June 22, 1963 - Negro leaders told President Kennedy today that massive demonstrations would continue until the civil rights problem was settled. Meeting with the President, Vice President Johnson, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy at the White House, the Negro leaders pledged to carry on a “grass-roots” campaign for the Administration’s civil rights program. However, they said, they believe peaceful demonstrations will also be necessary. “If there is a filibuster in Congress, we will have a nonviolent peaceful demonstration in Washington,” Dr. Martin Luther King said after the meeting of almost two hours. He continued: “We made it clear that we did not intend to have a violent demonstration. We feel a demonstration would help the President’s civil rights legislation, would help dramatize the issue.” Dr. King said the President questioned the wisdom of demonstrating while Congress was in session, but that he did not ask that this demonstration or any others be called off.
