"This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of 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 these matters in the courts than on the streets, and new laws are needed at every level, but law alone cannot make men see right. We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution."
React to this quote
More by John F. Kennedy
See allResonant Thoughts
"It is a city of neat cottages and cobbled streets where wander cats without number, for the enlightened legislators of long ago laid down laws for our protection. A good, kind village, where travelers…"
"In spite of the insurmountable computational limits, we continue to pursue the many problems that possess the characteristics of organized complexity. These problems are too important for our well bei…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"that there is a racial paternalism exception to the principle of equal protection. I believe that there is …"
— Clarence Thomas"The other side of this, this slow violence, is that increasingly the racism, the segregation, and the discr…"
— Henry Giroux"the idea of movement.. ..just transferred from the Nude into a bicycle wheel ."
— Marcel Duchamp"If I could design a superstar, the result would be Sebastian Vettel. He's just what F1 needs - young, super…"
— Sebastian Vettel"The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall …"
— Carl Sagan"People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of …"
— John Kenneth Galbraith