Nolan O'Connor's e-Portfolio

This is a rhetorical analysis of Robert F. Kennedy's famous, impromptu speech following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

 

How RFK Kept a Country United

During the late 1960’s, with the Civil Rights Movement in full swing throughout the country, America was undergoing a massive cultural shift. Racial conflict occurred throughout the American south while African-Americans throughout the country rallied around leaders with the goal of achieving true equality. When Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement, was shot and killed on April 4th, 1968, the world stood aghast. Robert F. Kennedy, the leading Democratic candidate for the 1968 election, was scheduled for a routine tour stop in Indianapolis on April 4th when he heard of King’s death. Rather than taking the safer option and simply cancelling the stop as the local police advised ("Robert Kennedy: Delivering News of King's Death", NPR), RFK gave an impromptu speech to a largely African-American crowd in the city of Indianapolis in which he broke the news on MLK’s death. Although the chief of police in the area warned Kennedy of anticipated riots following the speech, none occurred in Indianapolis as they did in other cities around the country ("The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Words of Robert Kennedy", The Campaign for America’s Libraries). Despite the brevity and improvised nature of the speech, Robert F. Kennedy was able to carry on Dr. King’s message through a multitude of rhetorical devices and effectively quell an emotionally distraught audience in hopes of keeping America united.

 

After Kennedy informs the audience of the devastating news, the screams and gasps that ensue illustrate the evident emotional charge within the crowd. However, through the use of both logos and pathos appeals, Kennedy effectively levels with the audience and preaches Dr. King’s non-violent message. When Kennedy asks the audience “Could you lower those signs please?” (Kennedy, “Remarks on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.”) in reference to the political signs in support of him, he immediately removes any political elements from the speech. Instead of speaking as a politician attempting to garner support, Kennedy is speaking as a fellow human being and effectively removes any superiority he may have had over the audience. In placing himself in the position of the crowd, Kennedy adds a human element to the speech that allows him to promote a message of peace. Kennedy appeals to his audience on emotional level later in the speech when he mentions the assassination of his brother, John F. Kennedy, which occurred only five years prior. He does not bring this up with the purpose of evoking sympathy from the crowd, but instead—as Michelle Lozano notes in her analysis of the speech—to “[connect] with the audience’s feeling of grief” (Lozano, "Robert F. Kennedy's Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr."). Kennedy seldom spoke publicly about the death of his brother (NPR), so his mentioning of it during this speech demonstrates his intent to truly connect with his audience, and this emotional connection with his audience allows him to utilize logos appeals to continue Dr. King’s message of peace. For instance, Kennedy brings up the death of his brother not only to reach his audience emotionally, but to also “demonstrate to the crowd that crime is not solely white on black, or black on white, but that it has no limits, and no one is excluded” (Lozano). Kennedy employs this logic-based argument not only to suppress the hatred brewing inside of the emotionally charged audience, but also to ultimately diffuse racial tension between white and black people in the country. Since his audience evidently supports Dr. King and his non-violent movement, Kennedy utilizes a logical appeal in encouraging them to continue this movement. He explicitly lays out two options: moving “in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another” or “[making] an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence… with an effort to understand, compassion, and love” (Kennedy). By overtly listing the two directions in which the country can head, Kennedy utilizes a logical appeal to convince the audience that hatred is simply not constructive for the country’s well-being and that they should instead continue to follow the message of Dr. King. Because Kennedy’s emotional appeals add a genuinely human element to this speech, his logos appeals are that much more effective. It’s the combination of these two rhetorical techniques that allows Kennedy to quell this fiery crowd and ultimately keep the country from moving “in greater polarization” (Kennedy).

