JFK ANSWERED QUESTION ON DESEGREGATION 53 YEARS AGO TODAY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy was asked the following question at his news conference fifty-three years ago today, May 17, 1962, in the State Department Auditorium here in the Nation's Capital...
Mr. President:
"Today is the 8th anniversary of the Supreme Court desegregation decision.* Do you feel that progress in this area has been rapid enough?"
The President:
"I think we can always hope more progress can be made in the cause of civil rights, or equal opportunity.
There is a good deal left undone, and while progress has been made, I think we can always improve equality of opportunity in the United States."
JFK At News Conference
JFK Library
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy was asked the following question at his news conference fifty-three years ago today, May 17, 1962, in the State Department Auditorium here in the Nation's Capital...
Mr. President:
"Today is the 8th anniversary of the Supreme Court desegregation decision.* Do you feel that progress in this area has been rapid enough?"
The President:
"I think we can always hope more progress can be made in the cause of civil rights, or equal opportunity.
There is a good deal left undone, and while progress has been made, I think we can always improve equality of opportunity in the United States."
JFK At News Conference
JFK Library
*Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (May 17, 1954) The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public education is a violation of the United States Constitution. The unanimous ruling was announced by Chief Justice Earl Warren.
The decision overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. While that case centered on segregation in rail transportation, the ruling was applied to public education facilities as well. The 1896 ruling said that as long as facilities were "separate but equal" there was no violation of constitutional principles.
The case was initiated by the NAACP in behalf Linda Brown, a 3rd grader in Topeka, Kansas who was denied admission to her local elementary school because of race.
The Browns were represented by a group of attorneys led by Thurgood Marshall.
