Although I was an extremely young child, I do have memories of John F. Kennedy. As a matter of fact, the deep affection I feel for JFK is a typical and extensive view shared by lots of people, especially those who matured during his presidency and its results. While chroniclers can indicate his political intricacies and stalled progress on certain concerns, my feelings are rooted in a powerful mix of cultural meaning, the heartbreaking nature of his death, and the means his image was accepted as a symbol of hope during a critical time in American background. My experience of seeing his picture on the wall along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ is not an anomaly; it is a profound and informing insight into exactly how he was elevated from a political number to a cultural and spiritual icon, especially within the African American neighborhood.
Among the most powerful factors for my desire is the image of a “New Frontier” that JFK symbolized. He was vibrant, charismatic, and stood for a stark separation from the past. For a country– and particularly for a community yearning for change– he was a symbol of progress and a future-facing vision. He mesmerized the country with his elegance, his stunning family, and his motivating rhetoric. While his substantial activities on civil liberties were at first slow-moving, his words and character offered a new sense of aspiration. His call to “ask not …