I would respectfully desire this thread be considered a companion piece to H20Man's post; as historical background for his thoughts and as food for thought for us all on this Memorial Day weekend:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6120196Sen. Robert F. Kennedy campaigned in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 4, 1968 (forty years ago).
He was running for the Democratic presidential nomination as an anti-war candidate.
A video with the audio from that night is here:
http://www.truveo.com/Robert-F-Kennedys-Statement-on-Dr-Kings-Death/id/770538632He spoke to the gathered crowd, most if not all unaware of the event that had transpired.
That night there were riots in many cities in America.
There were no riots in Indianapolis.
"In this difficult day and this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what kind of direction we want to move in. For those of you who are Black, considering the evidence evidently is there were white people who were responsible, you can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, greater polarization, black people amongst blacks, and whites amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort... to understand and to comprehend and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.
For those of you who are Black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust of the injustice of such an act, against all White people, I can only say I can also feel in my heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family, but he was killed by a White man. But we have to make an effort... to get beyond these difficult times.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: 'Even in our sleep, pain which cannot beget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own great despair, against our will, comes wisdom..." What we need in the United States is not division... but love and wisdom... and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer in our country.
So I ask you tonight, to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King... but more importantly a prayer for our country. We can do well in this country..."
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/thomas-kennedy.html?_r=1&oref=login
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