45 years ago Bobby Kennedy predicted in 40 years, a "negro" could be President

[crankychatter]

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-dream.html

from James Baldwin's response in the NY Times

"...I remember when the ex-Attorney General, Mr. Robert Kennedy, said it was conceivable that in 40 years in America we might have a Negro President. That sounded like a very emancipated statement to white people. They were not in Harlem when this statement was first heard. They did not hear the laughter and bitterness and scorn with which this statement was greeted. From the point of view of the man in the Harlem barber shop, Bobby Kennedy only got here yesterday and now he is already on his way to the Presidency. We were here for 400 years and now he tells us that maybe in 40 years, if you are good, we may let you become President.

Perhaps I can be reasoned with, but I don't know--neither does Martin Luther King--none of us knows how to deal with people whom the white world has so long ignored, who donít believe anything the white world says and don't entirely believe anything I or Martin say. You can't blame them."

Prescience from RFK. From Baldwin's response... can a White person even imagine the incredulity of African Americans... even now?

Maybe we have come far... but it's obvious to most of us... we have far to go.

"It won't be easy." Barack Obama

edited to add, thanks waterman and tom

[muryan]

1. I saw this on MSNBC about 20 minutes ago

Kind of gives you the chills.

[crankychatter]

2. I saw it too... had to google some information and make a post

it IS odd, eh?

[H2O Man]

6. I wrote about it

last week. It was a famous meeting in 1963, at Joseph Kennedy Sr.'s NYC apartment.

[crankychatter]

8. I'd like to read your piece - can you put it up here?

puh puh pleez?

[H2O Man]

11. I will try:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/H2O%20Man/401

[crankychatter]

12. I can put a link to your journal up top if you want - nt and thanks

.

[H2O Man]

13. I'm curious

what you think of it.

I think it makes clear that I am correct on the date.

[skooooo]

15. The quote was made in 1968...

..wasn't it?

[crankychatter]

17. nope... the Baldwin article is from 65... Russert is wrong

but we still don't know

[H2O Man]

20. May 24, 1963

according to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr; Evan Thomas; Richard Mahoney; and Michael Beran. More, it is what those who attended the meeting reported. I am unaware of a single source that has made a claim otherwise. If Tim Russert did, he should be corrected.

[crankychatter]

22. yeah, he did.... they get stuff wrong all the time

I'm much more interested in the fact of it... than the specific time

I'm still trying to search WaPo archives per tom's suggestion... nothing yet

[H2O Man]

24. The pages from

four sources are included at the end of my journal. Those books might be of as much or more interest than other sources. I could probably come up with six more in a few moments.

[crankychatter]

30. I will revisit your journal this week in my evenings, thank you

smarty

[H2O Man]

18. If you read the link

in post #11, you will find the exact day in 1963, with full documentation. It is from RFK's infamous meeting with Baldwin & friends.

[crankychatter]

19. I did read it and didn't find reference to that specific quote

it is interesting... those were tough times

I'll look again to see if I overlooked it

[H2O Man]

21. Section 3,

paragraph 8.

(Kennedy spoke of his grandfather’s experiences as an immigrant. He said that in three generations, his brother had become President of the US. Kennedy noted that he believed a black man would be elected President within 40 years. Baldwin replied that his family had been here for far more than three generations.)

[crankychatter]

23. thank you - nt

.

[TomClash]

3. I think it was actually 1961 nt

[crankychatter]

4. thanks... i'll edit but I need a link to the original quote

was just going by what Russert said on MSNBC just now

[TomClash]

9. Wapo archives 1961 nt

[crankychatter]

16. I'm not having any luck with the WaPo archives keyword search, sorry - nt

.

[H2O Man]

7. 1963 n/t

[H2O Man]

26. Here it is:

"Kennedy said, as he had before, that his grandparents had encountered discrimination and now, two generations later, his brother was President; a Negro would be President within forty years. Baldwin replied furiously, 'Your family has been here for three generations. My family has been here for far longer than that. Why is your brother at the top, while we are still so far away? That's the heart of the problem.'"
--Schlesinger; Robert Kennedy & His Times; page 357

(Even if one thought Russert a better source than I -- an error, I believe -- they can be sure that Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., is more accurate. Again, May 24, 1963. Also, RFK first met Baldwin in November, 1962; he could not have said this to him before that.)

[H2O Man]

28. Also see:

Thomas Maier's "The Kennedy's: America's Emerald Kings," 2003; chapter 30 (Doing the Right Thing), pages 409-411.

[H2O Man]

29. Journals:1952-2000

by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; 2007; see pages191-193

[Faygo Kid]

5. Extraordinary. Bobby would have loved this. Baldwin would have been shocked. It's going to happen

[my3boyz]

27. His children sure aren't happy about it! However, his wife is so that is good. nt

[BklynChick]

10. i read this this morning too. the timing is extraordinary

[janx]

14. I find myself wondering how many at DU know who James Baldwin is...

"Sonny's Blues" is (to me) his masterpiece.

[ruggerson]

25. I imagine a lot of gay DUers do

n/t

[H2O Man]

31. It's a shame

if people aren't familiar with him. I had a great English teacher in Jr High who had us read "My Dungeon Shook (Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation). Our assignment was to then write a response, pretending that we were Baldwin's nephew. A good assignment for 8th graders.

Decades later, I was at a picnic, where about half the people attending were teachers, either in public schools or the state university system. When I heard that Jr High English teacher's voice, I approached her, and said, "I'm not sure if you will remember me, but...." She said, "Well of course I do," and said how my "letter" had stuck out in her mind. I said how having her as a teacher has stuck out in my mind. She died the next spring, and I was really happy to have had the opportunity to meet her again.

Your post made me think of that. Probably not many teachers today are familiar with Baldwin, and that's a shame. He was a unique talent.

[janx]

33. I'm a short story writer

as well as a college English teacher. I did not major in education. I teach Baldwin in both creative writing and composition, so I have taught his essays and fiction. "Sonny's Blues" makes me weep regarding its subject and especially its execution. He lives on. :toast:

[H2O Man]

34. I've quoted him

for years on DU. By no coincidence, those familiar with Baldwin are among my favorite DUers.

[Imagevision]

32. Do ya'll think it'll be difficult for Obama to beat...McBush...? c'mon!

[janx]

35. . . .

:rofl: