演讲.docx

1、演讲36. John F. Kennedy - Civil Rights AddressGood evening, my fellow citizens:This afternoon, following a series of threats and defiant statements, the presence of Alabama National Guardsmen was required on the University of Alabama to carry out the final and unequivocal order of the United States Di

2、strict Court of the Northern District of Alabama. That order called for the admission of two clearly qualified young Alabama residents who happened to have been born Negro. That they were admitted peacefully on the campus is due in good measure to the conduct of the students of the University of Ala

3、bama, who met their responsibilities in a constructive way.I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all m

4、en are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.Today, we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for white

5、s only. It oughta be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops. It oughta to be possible for American consumers of any color to receive equal service in places of public accommodation, such as hotels

6、and restaurants and theaters and retail stores, without being forced to resort to demonstrations in the street, and it oughta be possible for American citizens of any color to register and to vote in a free election without interference or fear of reprisal. It oughta to be possible, in short, for ev

7、ery American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color.In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.The Negro baby born in America today, r

8、egardless of the section of the State in which he is born, has about onehalf as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, onethird as much chance of completing college, onethird as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance

9、of becoming unemployed, about oneseventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Uni

10、on, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics. This is not even a legal or legislative issue alone. It is be

11、tter to settle these matters in the courts than on the streets, and new laws are needed at every level, but law alone cannot make men see right. We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution.The heart of the question is wh

12、ether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public s

13、chool available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the

14、counsels of patience and delay?One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for a

15、ll its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is the land of the free except for t

16、he Negroes. that we have no secondclass citizens except Negroes. that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise. The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equa

17、lity that no city or State or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them. The fires of frustration and discord are burning in every city, North and South, where legal remedies are not at hand. Redress is sought in the streets, in demonstrations, parades, and protests which create tensions

18、and threaten violence and threaten lives.We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and a people. It cannot be met by repressive police action. It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be quieted by token moves or talk. It is a time to act in the Congress, in your

19、 State and local legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives. It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore the facts that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolu

20、tion, that change, peaceful and constructive for all. Those who do nothing are inviting shame, as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right, as well as reality.Next week I shall ask the Congress of the United States to act, to make a commitment it has not fully made in this centur

21、y to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law. The Federal judiciary has upheld that proposition in a series of forthright cases. The Executive Branch has adopted that proposition in the conduct of its affairs, including the employment of Federal personnel, the use of Federal f

22、acilities, and the sale of federally financed housing. But there are other necessary measures which only the Congress can provide, and they must be provided at this session. The old code of equity law under which we live commands for every wrong a remedy, but in too many communities, in too many par

23、ts of the country, wrongs are inflicted on Negro citizens and there are no remedies at law. Unless the Congress acts, their only remedy is the street.I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public hotel

24、s, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments. This seems to me to be an elementary right. Its denial is an arbitrary indignity that no American in 1963 should have to endure, but many do.I have recently met with scores of business leaders urging them to take voluntary action t

25、o end this discrimination, and I have been encouraged by their response, and in the last two weeks over 75 cities have seen progress made in desegregating these kinds of facilities. But many are unwilling to act alone, and for this reason, nationwide legislation is needed if we are to move this prob

26、lem from the streets to the courts.Im also asking the Congress to authorize the Federal Government to participate more fully in lawsuits designed to end segregation in public education. We have succeeded in persuading many districts to desegregate voluntarily. Dozens have admitted Negroes without vi

27、olence. Today, a Negro is attending a Statesupported institution in every one of our 50 States, but the pace is very slow.Too many Negro children entering segregated grade schools at the time of the Supreme Courts decision nine years ago will enter segregated high schools this fall, having suffered

28、a loss which can never be restored. The lack of an adequate education denies the Negro a chance to get a decent job.The orderly implementation of the Supreme Court decision, therefore, cannot be left solely to those who may not have the economic resources to carry the legal action or who may be subj

29、ect to harassment.Other features will be also requested, including greater protection for the right to vote. But legislation, I repeat, cannot solve this problem alone. It must be solved in the homes of every American in every community across our country. In this respect I wanna pay tribute to thos

30、e citizens North and South whove been working in their communities to make life better for all.They are acting not out of sense of legal duty but out of a sense of human decency. Like our soldiers and sailors in all parts of the world they are meeting freedoms challenge on the firing line, and I sal

31、ute them for their honor and their courage.My fellow Americans, this is a problem which faces us all in every city of the North as well as the South. Today, there are Negroes unemployed, two or three times as many compared to whites, inadequate education, moving into the large cities, unable to find

32、 work, young people particularly out of work without hope, denied equal rights, denied the opportunity to eat at a restaurant or a lunch counter or go to a movie theater, denied the right to a decent education, denied almost today the right to attend a State university even though qualified. It seems to me that these are matters which concern us all, not merely Presidents or Congressmen or Governors, but every citizen of the United States.This is one count