voted against what we considered as a very important section of the civil rights bill. He said that he had voted consistently for civil rights. He assured me also that he felt the whole question of the right to vote was a key and basic, and that this would be one of the immediate things that he would look into. He agreed that there was a need for strong executive leadership and that this had not existed, and he felt if he received the nomination and was elected he could give this kind of leadership. I also mentioned to him the need for strong civil rights legislation, and I stressed voting issues because we were deeply involved at that time in voter registration drives and had encountered a number of difficulties in states like Alabama and Mississippi.Īs I recall, he agreed with all of these things. I specifically mentioned a need for an executive order outlawing discrimination in federally assisted housing. I was very impressed by the forthright and honest manner in which he discussed the civil rights question, and with his concern and his willingness to learn more about civil rights. ![]() If we didn't get it in the new administration, we would be set back even more. I was very frank about what I thought: that there was a need for a strong executive leadership and that we hadn't gotten this during the Eisenhower administration. We talked for about an hour over the breakfast table. That was June of 1960, about a month before the convention. Finally we worked out an engagement at his apartment in New York. ![]() For several months, we had tried to work out a meeting and every time I could go he was away. My first contact with John Kennedy was when he was a senator seeking the nomination for President. November 8 – Kennedy wins close election, receiving strong support from black voters.November 1 – King applauds Senator Kennedy for support.October 23 – King's attorney Donald L.Ernest Vandiver and Judge Oscar Mitchell seeking King's release an bail Kennedy calls Coretta Scott King to express sympathy and offer assistance Robert Kennedy calls Georgia governor S. October 26 – Presidential candidate John F.October 25 – Charges are dropped for sit-in arrest but King is held for violating probation for earlier traffic offense and transferred to Reidsville State Prison.October 19 – Is arrested at Atlanta sit-in.J– King discusses civil rights with presidential candidate Senator John F.Chapter 15: Atlanta Arrest and Presidential PoliticsĬhapter 15: Atlanta Arrest and Presidential Politics.Chapter 8: The Violence of Desperate Men.Chapter 6: Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.Major King Events Chronology: 1929-1968. ![]()
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