In 1968, the famous civil rights activist leader, Martin Luther King was assassinated. His heath brought much attention to the realities African Americans were facing in the United States during the 1960s. Robert Kennedy’s speech on Luther’s assassination contributed to 1968 being a unique year in world history, as he conveying one of the supreme speeches in history. Based on the assassination and the speech that Kennedy gave, one can clearly see that a man has the capacity to influence multitudes in doing the right thing through the power of words. Furthermore, whatever an individual stands for, there is bound to be opposition.
Martin Luther King insisted on the fellow black men not to engage in violent activities against the white men. These same sentiments were expressed in Robert Kennedy’s speech where he asked the African Americans not to retaliate based on the assassination of their civil rights leader. He continued to indicate that he also had felt such a feeling towards a white man that had killed a member of his family. Kennedy achieves to inspire people using the speech. Through the speech, he was able to advocate the work of Martin Luther King and provided details why it would be beneficial to the American people and for the country to emulate him. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King knew that equality was a key to peace in the society and thus propagated the message on peace and equality through non-violence. (Robert F. Kennedy Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
An interesting point to note is that Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were both assassinated in the same year because of fighting for what they believed was right. A key point they focused on was peace. They were both opposed to the Vietnam War. After the death of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy sought to encourage and inspire individuals both white and black of the need to have compassion and love for fellow man. Using words and their minds both these men had the capacity to steer important and significant changes in world history. Racism had become so prevalent in United States especially in the South. Kennedy knew that even though Martin Luther King had been killed, all what he was fighting for was not lost and that there was still hope for change. Thus, these two men were committed to their goals of improving humanity. However, they were both assassinated in the same year in the course of fulfilling their beliefs making 1968 a unique year.
Works Cited
"American Rhetoric: Robert F. Kennedy -- Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr..” American Rhetoric: Robert F. Kennedy -- Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkonmlkdeath.html>.
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]." Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html>.
