Few Americans realize that it was only due to the policies of America’s last* president that we even had a Voting Rights Act [VRA]. The VRA and other anti-discrimination laws were going to be the CORNERSTONE of John F. Kennedy’s second term starting in January 1965 [which was virtually assured with a 70% approval rating…]

On June 11, 1963, Kennedy delivered his famous address on Civil Rights, declaring that the nation faced a moral crisis. He asserted that equal rights should be available to all citizens, regardless of race. And he intended to enforce that view.

Per google:

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965, but its conceptual roots began during the Kennedy administration. Following intense civil rights activism and violence in 1963, President John F. Kennedy and [AG] Robert Kennedy pursued voting rights as a key strategy to combat racial discrimination, setting the stage for later legislation. 

Key details regarding the development of the 1965 Voting Rights Act:

·       Kennedy’s Initiative: In 1963, the Kennedy administration worked to build bipartisan support for civil rights legislation that included protections against discriminatory voter qualification tests.

·       Johnson’s Action: Following the assassination of President Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson used his political acumen to accelerate the legislative process, which was heavily influenced by the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” events in Selma, Alabama [on March 7, 1965, roughly 600 peaceful civil rights marchers were brutally attacked by Alabama state troopers and local police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma…]

The VRA and other Civil Rights legislation was conceived and formulated by the Kennedy administration in 1963. JFK was only waiting until victory was secured before he implemented his sweeping civil rights proposals following his [near-certain] re-election in November 1964.

Yet the vile LBJ gets all the credit. Sad.

JFK sent more troops to Alabama than he sent to Vietnam.

Kennedy federalized the entire 17,000-member Alabama National Guard in September 1963 to ensure the integration of schools, following riots. Earlier that year, in May 1963, Kennedy stationed over 3,000 U.S. Army troops near Birmingham to quell racial violence and enforce civil rights.

Think about that: the President of the United States was forced to deploy federal troops just so Black folks could go to school!

According to Google, as of November 1963 there were only 16,000 to 16,500 US military personnel stationed in South Vietnam. By late October 1963, the number was at a high of 16,752, but a plan to reduce this number by 1,000 had begun before President Kennedy’s assassination.

The Civil Rights Act of 1965 was arguably the most pivotal legislation ever passed in the USA. The VRA kicked open the door to further legislation, including: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which prohibited employment discrimination based on age; the ‘Fair Housing’ Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, or sex; and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 that strengthened anti-discrimination laws in the workplace…just to name a few.

Not that any of this matters anymore. All of our rights and protections are gone now. The supreme court’s decision today gutting the VRA is the last nail in the coffin of American democracy.

Looks like we’ve bombed ourselves back to the stone age.

[* as in FINAL…]