Question

Read the following speech and then answer questions 10 through 13.

1963 Civil Rights Address
President John F. Kennedy
(paraphrased excerpt)
This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds on the principle that all men are
created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.
Today, we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to
be free. When Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It ought to
be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select, to
receive equal service in places of public accommodation, and to register and to vote in a free election
without interference or fear. It ought to be possible for every American to enjoy the privileges of being
American without regard to race or color, but this is not the case.
Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every State of the Union, producing in many
cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. This is not a partisan issue. In a time of
domestic crisis, men of good will 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, 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.
The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities,
whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his
skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best
public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who will represent him, if, in short, he
cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the
color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels
of patience and delay?
One hundred years of delay have passed since the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, yet their
heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are
not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts,
will not be fully free until all its citizens are free. We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it,
and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly,
to each other that this is the land of the free except for the Negroes? This is one country because all of
us and all the people who came here had an equal chance to develop their talents. We cannot say to ten
percent of the population that you can't have that right; that your children cannot have the chance to
develop whatever talents they have; that the only way that they are going to get their rights is to go in the
street and demonstrate. We have a right to expect that the Negro community will be responsible and will
uphold the law, but they have a right to expect that the law will be fair, and that the Constitution will be
colorblind, as Justice Harlan said at the turn of the century.

10. Read this excerpt from the speech.
"...the rights of every man are diminished
when the rights of one man are threatened."
Another way to say this is "__________."

Answer 1

President Kennedy's 1963 Civil Rights Address means that when the rights of one individual are compromised, it affects the rights of all. This principle is aligned with the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause and was foundational to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Step-by-step explanation:

President John F. Kennedy's 1963 Civil Rights Address expressed the sentiment that "the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened."

Another way to say this could be "everyone's rights are compromised when an individual's rights are at risk." This reflects the principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and the essence of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which emphasizes equal rights for all citizens."

Kennedy's address, encapsulating the ethos of the American creed, aimed to unite all Americans in the struggle for civil rights, resulting in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which significantly advanced the cause by prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.