When Robert F. Kennedy Told an Indianapolis Crowd of King’s Assassination (05xp-RFK) (05xp-RFK) (05xp-RFK) (05xp-RFK)

RFK had a sense of caring and compassion that was far beyond that of most politicians. 50 years after his death, I am reminded of him every time I travel through the deep South. His trip through some of the worst living conditions imaginable there was an act of courage, and caused him to remark privately what he could not say in public - that it shocked him that conditions for citizens of the greatest country in the world were worse than a third world country. The effects of Jim Crow were heavy on his heart. Thanks for this column, even though it jogs a memory of long ago. Clearly there's nothing of the sort available with either the current White House occupant or his fawning party.

In the summer of 2016 I was driving my 16yo grandson to work On the radio we heard reports of the campaign, and I told him: believe it or not, things were worse in the 60's. He asked, ' what happened in the 60's?' I had never heard this speech, or I forgot it. I wish I'd been able to play it for him.

Standing here in 2018 with the Presidency reduced to betrayal and buffoonery, and our country being driven apart by internal factionalism and external meddling, and looking back to the path and promise that lay before us when we had leaders like Dr. King and Robert Kennedy, I feel like a Dark Ages inhabitant of Rome, awestruck at the spectacular ruins around me and wondering how a civilization so advanced could have lost its way and collapsed on itself. We still have a chance to hold back the darkness; may we seize that chance before it’s gone.

Robert Kennedy still makes my heart soar. He is the president I yearn for today.

Thank you for publishing this on this day, in this year, and at this time. It is devastating to compare the wisdom and grace, circumspection and intellect of both men with this incompetent, lazy, intellectually devoid, and profoundly dangerous man currently in the WH. Let us work toward a future where we will continue to honor the great political and social leaders, men and women, and learn from them as much as we learn of the mistakes of dictators and fools, but relegate them to their place in history (a footnote along with a history lesson), and move on.

Moment of rare courage by a politician. But Robert Kennedy was much more than a politician.

From RFK's eloquent speech to Trump's tweets. How much lower can this country stoop?

I was 18 that evening in 1968 and far away in school from my native Indianapolis. Yes, RFK calmed the crowd and it was an incredibly moving speech. There were no riots in Indianapolis. The city has a history of dialog and a large middle class Black population. There was a feeling, then as now, that somebody listened and both parties worked together. I thank the late Senator Kennedy for appearing that nigh and his courage in doing so. I'm also proud of my home city and its historical method of mostly doing the right thing.

I listened to the speech this morning. I never heard it before, i just read it. My heart ached. But even as important as it was, it seems our modern history always want to define black lives through the eyes of powerful, important white men/women. Maybe everything that is happening today will eventually lead us to remember MLK Jr for his persona and the Civil Rights movement and not by the people who “rescued” the country of possible violence.

I was in grade school when all these shootings happened. My parents admired the Kennedy's and King. I recall RFK's speech, and was devasted. I agree that his speech took courage, and that no one, at that time, was on the political stage that could have given the speech. I believe, however, that other white men can and will have the courage to talk about such tragic events and be heard. I do reject the belief that one race cannot share empathy with another race when one race commits an atrocity against the other. To suggest that African Americans won't listen, is a racist belief. Seeking understanding, forgiveness, and redemption are spiritual actions that transcend skin color.

Some how, and something that cannot be understood is the fact that many leaders of the stature of Martin Luther King, Jr., who speak and motivate to the best side of us, are assassinated. One only needs to look at the example of Jesus to understand that the powers of greed and fear do not stand idly by when humankind marches towards the greater good. It is in that moment that this sort of power terrorizes humankind with all sorts of atrocities and terror. We are now witnessing more potential atrocities with the current president at the helm, who is motivated simply by greed and personal power. The antidote: keep marching towards the greater good for all people, no matter what.

