The kid and I pulled into the parking lot on a bitter cold Saturday in January. It was only about a quarter filled with cars. While the walk to the front door was mercifully short, it was still painfully cold. But the name on the white stone and glass building by the harbor warmed me: the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. No Cheeto flea name violating the front or his cronies violating the organization itself. No insane babbling, ICE thugs, or determination to dismantle our democracy. Just a place to learn about a president who was human, had faults, made mistakes, and also who did his best to serve our country and we the people.
Total mind fucker, right?
I will admit to my biases right now: I am of the Kennedy myth generation, and having spent my adult life in Massachusetts, I am even more so. Yes, in many ways the men of this family were troubled and power hungry. And also JFK supported civil rights, inspired the space program, created the Peace Corp. Jackie Kennedy transformed the White House into a premier venue for American arts and culture, including Black performers and artists. People who are smarter than I am and have studied the family more have wrestled with this dichotomy of bad private behavior and inspirational public behavior. For my part, I am going to take solace in him as a grown ass, publicly responsible politician.
The library is well organized and thorough. Even though I was born 2 years after JFK was assassinated, hearing his speeches, reading about his life, and his approach to politics reassured me that this Cheeto flea madness will end. Not soon enough and not easily, but it will end. What struck me was that JFK could give a moving, cogent speech. We certainly haven’t heard one of those in a long time. So I’m here to tell you:
They still exist!
He wanted to be a writer or a teacher and had a short stint as a reporter after WWII when he returned from service in the Navy. I also hadn’t known his father and grandfather were in politics. I thought the grandfather had just been a bootlegger or maybe that was the great-grandfather. These people have a long, complicated history. I was also struck by the writer part; here was someone who cared about words. In fact, he often edited his speeches just before giving them. Anyone who writes gets that immediately–that you’re never really finished.
Of the 9 Kennedy children, it was the oldest son, Joseph Kennedy, Jr., who was earmarked for politics. When he died in the war, JFK thought about it more seriously than he would have.
We all know the quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Well, OK, maybe not all. I’m guessing the Fox News watchers probably don’t have it cross-stitched in a frame on their wall. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say, I have known it for most of my life. In the context of what is happening right now, it hit me in a different, more visceral way. It’s a call to action for citizens to be engaged in whatever that means to us. Many of us white folks certainly lost our way on that one, didn’t we? We are full on experiencing the outcome of a lack of participation, which leads to another quote that hit me hard:
“For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, ‘hold office’; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.”
Ahhhh, shite. The Tea party and white supremacists demanded the government they wanted and they got it. They built it over time, but we were not paying close enough attention. But it works both ways doesn’t it? We, of the democracy is a thing worth fighting for ilk, can demand the kind of leadership we want. By contacting our representatives, voting, supporting good candidates, or running ourselves. By participating in school committees and town councils, and maybe even just picking up trash on your street. The bar is low, people.
I was inspired by the trip, but as I said, I was already deeply steeped in the Kennedy mythology. The kid joked about where RFK, Jr., fit in, and I had a moment of regret similar to when I realized the kid and his generation would only know the Michael Jackson who dangled his kid over the railing, not the musical and dance genius that my generation knew. He did say he was a little inspired and that after going through the exhibits, he felt very patriotic. And then in the next moment he wondered if he was being emotionally manipulated.
Oh, Gen Z. You make our Gen X apathy seem like enthusiasm. He’s not wrong. We always need to be aware of the bias. It’s JFK’s library so of course we’re getting the best of him: his thoughts, his leadership, but isn’t that also valid? I pointed out that whatever you may think of JFK the person, his words still make sense. His words are encouraging, his words can guide us to make a better democracy, to uphold the constitution. To do what we can to get the government we truly deserve, all of us, black, brown, white, purple, green, blue. Maybe the kid heard me, and maybe he just heard the sound of Charlie Brown’s teacher, wah wah, wah wah, wah wah. In any event, it helped me be clearer on a cold day in January that we do not deserve this madness and we will end it by demanding better leadership.
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