Question

In a paragraph of seven to ten sentences, answer the following questions in relation to this passage from John F. Kennedy's 1963 Civil Rights Address: What notion does Kennedy seek to reinvent in this passage? Why is it necessary for this notion to change? What long-term result does Kennedy expect to see through the reinventing of this notion? "One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their 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 hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free. We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is the land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?"

Answer 1

The idea of racism and ethnic discrimination needs to change. In this speech, Kennedy is saying that in a country that calls itself free, even in the constitution, is not actually fully free. He makes remarks about how we can say to the world, "We are a free country!" ...Except for the Negroes. He also expressed how we can "Preach freedom around the world!" and then turn around and endorse acts of slavery and discrimination, without even acknowledging it, acting like doesn't exist. The idea of this discrimination needs to change in order to become a truly free country. Although we can as a country we can say we are free, egalitarian country, the citizens of such country may not express that.


(I did find this somewhere else, so I am not taking credit for it I just thought it would help)
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