Kennedy Agonized Over In-Your-Face-Racism

Back in 1963, President john F. Kennedy agonized over what to do about the in-your-face racism and violence in the South and in Birmingham, Alabama, in particular.

Birmingham had been boiling with civil rights demonstrations for weeks. Hundreds of black children had marched to protest segregation, and Police Commissioner Bull Connor ordered officers to disperse them with fire hoses and dogs, news reports said at the time.

"There's no federal law we could pass to do anything about that picture in today's (NY)Times. Well, there isn't," Kennedy fumed. "I mean, what law can you pass to do anything about police power in the community of Birmingham? There is nothing we can do."

The tape of his meeting with 20 members of Americans for Democratic Action was released by the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston to coincide with Martin Luther King Day on Monday.

Read the FULL report here.