Kennedy's Apathy?

In last class, we discussed how minimal of a role Eisenhower played in the growing civil rights movement during the 1950s. In the 1960s, the civil rights movement reached a watershed and activists across the country hoped that Kennedy "would show more sympathy for their aspirations than Eisenhower had." To some extent, Kennedy did positively impact the movement. For example, he created a "Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities," he hired more black people in the federal government and enforced desegregation in some areas like the ICC's ruling to desegregate interstate travel.

However, supporting the civil rights movement is not his priority. Instead, his primary motivations for his actions in office were guided by his "political considerations." He knew he couldn't push too hard for the civil rights movement because he didn't want to upset influential Southern senators. Kennedy often ignored the pleas of activists and only acted when violence garnered media attention or when the "nation's image abroad" was under threat. As a result of his concern over his political appearance, he also worked against the movement when he nominated four segregationist men to federal judgeships as well as refusing to introduce a civil rights bill despite being a campaign promise.

But, to play devil's advocate, could another president have done more for the civil right's movement at the time? Sure, his motivations weren't aligned with the movements', but Kennedy did provide some aid in relieving violence and furthering desegregation. If the president was more partial and supportive of the civil rights movement, it would've likely upset the Southern politicians and voters who had to power to influence future presidential elections. Kennedy knew that too much action would risk "losing southern support he hoped to get in the 1962 and 1964 elections." Without that support, a more conservative and segregationist president could've been elected. Ultimately, I believe that the president's role during the civil rights' movement requires a balance between support of the movement as well as political consciousness. It would be more beneficial to have steady federal support across multiple presidential terms than it is to have strong support in only one term and have all the progress to be undone in subsequent terms.