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“17 million Negroes cannot do as you suggest and wait for the hearts of men to change. We want to enjoy now the rights that we feel we are entitled to as Americans.”

Source: Letter to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 13 May 1958

Context He wrote to Eisenhower the day after the president urged patience on civil rights in a speech to the Summit Meeting of Negro Leaders in Washington.

Portrait of Jackie Robinson
Jackie RobinsonUnited States · 1919–1972
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