 

Although Kennedy was unmistakably affected by the death of Martin Luther King, he still provides a wise, calming voice as he addresses his audience. Through intentional repetition and an allusion to an ancient Greek poem, Kennedy is able to promote unity in a time when racism divided the country. For example, Kennedy intentionally alternates the pronouns “you” and “we” in order to unify the audience. After he acknowledges that “you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge”, Kennedy follows up with “We can move in that direction…we can make an effort…spread across our land….” (Kennedy) In using the pronouns “we” and “our” to his majority black audience, Kennedy groups himself with the crowd and seeks to expunge racial barriers, which provides a sort of comfort to a crowd that just underwent a tragic loss and also works towards his ultimate goal of keeping the country united. Kennedy further unifies the audience later in the speech through the use of anaphora when he repeats “What we need in the United States is not….” (Kennedy) By using this repetition, Kennedy is able to explicitly list what action the country does and does not need to take in order to stay unified as a nation. This call to action of sorts also works to unite the people in that the pronoun “we” insinuates that they must work together in order to mend the country’s racial division. When Kennedy reads an excerpt from a poem by the Greek poet Aeschylus, he offers wise words of advice to an audience that is in desperate need of guidance. The poem imbues hope in the audience when it says that “wisdom through the awful grace of God” will come after “pain which cannot forget…” (Kennedy). Through the words of a reputable ancient Greek poet, Kennedy is able to instill comfort in an audience that has experienced tragedy. Despite Kennedy’s evident remorse over Dr. King’s death, he still manages to provide comfort and guidance to an audience that desperately needs it.

 

Although Kennedy was pressed for time when he quickly wrote the speech on the ride to Indianapolis, he manages to effectively use time in the form of kairos appeals to further his goal of keeping the nation united. Since Kennedy was the first one to break the news of Dr. King’s death to the crowd, he was able to speak of peace and unity before anyone impetuously reacted. Considering the fact that no riots took place in Indianapolis as they did in other major cities around the nation, the timing of the speech worked well for Kennedy as he was able to deter potential rioters by urging them to continue Dr. King’s peaceful message. Since the crowd had only minutes before been informed of their fallen leader and there was an evident sense of urgency, Kennedy’s words resonated more with them. When he proclaims that “We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times” (Kennedy), a sense of urgency is implied that would cause the crowd to heed his words. Kennedy also utilizes kairos appeals towards the end of the speech when he asks the audience to “tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King… say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love -- a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke” (Kennedy). In asking that the audience go home and pray that night, Kennedy subtly encourages them to take action and continue Dr. King’s message.

 

Despite the speech being mostly improvised and delivered on the back of a flatbed truck, Robert F. Kennedy’s “Remarks on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.” is widely considered one of the greatest speeches of all time and is what journalist Joe Klein refers to as “politics in its grandest form and highest purpose.” (qtd. in "The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Words of Robert Kennedy.") Kennedy blatantly ignored the advice of both his aides and the Indianapolis police and ventured into the city’s ghetto without a police escort to deliver news that was expected to immediately spark riots throughout the area (NPR)--and did it all for the sake of the country. Due to the timing of the speech, his calm and guiding voice, and his combination of emotional and logical appeals, Kennedy was able to prevent riots from occurring in the city after speaking for only slightly longer than two minutes. Although Kennedy was assassinated only two months after delivering these remarks (NPR), there’s no denying the profound effects that this speech had on the unity of the country.

 

Works Cited

"The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Words of Robert Kennedy." The Campaign for America's Libraries. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://atyourlibrary.org/culture/assassination-martin-luther-king-jr-and-words-robert-kennedy>.Kennedy, Robert F. "Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr." Speech. Indianapolis. 04 Apr. 1968. American Rhetoric. American Rhetoric. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.Lozano, Michelle. "Robert F. Kennedy's Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr." Web log post. Mr. Newman's Digital Rhetorical Symposium. Blogspot, 5 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://newmanrhetoric.blogspot.com/2010/10/robert-f-kennedys-remarks-on.html>."Robert Kennedy: Delivering News of King's Death." NPR. NPR, 04 Apr. 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/2008/04/04/89365887/robert-kennedy-delivering-news-of-kings-death>.