robert f. kennedy
remarks on the assassination of martin luther king, jr.
delivered 4 april 1968, indianapolis, in
羅伯特·甘迺迪(robert f kennedy, 1925-1968)，美國前總統約翰·甘迺迪的弟弟。1964年當選為紐約州參議員，1968年3月16日宣布自己的民主黨提名總統候選人身份，1968年6月4日在重要的加利福尼亞州初選中旗開得勝，那天晚上他在洛杉磯大使飯店向他的擁護者們演說時，似乎正邁向民主黨提名的目標，在穿過一間廚房的過道離開飯店時被一名心懷怨恨的巴勒斯坦移民開槍擊中，兩天后死去。
1968年4月4日，馬丁·路德·金博士在孟菲斯遇刺。那天晚上，羅伯特·甘迺迪預定要在印地安那波利斯市一個貧窮的黑人區為他爭取民主黨總統候選人提名的競選運動發表演說。警察告誡他當晚不宜去演講，因為他們不能保證他的安全。當他到達那個地區時，他發現聽眾尚未聽說馬丁·路德·金的遇害。當晚他的即席講話回顧了一名狙擊手的子彈奪去他兄弟的生命後他個人的巨創深痛。
ladies and gentlemen,
i'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening, because i have some -- some very sad news for all of you -- could you lower those signs, please? -- 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; and that is that martin luther king was shot and was killed tonight in memphis, tennessee.
martin luther king dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. he died in the cause of that effort. in this difficult day, in this difficult time for the united states, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. 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.
we can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. 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.
for those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, i would only say that i can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. i had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
but we have to make an effort in the united states. we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.
my favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet was aeschylus. and he once wrote:
even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of god.
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, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
so i ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of martin luther king -- yeah, it's true -- but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love -- a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which i spoke.
we can do well in this country. we will have difficult times. we've had difficult times in the past, but we -- and we will have difficult times in the future. it is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.
but the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.
and let's dedicate ourselves to what the greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.
thank you very much.