Leveled Readings / JFK's Civil Rights Address
JFK's Civil Rights Address
John F. Kennedy, Civil Rights Address (June 11, 1963)
These are adaptations, not the original. The original wording is always shown first. Each adapted version restates the same passage at about a grade 4, grade 7, or grade 10 reading level without adding or removing ideas. Quote the original in student writing.
Original wording
“We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution.”
Adapted · about grade 4
This is a question of right and wrong. It is as old as the Bible and as clear as the Constitution.
Adapted · about grade 7
We face mainly a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the Constitution.
Adapted · about grade 10
We are confronted primarily with a moral issue, as old as the scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution.
Used in: Nonviolence or Black Power: which approach did more to advance civil rights?