In June 11, 1963, during a national television address about civil rights, John F. Kennedy stated: “We preach freedom around the world…, 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 Negroes?” (Foner 921) Kennedy was killed few months after this presentation without enacting his civil rights bill, in which, among other points, he proposes the right to vote to blacks. One hundred years before Kennedy’s speech about civil rights, Abraham Lincoln expressed in his last public address his support to black suffrage. Like Kennedy, Lincoln was assassinated few days later.
After many years of struggle and opposition to the idea of giving blacks the same rights that whites enjoyed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a major conquest that black people needed in order to fortify their participation in political life. Therefore, from my point of view, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most important legislation of that time. Not only presidents or politicians like Robert Kennedy were assassinated, but also popular African American civil rights activists like Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King Jr. were killed.
The connection and/or consequence between the two Presidents is signficant and interesting. Are you implying that those against the bill to be passed regarding civil rights may have something to do with the deaths of these two presidents? Also, the mention of civil rights leaders such as M. Luther King Jr. did die which indeed makes this a significant turning point and memorable turnng point in the movement
That’s a very interesting post. I believe The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most significant event of the 1960s. By allowing African Americans to vote United States of America transformed itself into a brand new country that understood that all humans are created equal and they should all have the same rights.
Nel, I get the idea that you trying to link civil rights leaders to their assasinations. Can you please expand on that?
The voting Right Act abolished literacy test,which denied the right to vote especially toward African Americans in the past.In 1968, there were 58% of African Americans registered to vote. And as you said,the most significance of Voting Right Act was it made more blacks participate on the political stage. After this Act, more blacks were elected into office.It was also enhanced by providing Bilingual Ballot Provisions in 1975.