It just moves you to tears to think that a man like that lived among us and might have led this great nation through the most difficult of times. We should all pray for the immortal soul of Robert Francis Kennedy and pray as well for our troubled nation in this dark hour.

And still, neither party wants blacks and whites to unite for economic justice. Both parties have ways of keeping color, gender, and other divisions front and center, whether it's about Whose Lives Matter or the dog whistles about rapists and murderers and caravans. What choice have we had - vote one way, vote the other; the same corporate control no matter who is in office.

Among the most empathetic speeches ever delivered, as the people of Indianapolis understood. When I heard a recording of the speech years later in class, I was transported to the city and became part of the audience. I will forever love Robert Kennedy for this speech.

I've always found Bobby's 4/4/68 speech in Indianapolis to be one of the greatest and most eloquent in American history. Such compassion is lacking in today's political and civil discourse.

MLK spoke against triple Evils: Racism, Poverty, Militarism. When he spoke against Vietnam War, allies turned on him. Hard to believe today. My Lai happened on March 16, 1968, just three weeks before his death. One wonders was he assassinated because the My Lai Massacre would have given his leadership impetus? Cynical, but dots are there to connect........

Another of America’s impassioned leaders whose life was taken by senseless gun violence. A voice of compassion and unity silenced but not forgotten. How we could use a leader like that today to help heal our divided nation.

The late 1960s was peace, love, assassinations, and violent protests, which were connected in ways that are still hard to fathom. We have had a few moments since then in which it appeared that we had learned the lessons of that time and were headed in the right direction, but overall we haven't made anywhere near the progress that King and Bobby Kennedy (and Lyndon Johnson and John Kennedy) had hoped for, particularly with regard to racial equality and societal justice. One can assume that the killing of 3 of these men is responsible, but the divisions Bobby Kennedy talked about are still with us and getting deeper. We need to stop digging these holes if we have any hope of ever climbing out, but most of our current leaders are wielding shovels and praising guns.

Google tells me that today would have been Dr. Maya Angelou's 90th birthday. Much as I loved Dr. Angelou, it saddens me to think that every year on this date, she was also forced to contemplate the death of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Those of us who lived through these terrible months with two assassinations have never been able to get over the dreams these courageous men inspired.We still wonder "what if" these leaders had not been taken from us.We were young and inspired-now we are fifty years older and recognize some progress but not enough to justify the dreams we once had.

As we read this article about RFK speaking about King, in just eight weeks I'm sure the articles and tributes will start up again marking the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death.

I am 25 years old and almost cried reading this article.

The Kennedy brothers unleashed J. Edgar Hoover's FBI on Dr. King. Lyndon Johnson continued to do so. Robert Kennedy jumped on the 1968 political Eugene McCarthy bandwagon. LBJ accomplished what JFK could and did not regarding meaningful civil rights legislation.

Oh my, just compare RFK's literate and compassionate statement, largely improvised, with the childish, illiterate ramblings of those who masquerade as our "leaders" today. The gulf is astounding and, frankly, horrifying. What has happened to this country? The slow destruction of our public education system over the course of the past 50 years is one of the least acknowledged reasons for our current state. Having graduated high school in the late 1970's, I believe my generation was the last to receive a quality public education. The Reagan administration removed all pretense of caring about public schools. We have failed our children and that failure now haunts us.

To watch Bobby Kennedy deliver that speech impromptu, and speak so eloquently to a crowd of heartbroken people hearing the news of Martin Luther King's assassination is to witness the greatness of a possible future president who seemed genuinely concerned for the citizens his country, be they black or white. To hear the anguish and screams of that crowd, now echoing half a century later , is a ghostly wind that will not abate, no matter what setbacks this new, perverted administration under a vile leader and his henchmen try to employ to obliterate our history and prior attempts to improve our country, including harmony between the races. This 50th Anniversary of MLK brings with it both honor for a great American along with despair at what has been lost.

RFK was great. Especially when he authorized FBI surveillance of Dr. King.

