Question

Read this excerpt from Kennedy's address to the nation on June 11, 1963, and answer the question. We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities. Are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other, that this is a 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? Now the time has come for this nation to fulfill its promise. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=129482 Judging from the diction in the above excerpt, what is the explicit meaning? African Americans deserve the full democratic rights of freedom and justice. We should not mix morality and politics. The promise of freedom and rights to African Americans is inconsistent with the scriptures and the American Constitution. It is unclear whether this is the best time to extend civil rights to African Americans.

Answer 1

President Kenny explicitly stated that African Americans deserve the full rights of a Untied States Citizen. One main example can be the last sentence in the excerpt,"Now the time has come for this nation to fulfill its promise." To simplify, Kenndy is referring to Americans promise for all men to be created equal. Therefore the explicit meaning of this address is for African Americans to receive all of the right they deserve.