Robert F. Kennedy
Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Visit the speech here
• The video if preferred : (starts at 2:11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT3Hp9kSrpA
Historic background
Martin Luther King was the leader of the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 1960's. He was admired for his courage to speak up , while risking his own life continuously. He inspired many people of both races, black and white, by his undying passion to obtain universal justice and equality. One can establish that he was regarded as a highly prominent political leader, whose words and actions were taken as valuable advice. He received the Nobel Peace Price in 1964 , marking him as one of the most acknowledged peacemakers in US history.
One evening in the spring of 1968, Martin stepped out into his balcony and received a fatal shot. An hour later he was declared dead. He had been in Memphis, Tennessee , where he planned to march with the cities black sanitation workers on a strike for increased job safety, improved wages and benefits and union recognition.
Robert F. Kennedy held a speech in honour of Martin Luther kings assassination, delivered on the 4th of April 1968, Indianapolis. The political speech served to educate his people of the very recent tragedy and to persuade them to act on it in a more sophisticated way, utilising the rethoric devices of logos, pathos and ethos. It is important to note that he not only addressed the heavily affected black's of the audience, but literally everyone else , as he says:"I have some very sad news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world". Kennedy specifically included everyone into the tragic event in order to emphasise his sympathy towards the black nation and steer their attention into the direction of peace and union, knowing that they were not grieving alone.
He then praises Martin L. king for his dedication in the name of justice and reminds them how he died for that very cause. This may not take away the resentment of his people but it did elevate their sense of pride, as their hero died as a leader and not a follower, as someone innocent striving for peace and not for committing a crime. The issue with his death was the irony of his crime , which was the skin colour that he wore and the power he possessed over a large number of people with only the best intentions for them.
Kennedy provides his black audience with the option :"For those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge."
He admits to his own race being responsible for Martins death as the person who shot him clearly had many supporters of the white race , thus setting the image of understanding and regret ; perhaps shame. By allowing the black nation to openly feel and act on all those negative emotions :"We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarisation -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another." - this may lead to many more conflicts, worsening the situation. Yet, he gives them the freedom to replicate the way they'd been treated by the majority of the white nation.
However he quickly notes the consequences that their actions would lead to, striving for the better option. As he says: "Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love."
Although the action that had been inflicted on Martin L. King was anything but compassionate , the reaction of his very people would mirror his success or failure in leading the civil rights movement. At that point , Martin's people are faced with the ultimatum of acting on their impulse of protests with no intention of peace, with war that would destroy the very cause Martin lived for, or to handle the situation similarly the way he would've handled it. With peace. This sets the mood of suspense for the rest of the speech as the audience is now fully involved , thus hooked.
By portraying how Martin L. King would choose to be the one to make the sophisticated decisions that would result in a more prosperous ending , Kennedy promotes the idea of peace through him. In another sense he challenges the people's sense of loyalty by implying that they are now fully responsible for their actions and no longer have a leader, meaning that their true colours would shine through, in terms of intentions. Clearly, they now represented him and since Kennedy has made it clear how Martin would act on such a crime, his use of Pathos (The idea of showing peace through Martin) and Logos (The correct assumption of Martins reaction) worked effectively.
After the subtle order of handling the murder and injustice with peace , he incorporates a personal event in order to reach out to his audience and perhaps soothe them through his own pain , when he says: "I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man." He means to convey the message of understanding and agreement, but also the idea that no race can be generalised , as jealousy and hatred transgress the boundaries of race, and the action of an individual of a race cannot be theorised onto the rest of that particular race.
He mentions a poem whose meaning he values and it states that even though one may be in despair and convinced of their right to those emotions, Gods wisdom seeps through and , against their will, becomes the right thing to do. Here he uses Ethos to make an impression on the religious majority of his audience by linking it to how they may deal with their leaders assassination.
Looking into the figures of speech, when Kennedy says, as a comment on the poem , :" What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom." One can identify his use of Anaphora and Climax, where he repeats the word "United States" for every sentence, in order to dramatise the connection between every individual and their country, and build up the tension of the sentence to finalise it with the powerful words of "love and wisdom."
He then proceeds to deliver his final plea of peacefulness and understanding, asking everyone to go home - instead of forming a riot on the streets - to pray for Martin Luther King - as opposed to praying for the white folks suffering.
He tries to persuade his audience that there will always be conflicts and problems, hatred and war , but the fate of a country lies in the hands of its very people. Kennedy attempted to convey the idea of independence and importance of unity and mutual support in order to succeed.
Through Kennedy's speech one has seen the strategies in which he carefully steers his audience in the direction that would cause the least trouble. The idea that one forms is that although Martin was no longer amongst his supporters, that didn't mean his hard earned work should have to go down the drain. Instead, the nation should use his death as a way to strengthen the bond amongst each other and carry on his dream of justice and racial equality. That is the initial message of Robert F. Kennedy.
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