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| When Robert F. Kennedy Told an Indianapolis Crowd of King’s Assassination | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Fifty years ago, Senator Robert F. Kennedy climbed onto the back of a flatbed truck to deliver the news to a largely African-American crowd in Indianapolis that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. | Fifty years ago, Senator Robert F. Kennedy climbed onto the back of a flatbed truck to deliver the news to a largely African-American crowd in Indianapolis that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. |
| Kennedy was running for the Democratic nomination for president, but he scrapped his prepared remarks after hearing that King had been killed on April 4, 1968. | Kennedy was running for the Democratic nomination for president, but he scrapped his prepared remarks after hearing that King had been killed on April 4, 1968. |
| In their place, he delivered a largely improvised speech that might have become a footnote to history had the tumult of 1968 not soon taken his life, too. | In their place, he delivered a largely improvised speech that might have become a footnote to history had the tumult of 1968 not soon taken his life, too. |
| Tensions were running high that night in Indianapolis. The first three months of the year had been turbulent, and the year before had been a violent one. Days earlier, faced with growing dissent over the war in Vietnam, President Johnson had shocked the nation with an announcement that he would not seek re-election, leaving the Democratic field open. | Tensions were running high that night in Indianapolis. The first three months of the year had been turbulent, and the year before had been a violent one. Days earlier, faced with growing dissent over the war in Vietnam, President Johnson had shocked the nation with an announcement that he would not seek re-election, leaving the Democratic field open. |
| The authorities in Indiana had warned Kennedy not to address the crowd. But he did. | The authorities in Indiana had warned Kennedy not to address the crowd. But he did. |
| The audience gasped and wailed in anguish at the news that King had been killed. Then, in an emotionally frank speech, Kennedy eulogized the civil rights leader, called for an end to violence and social injustice and addressed, for the first time in public, the assassination of his brother President John F. Kennedy five years earlier. | The audience gasped and wailed in anguish at the news that King had been killed. Then, in an emotionally frank speech, Kennedy eulogized the civil rights leader, called for an end to violence and social injustice and addressed, for the first time in public, the assassination of his brother President John F. Kennedy five years earlier. |
| “For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling,” Kennedy said. “I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.” | “For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling,” Kennedy said. “I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.” |
| Kennedy’s speech on the death of King has been credited with defusing tensions in Indianapolis, which was one of the American cities that did not see riots that night. | Kennedy’s speech on the death of King has been credited with defusing tensions in Indianapolis, which was one of the American cities that did not see riots that night. |
| “Look at all those other cities,” William Crawford, a member of the Black Radical Action Project who was there, told The Indianapolis Star in 2015. “I believe it would have gone that way had not Bobby Kennedy given those remarks.” | “Look at all those other cities,” William Crawford, a member of the Black Radical Action Project who was there, told The Indianapolis Star in 2015. “I believe it would have gone that way had not Bobby Kennedy given those remarks.” |
| “The sincerity of Bobby Kennedy’s words just resonated especially when he talked about his brother,” he said. | “The sincerity of Bobby Kennedy’s words just resonated especially when he talked about his brother,” he said. |
| [Read and listen: Robert F. Kennedy’s speech in Indianapolis.] | |
| The speech has also been hailed as one of the great political orations of the late 20th century, as much for what Kennedy said as for the tense environment in which he said it. | The speech has also been hailed as one of the great political orations of the late 20th century, as much for what Kennedy said as for the tense environment in which he said it. |
| “It was really that he went there, that’s the most remarkable thing,” said David Margolick, the author of “The Promise and the Dream: the Interrupted Lives of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.” | “It was really that he went there, that’s the most remarkable thing,” said David Margolick, the author of “The Promise and the Dream: the Interrupted Lives of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.” |
| “There was no other American politician remotely in sight who could have done that,” Mr. Margolick said. “He was the only white man who had the credibility and the courage to go into the black community and talk about Martin Luther King and acknowledge what he represented and mourn for him.” | “There was no other American politician remotely in sight who could have done that,” Mr. Margolick said. “He was the only white man who had the credibility and the courage to go into the black community and talk about Martin Luther King and acknowledge what he represented and mourn for him.” |
| [Read more: How The Times covered Kennedy’s speech on King’s death.] | [Read more: How The Times covered Kennedy’s speech on King’s death.] |
| Kennedy’s progressive politics and history of personal tragedy were the source of that credibility. Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said Kennedy’s rare reference to his brother “helped give him standing to then deliver this powerful message of racial reconciliation.” | Kennedy’s progressive politics and history of personal tragedy were the source of that credibility. Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said Kennedy’s rare reference to his brother “helped give him standing to then deliver this powerful message of racial reconciliation.” |
| Kennedy’s speech that night was a plea for compassion and a rallying cry against the spiral of enmity and violence that had torn at the country for much of that decade, but its impact was limited. | Kennedy’s speech that night was a plea for compassion and a rallying cry against the spiral of enmity and violence that had torn at the country for much of that decade, but its impact was limited. |
| Indianapolis remained calm that night, but riots tore through dozens of other cities. Those in Washington, D.C., devastated large parts of downtown, which remained damaged for decades. | Indianapolis remained calm that night, but riots tore through dozens of other cities. Those in Washington, D.C., devastated large parts of downtown, which remained damaged for decades. |
| Kennedy’s daughter, Kerry, and Representative John J. Lewis commemorated the speech on Wednesday morning in Indianapolis. | |
| The drumbeat of unrest continued unabated for the rest of the year. Just 68 days after King’s death, Kennedy himself was shot by an assassin in Los Angeles soon after winning the California Democratic primary. He died the next day, on June 6, 1968. | The drumbeat of unrest continued unabated for the rest of the year. Just 68 days after King’s death, Kennedy himself was shot by an assassin in Los Angeles soon after winning the California Democratic primary. He died the next day, on June 6, 1968. |
| King’s assassination was a shocking blow to the country and, coupled with the murder of Kennedy just two months later, was seen by many as a violent end to an idealistic time. | King’s assassination was a shocking blow to the country and, coupled with the murder of Kennedy just two months later, was seen by many as a violent end to an idealistic time. |
| “When the two of them were assassinated we lost leaders who were articulating a very different path for American liberalism and for America as a whole,” Mr. Kahlenberg said. He said both leaders had argued that “we should look for common ground among black and white people who are struggling economically.” | “When the two of them were assassinated we lost leaders who were articulating a very different path for American liberalism and for America as a whole,” Mr. Kahlenberg said. He said both leaders had argued that “we should look for common ground among black and white people who are struggling economically.” |
| King was buried in Atlanta and his remains were moved to a tomb on the grounds of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, a memorial and nonprofit education center founded in 1968 by his widow, Coretta. | King was buried in Atlanta and his remains were moved to a tomb on the grounds of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, a memorial and nonprofit education center founded in 1968 by his widow, Coretta. |
| [Read more: The Day King Was Shot: 26 Times Articles That Told the Story] | |
| Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his brother. A memorial installed on the site in 1971 includes passages from his improvised speech in Indianapolis on the night that King was killed: | Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his brother. A memorial installed on the site in 1971 includes passages from his improvised speech in Indianapolis on the night that King was killed: |