A Brief History
On June 11, 1963, on the same day that Alabama Governor George Wallace tried to block two Black students from entering the University of Alabama, President John F. Kennedy made a speech telling the country about his plan for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a law that would end segregation and provide equal access to all aspects of American life for people of any race.
Digging Deeper
The strained racial atmosphere of 1963 meant that many Americans were opposed to racial equality under the law, and Kennedy’s endorsement of a Civil Rights reform may have been a contributing factor in his murder later that same year.
Speculation about why JFK was killed has run rampant, stoking conspiracy theories like few events in history. We ask you, why do you believe JFK was murdered? Here are some popular alleged plotters:
Oswald acted alone, the official version.
Cuban communists.
Cuban anti-communists.
The CIA or the FBI.
The Mafia.
Vice President Johnson.
White Supremacists.
The Soviets.
Question for students (and subscribers): Who do you believe was responsible? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Douglas, James. JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. Touchstone, 2010.
Landis, Paul. The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After Sixty Years. Chicago Review Press, 2023.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of United States President John F. Kennedy addressing the nation on civil rights on June 11, 1963, contains material based on a work of a National Park Service employee, created as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, such work is in the public domain in the United States. See the NPS website and NPS copyright policy for more information.
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