The year was 1961. Freedom Rides led to attacks by angry white mobs, an eruption of protests in Albany. Martin Luther King joined the protesters and and address at Shiloh Baptist Church was the beginning of the Albany Civil Rights Movement. These events seemed to have touched President Kennedy, and in the early days of the Civil Rights movement, President Kennedy used the full power of his Executive office to push through Civil Rights.
The first freedom riders left Washington D.C. on May 4th and planned to arrive in New Orleans on May 17th. These were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated South. One of the Freedom Riders' bus that was burned in Anniston Alabama in May of 1961. Fortunately no one was hurt on that bus, but riders aboard a Trailways bus were less fortunate when a mob of angry whites descended on the group of freedom riders as they were getting ready to leave Birmingham. Many of the riders were seriously injured. In order to defuse the situation in Alabama, U.S. attorney general Robert Kennedy worked to secure police protection for the riders from Alabama governor John Patterson. Despite Patterson's commitment, the riders were unprotected when they entered Montgomery Alabama and were once again attacked by an angry mob.
Media attention increased after these events, and forced the Kennedy administration to take a more defensive potion on civil rights. First, in May of 1961, President Kennedy put in place the Interstate Commerce Commission to ban segregation in all facilities under it's jurisdiction. Second, Robert Kennedy tried to persuade the Freedom Riders to suspend their journeys south. The Freedom riders ignored Kennedy and continued throughout the summer enduring many waves of protests and arrests. In Jackson, Mississippi alone, more than 300 Freedom Riders were jailed. Finally, on December 10, 1961, the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) led a high profile Freedom ride from Atlanta to Albany by train to test the implementation of the ICC put in place by President Kennedy. When eight of the riders were arrested upon arrival in Albany, a firestorm of protest erupted in the city's black community. Hundreds of demonstrators were jailed, prompting the local leaders to invite Martin Luther King to address mass meetings at Shiloh Baptist Church. It was a critical turning point in the civil rights movement. It was where the Albany Civil Rights movement started.
There is absolutely no doubt that the plight of the Freedom Riders and the Albany Civil Rights movement had am impact on President John F. Kennedy. In that same year aside from the ICC, John F. Kennedy also signed Executive Order 10925 prohibiting federal government contractors from discriminating on account of race. 20 years earlier, Franklin Roosevelt signed a similar Executive Order (8802) but without the authority to enforce it. As part of Executive Order 10925, Kennedy established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (PCEEO), chaired by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. The committee has the authority to impose sanctions for violations of the Executive order. In his State of the Union address to congress of 1962, Kennedy stood by the Freedom Riders and Albany when he said that "America stands for progress in human rights". And in addition to Congress his administration had shown that it will take action through the "full use of Executive powers" . Kennedy also gave much credit to his Vice President regarding Executive order 10925.
"But America stands for progress in human rights as well as economic affairs, and a strong America requires the assurance of full and equal rights to all its citizens, of any race or of any color. This administration has shown as never before how much could be done through the full use of Executive powers--through the enforcement of laws already passed by the Congress-through persuasion, negotiation, and litigation, to secure the constitutional rights of all: the right to vote, the right to travel Without hindrance across State lines, and the right to free public education.
I issued last March a comprehensive order to guarantee the right to equal employment opportunity in all Federal agencies and contractors. The Vice President's Committee thus created has done much, including the voluntary "Plans for progress" which, in all sections of the country, are achieving a quiet but striking success in opening up to all races new professional, supervisory, and other job opportunities."
One of the most publicized programs of the PCEEO, was "Plans for Progress". Under this program, government contractors would voluntarily agree to review their employment practices regarding race and make specific improvements. While the success of the "Plans for Progress" were questionable, it did serve as the origins for affirmative action programs in the private sector. In 1961, the goal of affirmative action was equal rights for all regardless of race or color. Today, many corporations and universities seek a higher goal. That of "Diversity". In fact, Diversity in university admissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003 as constitutionally permissible goal. Affirmative action and diversity goals aimed at changing an organization's culture, but often these actions and goals were viewed by many as reverse discrimination.
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/milestones/early.html
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-AR7024-C.aspx (Plans for Progress)
http://www.insightintodiversity.com/diversity-inclusion/affirmative-action-vs-diversity-by-shirley-j-wilcher1
http://www.masslive.com/mywideworld/index.ssf/2011/04/the_freedom_rides_a_local_man_remembers_a_turning_point_in_the_american_civil_rights_movement.html
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/freedom-rides
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/The_Albany_Civil_Rights_Movement_Started_Here_marker.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Recreation_of_Greyhound_Bus_Firebombed_in_Freedom_Rider_Campaign_-_National_Civil_Rights_Museum_-_Downtown_Memphis_-_Tennessee_-_USA.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment