Civil Rights Address

John Fitzgerald Kennedy: CivilRights Address delivered 11 June
1963
Good evening, my fellow citizens:
挑 戦 的 なThis afternoon, following a series of threats and defiant

statements, the presence ofアラ バマ州 兵Alabama National Guardsmen was required on the University of Alabama to carry out the絶対の地区裁判所

final and unequivocal order of the United States District Court of the Northern District ofAlabama. That order called for the admission of two clearly qualified young Alabama
たまたま～するresidents who happened to have been born Negro. That they were admitted peacefully on
品行

the campus is due in good measure to the conduct of the students of the University ofAlabama, who met their responsibilities in a constructive way.
I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his良心

設 立 す る

conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men ofmany nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created萎

縮する

equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man arethreatened.
Today, we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all
who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask～しないと駄目for whites only. It oughta be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to公的組

織attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops. It
oughta to be possible for American consumers of any color to receive equal service in places
公共施設

小 売 店of public accommodation , such as hotels and restaurants and theaters and retail stores,
うったえかけるwithout being forced to resort to demonstrations in the street, and it oughta be possible
for American citizens of any color to register and to vote in a free election without
報

復interference or fear of reprisal . It oughta to be possible, in short, for every American toenjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short,every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one
事 実

would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.
The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the State in which he isI

Civil Rights Addressborn, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby bornin the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college,
one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance ofbecoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life
平均

余命

見通しexpectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.
分離差別This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in
合衆国のすべてのevery city, in every Stateo f不州

the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of満

党 派 的 なdiscontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of
優しさ

domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party
or politics. This is not even a legal or legislative issue alone. It is better to settle thesematters in the courts than on the streets, and new laws are needed at every level, but lawalone cannot make men see right. We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as
聖書

old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution.
与 え る

The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal
opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.
一 般 人

If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public,
if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for thepublic officials who will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life
which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin勧めchanged and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels ofpatience and delay?
One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their
相 続 人

heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice.
They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its
誇りhopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.
説くWe preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here athome, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is
二級のthe land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second -class citizens except
カースト

ゲットーNegroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except withrespect to Negroes?
Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise. The events in Birmingham andIICivil Rights Address
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elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body
明らかに仲 た が いcan prudently choose to ignore them. The fires of frustration and discord are burning in
手 近 な救済every city, North and South, where legal remedies are not at hand. Redress is sought in thestreets, in demonstrations, parades, and protests which create tensions and threaten
violence and threaten lives.
抑圧的なWe face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and a people. It cannot be met by repressive
police action. It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be
形ばかりのquieted by token moves or talk. It is a time to act in the Congress, in your State and local
責任を負わせる

legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives. It is not enough to pin the bl a me嘆

くon others, to say this a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore thefacts that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make thatrevolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all. Those who do nothing are
引 き 起 こ すinviting shame, as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right, as well as
reality.
Next week I shall ask the Congress of the United States to act, to make a commitment it has
提議

not fully made in this century to the proposition that race has no place in American life or司法当局

支 持 す る

率直なlaw. The Federal judiciary has upheld that proposition in a series of forthright cases.
The Executive Branch has adopted that proposition in the conduct of its affairs, including職員the employment of Federal personnel, the use of Federal facilities, and the sale of federally
国 営 住 宅financed housing. But there are other necessary measures which only the Congress can会

期

衡 平 法

provide, and they must be provided at this session. The old code of equity law under which
we live commands for every wrong a remedy, but in too many communities, in too many課

すparts of the country, wrongs are inflicted on Negro citizens and there are no remedies atlaw. Unless the Congress acts, their only remedy is the street.
立法化する

I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right tobe served in facilities which are open to the public -- hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail拒絶stores, and similar establishments. This seems to me to be an elementary right. Its denial恣意的な侮辱

is an arbitrary indignity that no American in 1963 should have to endure, but many do.
多 数 のI have recently met with scores of business leaders urging them to take voluntary action toend this discrimination, and I have been encouraged by their response, and in the last two分

離をなくすweeks over 75 cities have seen progress made in desegregating these kinds of facilities. But
many are unwilling to act alone, and for this reason, nationwide legislation is needed if weIII

Civil Rights Address
are to move this problem from the streets to the courts.
I'm also asking the Congress to authorize the Federal Government to participate more fully訴訟

in lawsuits

designed to end segregation in public education. We have succeeded in地方persuading many district s to desegregate voluntarily. Dozens have admitted Negroes
without violence. Today, a Negro is attending a State-supported institution in every one ofour 50 States, but the pace is very slow.
小 学 校

Too many Negro children entering segregated grade schools at the time of the Supreme
Court's decision nine years ago will enter segregated high schools this fall, having suffered aloss which can never be restored. The lack of an adequate education denies the Negro a
品 位 あ るchance to get a decent job.
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使

委ねる

The orderly implementation of the Supreme Court decision, therefore, cannot be left
solely to those who may not have the economic resources to carry the legal action or who
さ ら さ れ る

may be subject to harassment.
Other features will be also requested, including greater protection for the right to vote. But
legislation, I repeat, cannot solve this problem alone. It must be solved in the homes of
敬意を捧げるevery American in every community across our country. In this respect I wanna pay tributeto those citizens North and South who've been working in their communities to make life
better for all. They are acting not out of sense of legal duty but out of a sense of human品位

decency. Like our soldiers and sailors in all parts of the world they are meeting freedom's前線

挨 拶 す る

challenge on the firing line, and I salute them for their honor and their courage.
My fellow Americans, this is a problem which faces us all -- in every city of the North as wellas the South. Today, there are Negroes unemployed, two or three times as many compared
to whites, inadequate education, moving into the large cities, unable to find work, young
people particularly out of work without hope, denied equal rights, denied the opportunity toeat at a restaurant or a lunch counter or go to a movie theater, denied the right to a decent
州立大学

能 力 が あ る

education, denied almost today the right to attend a State university even though qualified.
It seems to me that these are matters which concern us all, not merely Presidents orCongressmen or Governors, but every citizen of the United States.
This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people whocame here had an equal chance to develop their talents. We cannot say to ten percent of thepopulation that you can't have that right; that your children cannot have the chance toIV

Civil Rights Addressdevelop whatever talents they have; that the only way that they are going to get their rights
借りを負う

is to go in the street and demonstrate. I think we ow e them and we owe ourselves a bettercountry than that.
Therefore, I'm asking for your help in making it easier for us to move ahead and to provide
the kind of equality of treatment which we would want ourselves; to give a chance for every
能力に応じてchild to be educated to the l i m i t of his talents.
As I've said before, not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or equal
motivation, but they should have the equal right to develop their talent and their ability and活用する

their motivation, to make something of themselves.
We have a right to expect that the Negro community will be responsible, will uphold the law,
人種偏見の無いbut they have a right to expect that the law will be fair, that the Constitution will becolorblind, as Justice Harlan said at the turn of the century.
This is what we're talking about and this is a matter which concerns this country and what it
意味す るこ とstands for, and in meeting it I ask the support of all our citizens.
Thank you very much.

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