In memory of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, in this post I review his speech on the Centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1962. In his message, Dr. King draws on the courage of Abraham Lincoln to deliver a remarkable message that in so many ways was intended to drive President John F. Kennedy to bold action. Dr. King described how Lincoln, despite the torment of his adversaries took executive action to "change conditions in the national interest". King described how past presidents struggled with the race question, as Kennedy did in 1963, but had the courage to do what was just and right, not just expedient. Kennedy responded, but King still had much work to do.
Abraham Lincoln initial plans was for emancipation to be a gradual process with compensation to the states for their loss of 'property'. Lincoln sought to avoid a long and drawn out war and argued that it was cheaper to buy freedom for the slaves than to wage a war. The first compensated emancipation occurred in Washington DC in April of 1862. Lincoln's plan was to be permanent constitutional law and would require two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the States. But, as the civil war waged on, Abraham Lincoln could no longer stand the effusion of blood, and issued an immediate Emancipation as an act of hard war in 1863. President Lincoln hoped that the "rebellion could be suppressed" without resorting to the emancipation of slaves as "military measure", but the "crisis of the contest" required immediate action, and with one signature of the pen, Abraham Lincoln shattered the slave system, undermined the foundation of the South's economy and eliminated the possibility that even if the union was defeated, for slavery to return. The actions Lincoln took, were possible only during times of war. As an act of war, there were questions about it being legal and permanent. To this, Lincoln gave a resounding answer. So long as he remained the president, he would not retract or modify the emancipation proclamation. So long as Abraham Lincoln was president, he would not return any free man or woman back to slavery.
"To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach of faith. I may add at this point that while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation or by any of the acts of Congress."
Despite the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation endured. On September 12, 1962 Dr. Martin Luther King presented a speech at the Centennial Commission’s Emancipation Proclamation Observance in New York City. King opened his speech by declaring that "if our nation had done nothing more in its whole history than to create just two documents, its contribution to civilization would be imperishable." Dr. King described the Emancipation Proclamation as the "offspring of the Declaration of Independence" and a "a constructive use of the force of law to uproot a social order which sought to separate liberty from a segment of humanity." Dr. King did not dwell on slavery as the first sin of our founding fathers, but rather he saw the eradication of slavery as a manifestation of the freedoms declared in our Declaration of Independence. King described four enduring results of the Emancipation Proclamation. First, it put into the hands of the executive, the power to change conditions in the "change conditions in the national interest on a broad and far-reaching scale". This message seems to be directed to President Kennedy to remind him that in 1962 he had the power and duty through executive power to deliver civil rights. Second, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation dealt a blow to the slave holding economy that was strong enough to wage war against the Federal Government. Third, it “enabled the Negro to play a significant role in his own liberation". It gave the freed slaves "the ability to organize and to struggle, with less of the bestial retaliation his slave status had permitted to his masters". Perhaps, this was a message to all those in the black community fighting for civil rights in 1962 to resist the call to violence and remain organized. Finally, the Proclamation "resurrected and restated the principle of equality upon which the founding of the nation rested". Dr. Martin Luther King, then delivered these words about Abraham Lincoln.
"When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation it was not the act of an opportunistic politician issuing a hollow pronouncement to placate a pressure group."
King explained that Lincoln's heart was tortured by the race question, was were many presidents before him including Thomas Jefferson. Furthermore, Lincoln was tormented by his adversaries who called him the "Baboon President". Nevertheless, Lincoln achieved immortality when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and showed that "No President can be great, or even fit for office, if he attempts to accommodate to injustice to maintain his political balance."
In 1962, when these words were being delivered, Dr. Martin Luther King had already been in and out of the Birmingham Jail, and the Freedom Riders intent on ending segregation had spread throughout the South in an attempt to force Kennedy's hand in delivering civil rights legislation. Just three months prior to this speech, King publicly urged the president to do more “in the area of moral persuasion by occasionally speaking out against segregation.” In this context, one must read King's speech on the Emancipation Proclamation anniversary not just as a memorial to Abraham Lincoln, but also as a message to John F. Kennedy to have the courage of Abraham Lincoln and speak out and deliver civil rights. What better way to pay tribute to the Emancipation Proclamation then to take bold action? Kennedy had already shown that he was willing to use executive powers. In 1962 in response to the Freedom Rides, Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 prohibiting federal government contractors from discriminating on account of race. King now wanted Kennedy to act even bolder.
President John F. Kennedy heard Dr. King but was reluctant to lose Southern support by pushing too hard on civil rights legislation. One thing Kennedy did do though is to instruct his Attorney General Robert Kennedy to turn his attention to voting rights. President Kennedy had promised Dr. King he would fight for equal rights, but his actions were blunt, and his legislation delayed. A full review of President Kennedy’s State of the Union Address of 1963 is evidence of this. Kennedy gave ample time to discussing the economy, taxes, foreign affairs, but just one paragraph that even remotely urged Congress to pass any civil rights legislation. This one paragraph was not a call to action, but rather just a wish on the part of the president, that in this centennial year of Emancipation, no one would be denied the right to vote on the grounds of his color or race. Clearly, Dr. Martin Luther King had a lot more work to do, and sadly it would take the death of John F. Kennedy to spur Lyndon Johnson and Congress to act. Here are those few words of John F. Kennedy on the right to vote, 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
"And the most precious and powerful right in the world, the right to vote in a free American election, must not be denied to any citizen on grounds of his race or color. I wish that all qualified Americans permitted to vote were willing to vote, but surely in this centennial year of Emancipation all those who are willing to vote should always be permitted."On this I have no doubt in my mind, that Dr. King was calling for his followers to continue the fight for equal rights, and for Congress and the President to pass what became known as the Civil Rights of 1964.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union. | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-3 [Accessed 20 Jan. 2019].Grier, P. (2019). Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy: civil rights' wary allies. [online] The Christian Science Monitor. Available at: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2014/0120/Martin-Luther-King-Jr.-and-John-F.-Kennedy-civil-rights-wary-allies [Accessed 20 Jan. 2019].
Jfklibrary.org. (2019). Civil Rights Movement | JFK Library. [online] Available at: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/civil-rights-movement [Accessed 20 Jan. 2019].
Nps.gov. (2019). Dr. Martin Luther King on the Emancipation Proclamation - Antietam National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service). [online] Available at: https://www.nps.gov/anti/learn/historyculture/mlk-ep.htm [Accessed 20 Jan. 2019].
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