June 20: Preaching Equality

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is June 20th, and our story is Preaching Equality. On June 11th, 1963, Americans turned on their television sets to watch President John F. Kennedy speak about the Civil Rights Movement. In what some consider his most important national address, Kennedy said, 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 a land of the free except for the Negroes?

That we have no second-class citizens except Negroes? That we have no class or caste system? No game? No ghettos, no master race, except with respect to Negroes? 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 and threaten violence and threaten lives. We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people. It cannot be met by repressive police action.

It cannot be left to increase demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be quieted by token moves or talk. It is a time to act in the Congress, in your state and local legislative body, and, above all, in all of our daily lives. 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 is not fully made in this century, to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law.

Two weeks later, on June 20, 1963, Kennedy submitted his proposed legislation to Congress. Although it quickly stalled, the bill found new life after Kennedy's assassination, when President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Congress to pass the bill as a tribute to the fallen president. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law the following July.

Kennedy's leadership reminds us that moral crises require action, not silence. Freedom and equality demand vigilance, courage, and advocacy from all citizens. His example challenges us to confront inequity courageously, act boldly in our spheres of influence, and persist in pursuit of justice even when outcomes seem distant.

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader Podcast. Join us tomorrow, June 21st, for another story of faith and courage in America.