Robert Kennedy and His Troubled Relationship with Civil Rights

Robert Kennedy Deep in Thought: Photo Credit: agabond.wordpress.com

The lesser known of the Kennedys, Robert, brother of John, is perhaps most well-known for his activism in the civil rights movement. Although substantial, RFK did not express active interest in the movement for a while. It was not until he met with black writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin in 1963 that his opinion truly began to shift. During their meeting, Baldwin’s more personal and grounded approach to discussing the matter of civil rights inspired Robert Kennedy to make civil rights a priority, which began by his releasing a number of MLK supporters from prison as Attorney General (Schlesinger 335). RFK eventually met with the notoriously racist governor of Birmingham, Alabama, George Wallace, in an effort to persuade him to allow black students accepted into the University of Alabama to enter the school.

Robert Kennedy concerned himself with bringing to light the struggles of other peoples in the United States, not just African Americans, such as the impoverished in Appalachia. Kennedy’s daughter, Rory, came with Robert when he visited the poor in Kentucky, describing them as a “resilient but embattled people” (Brown). This attention Robert Kennedy gave to those in Appalachia was uncommon, because most people in government positions would not want to admit that such poverty exists in out own country, even in white communities.

RFK was heavily involved in national politics as well, as after serving as Attorney General of the United States for four years, Kennedy became a promising presidential candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. He never got that chance, though, as he was assassinated just after midnight on June 5, 1968, shortly after celebrating his win against Sen. Eugene McCarthy in the California presidential primary. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, claimed his reason for killing Kennedy was because the presidential candidate supported the bombing of Palestine.

Robert Kennedy’s legacy of change and progress lives on in the form of the Kennedy Community Schools, erected in the spot where he was assassinated in Los Angeles, California, built in 2010 (Mike Kennedy 1).

Works Cited:

Schlesinger, Arthur M. Robert Kennedy and His Times. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1978.

Brown, Corie. “Deep in the Heart of Appalachia.” Newsweek, vol. 134, no. 22, 29 Nov. 1999, p. 92. EBSCOhost.

“The $578 Million School.” American School & University, vol. 83, no. 2, Oct. 2010, pp. 16–21. EBSCOhost.