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| The summer of 1963 |
President John F. Kennedy, 11 June 1963
1963 is the first full year of my life that I retain a relatively clear memory of; a bit less dreamlike and faded than the previous years. I turned five on August 16th - in Dayton, Ohio of all places. I spent that entire summer there, living with my uncle and aunt, Bill and Sheila Clements. Uncle Bill taught me how to hit a baseball on that day. Bill Clements would become a respected investigative journalist for the Chicago Daily News and, later, the Sun Times. It was his reporting that sent Illinois governor Otto Kerner to prison. He died unexpectedly in August of 1983 at age fifty. I miss him more than I can even express. To say that he had a big influence on my life would be an understatement.
In 1963 I was still too young to appreciate what a monumental year I was living through. The only two news events I can clearly recall are the death of Pope John XXIII in June - and of course - the horrible tragedy that occurred on November 22. And although I have a vague recollection of all the people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in August, the civil rights saga pretty much went over my head. About the only thing of any cultural significance I was thinking about in that moment of time was Peter, Paul and Mary's recording of Puff the Magic Dragon, which I loved. Ignorance is bliss as they say. During that long ago summer of 1963 I was as blissful as a froggy on a lily pad.
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| Degan back in the day |
2013 is a year that is filled to the rafters with half-century milestones. There is no getting away from the fact that 1963 was a year that changed this country forever, in ways good and bad.
On June the 11th Jack Kennedy went before a nationwide television audience to confront the moral issue of equal rights for all Americans. On that day, two "negro" kids, Vivian Malone and James Hood, were escorted onto the campus of the University of Alabama by the National Guard. To score a few cheap political points, Governor George Wallace had earlier stood in the doorway of the school, threatening to block their entrance. That was all Deputy Attorney General, Nicholas Katzenbach, needed to hear. In an exasperated but calm voice, he read Wallace the riot act. The District Court - of Alabama, Buster! - had ordered that these two students be admitted. That order was going to be obeyed - whether the governor liked it or not, ya heah?.
George Wallace blinked.
On that very night, shortly after JFK addressed the nation, Medgar Evers, the Field Representative for the NAACP in Mississippi, was shot and killed in an ambush outside of his home. It was that kind of time in America, with events rushing by at the speed of light, or at least that's how it seems in hindsight. Before the summer was over (and less than three weeks after the March on Washington) a black church in Birmingham was bombed by a group of racist bastards who actually believed they were performing some kind of heroic deed. Four little girls were blown to smithereens by these "heroes". Sadly, their names have been forgotten over the course of fifty years. Their martyrdom was more responsible than anything for the passage the following June of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Let us bow our heads, tip our hats and raise our glasses in loving memory of these four little gals. It may be a bit of a stretch to attempt all three of these things simultaneously, but what the heck, let's at least give it the old college try, ay?
Addie Mae Collins (age 14)
Denise McNair (age 11)
Carole Robertson (age 14)
Cynthia Wesley (age 14)
At the time, only one of the four people responsible for this atrocity was brought to justice. He was fined $100 and received a six month sentence for the possession of dynamite - I'm not kidding. In 1977 he would be retried and sent to prison where he died. Two others were eventually put on trial in 2000 and convicted of murder. Only one of the four escaped justice by conveniently dying. C'est la vie. None of their names are worthy of mention.
Oh, I wish I was in Dixie
Oy vey! Oy vey!
It was easy to believe, as the twenty-first century dawned, that the mindset that produced this type of horror was behind us. True, we did elect our first African American president in 2008 - but the reaction of a whole lot of people who did not vote for him - particularly in the South and the Midwest - has been "instructive" (to say the least). The other important piece of historic legislation that came out of the nineteen-sixties was the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which guaranteed that no one would be denied the right to cast his or her precious ballot simply because of the color of their skin. The election of the first black guy to the presidency has so freaked out the racists in Dear ol' Dixie, many of them are seeking the repeal of that law. "We'll be good this time", they're saying, "Trust us".
It would seem to me that Jim Crow is hellbent on taking his weird act on a national comeback tour. That is precisely what those proposed "Voter ID Laws" were all about. The GOP has been taken over by the ideological heirs of the racist Dixiecrats of yore - and has been corrupted beyond redemption in the process. The "party of Abraham Lincoln" has devolved into the party of Uncle Fester. They know goddamned well that it has become politically impossible for them to win office on the national level. They need to deny the ballot to as many people as possible - starting with black people. Nowadays the success of the Republicans depends upon the suppression of votes. Think about that.
PREDICTION:
Unless those voter ID laws are successfully implemented between now and then, a Democratic administration will succeed another Democratic administration on Inauguration Day 2017. Do you know when the last time that happened? When Franklin Pierce handed over the reigns of power to stuffy old James Buchanan on March 4, 1857. It hasn't happened since - check the history books. And it might very well be that the first black president bequeaths the office to the first woman president. The juiciest irony of all is that most of the Democrats of 1857 were ingrained racists and (it goes without saying) sexist. Had they known of this possibility they would have disbanded the party then and there. Life is funny that way, you know?
