It happened one day 20-some years ago in a supermarket now closed. I was talking to a high-school-aged cashier about how little use she would ever have for algebra for the rest of her life unless she became an algebra teacher, and she said that even more than math, she hated history.
"You know, boring old presidents, like Kennedy."
And I was transported back to that day in 1963, seventh grade at the now-demolished Towsontown Junior High School. It was report card day, and we were being sent back to homeroom to get the cards, and before that could happen, the principal, Maynard B. Henry, came on the public address system and told us that the president had been shot in Dallas, and then he put the radio on so that we could hear the news unfolding.
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| John F. Kennedy, 1917 - 1963 |
Johnson, master politician, leveraged the mourning into passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which knocked down legal barriers at the state and local levels preventing African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution. There is doubt among historians as to whether Kennedy could have gotten passage of these parts of his New Frontier program for the nation, but Johnson did it, and won re-election to his own term in '64, only to bow out of the race in 1968 - one of the most tumultuous years in our history. The Viet Nam War proved to be Johnson's undoing, but his early days in office gave us progress long overdue and still worthy of respect.
All this, we could never have predicted that gray Friday, 11/22/63, but looking back on it, one could never call those days "boring," unless one was not paying attention in History class. I told the cashier that I was certain her teacher knew some ways to bring the 1960s alive for the Class of '96. And I hope she asked.
If you are looking for some words to help bring those days in perspective, I can think of few better examples than those of columnist Jimmy Breslin. He knew that every other reporter would interview Johnson, DeGaulle, the other Kennedys, and other people of note. Breslin interviewed the man who dug Kennedy's grave, and wrote about it as only he can. I urge all interested in looking back with me today to read his piece here.
1 comment:
I personally loved history. It was history for me but not for many others like yourself who lived through those innocent years. I am also a graduate of the class of 96, but, I think very differently than that cashier. I was brought up by a family who lived though those years and transmitted their experiences and lives through me. I felt as if was was living through those years myself even though I wasn't a thought during those years. I loved the culture, the movies, the entertainers, the music, the TV series, the everything from the 40's thru the 70's, even though I wasn't born until 78. I learned about a simpler time starting after WW2 until the mid 60's. What a life my family lived. I would have loved to live during those years. I would love to tell that cashier about President Kennedy. The man who stood toe to toe with Krushtiev (I apologize for the misspelling of his name), and during 13 days in October of 1962 the world was on the brink of total annihilation. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, look up "The Cuban Missile Crisis". Not , to mention "The Bay of Pigs" in 61. He also started us in the space race to the moon. He wanted to see us get to the moon before the Commies. A feat that he didn't live to see because of being assassinated in November 1963. I only wish he would have lived. The Vietnam War might have been stopped before it got out of control. Unfortunately, we will never know. I hope to oneday wake up many years from now and find out what the government had on the supposed assassination. One day the records will be declassified. I hope I live to be there for that day to hear the truth. We slowly approach the 100 year anniversary of that sad day in American History. I can only hope to G-D that I will be around to see it. Mike Bossman, Randallstown, MD
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