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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. |
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-John F. Kennedy, 1963 Civil Rights Address
John F. Kennedy really should be a lesson for President-elect Obama.
Kennedy did not arrive in office with a track record of support for black Americans' social and civic equality. In fact, he voted against the first Civil Rights Act introduced in modern times, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, introduced by President Eisenhower, a bill that was a predecessor to the more sweeping Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. But in 1963, after events made it clear that the nation faced serious social unrest and the federal government serious opposition to its Constitutional authority, Kennedy delivered his famous address on Civil Rights, breaking with his "prior and lukewarm position on civil rights." It is impossible to know whether JFK would have evolved into a wholehearted supporter of black civil rights or whether he would have been driven less by a moral imperative and more by political considerations. But it does not matter. A President should receive credit for her or his good acts, regardless of her or his intentions. Whether driven by political pragmatism or a moral change of heart, President Kennedy eventually showed leadership on the question of black civil rights.
People I respect consider President-elect Obama to be both extremely savvy and intelligent. President-elect Obama makes much of his interest in learning from the history of past presidential administrations.
President-elect Obama ought to seize a historic opportunity he really does have. Rather than be seen as grudgingly coming around to a recognition of the need to address the interests of women in our society, he could be seen as the president who tackled this issue head on, in front of the curve. I don't care whether he does this out of political savvy or a pure commitment to gender equity or both.
Appointing Senator Clinton Secretary of State (should that come to pass) has relatively little to do with what I am talking about. Bill Clinton broke the gender barrier with regard to that position when he appointed Madeline Albright to it in 1997. FDR broke the gender barrier with regard to women heading Cabinent departments back in 1933 with the appointment of Frances Perkins as Secretary of Labor.
Now, a Cabinet whose members reflected the proportion of women in the country (so that just over half the Cabinet heads would be women) would go beyond measures like these. But I do not see President-elect Obama moving toward that goal. But that doesn't mean there is a shortage of measures Mr. Obama could take if he wanted to be ahead of the curve on gender equity. A non-exhaustive list:
Just as Lyndon Johnson, a white president, picked up the banner of black civil rights even as he contended with the Vietnam War, Barack Obama, could be a male president who picks up the banner of women's rights.
Women's rights are human rights. Practically speaking, probably nobody will fight as hard for them as women themselves. But there's no reason in the world that men, particularly one of the most powerful men in the world, the incoming President of the United States of America should not put human rights, and therefore women's rights, at the very top of his agenda.
John F. Kennedy really should be a lesson for President-elect Obama.
Kennedy did not arrive in office with a track record of support for black Americans' social and civic equality. In fact, he voted against the first Civil Rights Act introduced in modern times, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, introduced by President Eisenhower, a bill that was a predecessor to the more sweeping Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. But in 1963, after events made it clear that the nation faced serious social unrest and the federal government serious opposition to its Constitutional authority, Kennedy delivered his famous address on Civil Rights, breaking with his "prior and lukewarm position on civil rights." It is impossible to know whether JFK would have evolved into a wholehearted supporter of black civil rights or whether he would have been driven less by a moral imperative and more by political considerations. But it does not matter. A President should receive credit for her or his good acts, regardless of her or his intentions. Whether driven by political pragmatism or a moral change of heart, President Kennedy eventually showed leadership on the question of black civil rights.
People I respect consider President-elect Obama to be both extremely savvy and intelligent. President-elect Obama makes much of his interest in learning from the history of past presidential administrations.
President-elect Obama ought to seize a historic opportunity he really does have. Rather than be seen as grudgingly coming around to a recognition of the need to address the interests of women in our society, he could be seen as the president who tackled this issue head on, in front of the curve. I don't care whether he does this out of political savvy or a pure commitment to gender equity or both.
Appointing Senator Clinton Secretary of State (should that come to pass) has relatively little to do with what I am talking about. Bill Clinton broke the gender barrier with regard to that position when he appointed Madeline Albright to it in 1997. FDR broke the gender barrier with regard to women heading Cabinent departments back in 1933 with the appointment of Frances Perkins as Secretary of Labor.
Now, a Cabinet whose members reflected the proportion of women in the country (so that just over half the Cabinet heads would be women) would go beyond measures like these. But I do not see President-elect Obama moving toward that goal. But that doesn't mean there is a shortage of measures Mr. Obama could take if he wanted to be ahead of the curve on gender equity. A non-exhaustive list:
- appoint a gold-ribbon Presidential Commission on Women, charged specifically with recommending legislation the President could send to Congress that would work the same sort of dramatic changes for women that the Civil Rights Acts of the twentieth centure worked for black Americans
- seriously consider sending for passage by Congress the Equal Rights Amendment, which would serve to guarantee to women the same Constitutional protection against gender discrimination that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments have - admittedly over a long time - come to protect black Americans from racial discrimination
- use his office as a bully pulpit to acknowledge and condemn specific acts of misogyny and sexism, and to consistently and continually object to the attitudes reflected by these acts
- get behind the National Women's History Museum, making sure it gets a permanent and prominent home in Washington, D.C.
- commit to making every reasonable effort to transform the Supreme Court so that its composition reflects the proportion of women to men in this country
Just as Lyndon Johnson, a white president, picked up the banner of black civil rights even as he contended with the Vietnam War, Barack Obama, could be a male president who picks up the banner of women's rights.
Women's rights are human rights. Practically speaking, probably nobody will fight as hard for them as women themselves. But there's no reason in the world that men, particularly one of the most powerful men in the world, the incoming President of the United States of America should not put human rights, and therefore women's rights, at the very top of his agenda.
I admire/deeply appreciate your exceptional ability to identify ways to turn straw into gold.
Posted by: Mary Lou | November 18, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Or lemonade from lemons.
It's a good frame for it -- if BO wants to be the next JFK, let him show a focus on women.
Posted by: votermom | November 18, 2008 at 11:08 AM