The right-wing massacre of American society was sealed when JFK, MLK and RFK were slaughtered by guns. Those with the most to gain by the murders of those three liberal lions were the rabid, reactionary right-wing. American society has suffered gravely since their intelligent and thoughtful voices were silenced and the Immoral and Amoral Right ascended in America. America's future was murdered when those three shining stars were murdered.

Fifty years later , Dr. King is not only an icon of his nonviolent movement but a shining light of remembrance of what he represented . A peaceful movement , a struggle to bring fairness that was not only inclusive of African Americans but a reminder to all that every man no matter what color must be treated with dignity and respect . Sadly the struggle continues , but for that moment in time he inspired many and pointed the way , with a non violent movement .

Not sure about Richard Kahlenberg, who was 5 at the time, but 1968 was not seen by many as a violent end to an idealistic time during 1968, but rather by people who came later and attempted to circumscribe the idealism in the 1960s to just politics. It was already a violent time with regards to the cities, and everyone knew what was coming that night, not because of some macro articulation of paths, but because the Long Hot Summer had ended only six months previously. As for idealism, within a couple of months 400,000 people would gather peacefully in Woodstock, New York in a "nation" which believed as its bard said, "I dreamed I saw the bomber jet planes riding shotgun in the sky, turning into butterflies over our nation." Followed the next Fall by Work for Peace on October 15th, when 2 million people demonstrated for an end to the War in Vietnam all over the country. It has become vogue for people to start writing the "definitive history" of the 1960s based on a formula that history starts being written 40 or so years after the events. That was a rule of thumb and had to do with how many of those who experienced events were still alive. I know its popular to bury the Boomers but we aren't actually dead yet. And the peace candidate for young people in 1968 had been Gene McCarthy, before the histories were written by people who weren't born when people went "Clean for Gene."

Those two assasinations changed the course of American history. Without them Richard Nixon would not have become President and the Vietnam War would have ended much sooner. Kennedy and King would have worked together to move forward racial justice. Don’t we wish we had leaders today like those two men. Those of us old enough to remember their eloquence should all be horrified for what qualifies as communication from today’s president.

Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy - each a liberal promoting civil rights and each murdered with guns. Firearm related deaths in the United States since 1968 are approximately 1,530,000 murders, accidents, and suicides. The combined deaths of soldiers from every war in U.S. history - from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, both World Wars, Korean and Vietnam wars - up to our current wars totals 1,200,000 deaths, or 300,000 less than domestic murders. The NRA owns the GOP. The situation will not be improved until gerrymandering and the electoral college, as well the legalized bribery of politicians are banished. We on the left have the numbers to prevail if we will only show up. That is all it gets down to - showing up on election day, every election.

I was 11 years old and in sixth grade on that awful night 50 years ago. My family had been heavily involved in Democratic politics and we were as stunned as anyone that LBJ had pulled out just a few days before MLK's assassination. Yet RFK's impromptu speech in Indianapolis gave us hope that he was someone who would be able to somehow bring together the disparate elements of the Democratic Party during what was an extremely turbulent time in our nation. And the next two months saw a burgeoning belief that RFK, a man who previously had worked with Sen. Joe McCarthy, would rise to the occasion and transcend race, ethnicity and religious differences and heal our horribly torn nation. I was writing a report for my civics class on the Democratic primary in Calif. on June 6 and stayed up all night listening to the results on my transistor radio when the horrific news that RFK had been shot came across as a news bulletin. My thoughts went back to Nov. 22, 1963 and the iconic video of Walter Cronkite wiping his eyes as he took off his glasses to announce the death of JFK. And now, 4 1/2 years later RFK had been brutally shot to death, a beacon of light extinguished, a man who had the duende to unite our nation. And instead we got ...Nixon. And now Trump. What a world.

I was as mesmerized as the crowd when I listened to the speech. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if things have changed now. I am not sure a majority of my fellow whites really want to live together with other races or cultures and if they really want justice.