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A. Philip Randolph Letter to President John F. Kennedy
Date: 1963
Caption: This is a letter from August 13, 1963 from A. Philip Randolph to President Kennedy about the upcoming March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, including a request for the President to meet with the sponsoring Committee.
The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom sought to push for change in several ways. In addition to the planned demonstration involving more than 200,000 people, Randolph secured a meeting between John F. Kennedy and a selected delegation of civil rights leaders (including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, and others) to discuss policy proposals and changes that aligned with the march’s goals. The planned march echoed Randolph’s politics that connected economic security (jobs) with liberation (freedom). The organizers of the march intended for the demonstration to challenge racial discrimination not just in the South, but in the North; to call for an end to police brutality; to demand protection for accessing voting rights; to compel desegregation of the nation’s schools; and to push for a federal works program guaranteeing employment. Although the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom has often been reduced to one portion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful “I Have a Dream” speech, the demonstration and its organizers planned an event more radical and far-sweeping in its demands.
These were the demands that the delegation discussed with President Kennedy. Bayard Rustin was notably absent from this meeting. He had been urged by his colleagues to not attend the meeting because of his sexuality and past affiliation with the Communist Party.
Categories: national
Tags: organizing, protest, racist segregation, employment, queer people
This item is part of "Before the Boycotts: Organizing and Direct Action" in "Boycotting New York’s Segregated Schools"
Item Details
Date: 1963
Creator: A. Philip Randolph
Source: President John F. Kennedy Library
Copyright: Public domain. Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
How to cite: “A. Philip Randolph Letter to President John F. Kennedy,” A. Philip Randolph, in New York City Civil Rights History Project, Accessed: [Month Day, Year], https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/gallery/letter-to-president-kennedy.
Questions to Consider
- What were the goals of the March on Washington? How did those goals relate to A. Philip Randolph’s previous career as the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters?
- Why do you think that schools usually only focus on Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech when teaching the March on Washington?
References
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