"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."
Martin Luther King, 28 August 1963
1963 still resonates across the decades in every respect - politically and culturally. By Thanksgiving there was a new guy sitting in the Oval Office: Lyndon Baines Johnson, a Texan who would do more for the cause of Civil Rights than any president since Lincoln. LBJ was astute enough to understand that freedom was on the march and there would be no stopping it, baby! The racists might just as well have tried to stop the sun from rising in the eastern sky. On New Year's Eve a previously obscure rock 'n' roll band from England called the Beatles would be the biggest thing on the American charts. You say you want a revolution? So much had changed in America since New Year's Day.
George Wallace, Nick Katzenbach, Vivian Malone and James Hood are all gone now. Five months and eleven days after he reached out to touch the conscience of a nation, Jack Kennedy went to Dallas. Four and-a-half years after that, Dr. King went to Memphis. Fifty years on, 1963 clings to the American soul. It lights the darkest American night. It won't let go. I hope it never does.
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing. Wasn't that a time?
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years
by Taylor Branch
The best book I've ever read about the Civil Rights struggle in America (1955-1968) by a first rate historian.
SUGGESTED VIEWING:
President Kennedy's address to the American people on the subject of Civil Rights, 11 June 1963:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BEhKgoA86U
`
 |
| George 'n' Nick |
George Wallace blinked.
 |
| Medgar Evers |
 |
| Little Martyrs |
Denise McNair (age 11)
Carole Robertson (age 14)
Cynthia Wesley (age 14)
At the time, only one of the four people responsible for this atrocity was brought to justice. He was fined $100 and received a six month sentence for the possession of dynamite - I'm not kidding. In 1977 he would be retried and sent to prison where he died. Two others were eventually put on trial in 2000 and convicted of murder. Only one of the four escaped justice by conveniently dying. C'est la vie. None of their names are worthy of mention.
Oh, I wish I was in Dixie
Oy vey! Oy vey!
It would seem to me that Jim Crow is hellbent on taking his weird act on a national comeback tour. That is precisely what those proposed "Voter ID Laws" were all about. The GOP has been taken over by the ideological heirs of the racist Dixiecrats of yore - and has been corrupted beyond redemption in the process. The "party of Abraham Lincoln" has devolved into the party of Uncle Fester. They know goddamned well that it has become politically impossible for them to win office on the national level. They need to deny the ballot to as many people as possible - starting with black people. Nowadays the success of the Republicans depends upon the suppression of votes. Think about that.
PREDICTION:
Unless those voter ID laws are successfully implemented between now and then, a Democratic administration will succeed another Democratic administration on Inauguration Day 2017. Do you know when the last time that happened? When Franklin Pierce handed over the reigns of power to stuffy old James Buchanan on March 4, 1857. It hasn't happened since - check the history books. And it might very well be that the first black president bequeaths the office to the first woman president. The juiciest irony of all is that most of the Democrats of 1857 were ingrained racists and (it goes without saying) sexist. Had they known of this possibility they would have disbanded the party then and there. Life is funny that way, you know?
"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."
Martin Luther King, 28 August 1963
George Wallace, Nick Katzenbach, Vivian Malone and James Hood are all gone now. Five months and eleven days after he reached out to touch the conscience of a nation, Jack Kennedy went to Dallas. Four and-a-half years after that, Dr. King went to Memphis. Fifty years on, 1963 clings to the American soul. It lights the darkest American night. It won't let go. I hope it never does.
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing. Wasn't that a time?
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years
by Taylor Branch
The best book I've ever read about the Civil Rights struggle in America (1955-1968) by a first rate historian.
SUGGESTED VIEWING:
President Kennedy's address to the American people on the subject of Civil Rights, 11 June 1963:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BEhKgoA86U
`
This was the most important speech made by an American president in the twentieth century I believe. And the incredible thing about this incredible oration is the fact that most of it was delivered extemporaneously.
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Puff the Magic Dragon
by Peter, Paul and Mary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug0XpHn3seQ
A dragon lives forever
But not so little boys
Painted wings and giant strings
Make way for other toys....
JACKIE PAPER SOLD OUT, MAN!
For more recent postings on this site kindly go to the link below:
"The Rant" by Tom Degan
Overcoming since 2 June 2006
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Puff the Magic Dragon
by Peter, Paul and Mary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug0XpHn3seQ
A dragon lives forever
But not so little boys
Painted wings and giant strings
Make way for other toys....
JACKIE PAPER SOLD OUT, MAN!
For more recent postings on this site kindly go to the link below:
"The Rant" by Tom Degan
Overcoming since 2 June 2006
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