Icons like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. To those who remember.?

Question

Does anyone living in that time feel that if we had not lost such great people, our nation would have been a better and stronger nation and united in our love for one another, no matter what the race? I want sincere answers. Please no hate responses, just honesty.

Answer 1

I remember both.If Bobby was elected President,maybe the
war would`ve ended sooner,and the struggle for equality would`ve been smoother.Dr King would do all he could to
stop the all too prevalent rush to violence in life.

Answer 2

The thing that both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr brought to this country was hope. They made the ideals they both believed in seem reachable. They both had such charisma and the ability to bring people together to work toward a common goal. I do think that had they both still been alive they would no doubt have influenced Americans for the better.

Answer 3

I was a child when this happened (took my first steps on the day JFK was assasinated)... but in reality, I don't know. I say that because martyrs become icons... which elevates them to near-sainthood. The reality is, these were living, breathing men, with both flaws and excellences.

I don't know as much about Bobby Kennedy, beyond that I think he was the most admirable member of the family, and it would have been good for us if he had lived to become president.

As for MLK, well, I think the man would have continued his good work, as much as he was able. But his success wasn't just in himself, it was also in the people he inspired to follow his example, and follow his dream: black, white, or any other race. And those people, for the most part, tried to carry on that dream, both for its own merit and in his honor, after he was killed.

I strongly identify with those who truly use passive resistance as a method for societal change. It's an invitiation to martyrdom, true (and not just being killed---many who protested with King suffered beatings and other abuse, just as did those who supported Gandhi)---but to me, it's the only honest way to support peaceful change through principled protest. It takes a ton of courage to do what King and those involved in the Civil Rights movement did, just as it does for anyone who is willing to risk their homes, families, livelihoods, etc., to stand up against what is wrong, because it's the right thing to do. Many suffered in that particular campaign, not just King and his family... and the fruits of their efforts are seen, day by day, in how we continue to fight prejudice, and how far we've already come.

We aren't there yet, but we've come a long way from segregation days. We still have to keep fighting; first and foremost, in our own minds, because all of us are raised with some kind of prejudice against another race, culture, religion, gender, etc. Each of us is a battleground between conditioning, and what is right and honest... the measure of each of us is in how we see that, how we fight it, and what we do about it.

Answer 4

I think that because they simply lived at all has made our world a much richer place.

I think they did what they were meant to do....even though they were not here long enough.