隨筆：羅伯特肯尼迪紀念馬丁路德金的即興演說

海闊天空 2020/05/31

今年的國殤節必然在歷史上不同尋常，不僅記載了新冠死亡十萬的悲傷，還見證了又一個少數族裔GeorgeFloyd被一個白人警察（及其三個同僚）殺害的悲劇。

毫無疑問，美國目前又面臨一個充滿悲傷，偏見，憤怒，仇恨，甚至暴力的時刻。。。種族歧視依然根深蒂固，白人至上主義新納粹組織甚至在2016年後招搖過市，日益猖狂。

每當這樣的時刻，我都會重溫1968/04/04羅伯特肯尼迪（RFK）在馬丁路德金（MLK）被殺害之後的即興演說https://youtu.be/GoKzCff8Zbs
RFK的即興演說充滿了理解，同情，愛心，公正和正義，代表了*人人生而平等*的美國建國理念。

或許實現這一建國理念的道路還非常漫長和曲折，但是我們不能放棄，不能沉默，必須繼續努力，必須堅持抗爭。因為美國不是只屬於某一個族裔，而是屬於所有族裔；平等，公正和法律不應該只保護某一個族裔，而一個保護保護每一個人，無論膚色種族。 為了實現這一個理想，我們必須和所有族裔的美國同胞一起繼續奮鬥。

RFK‘s speech:

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, 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-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 and go beyond these rather difficult times.

My favorite poem, my favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own de-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, feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black. (Applause)

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past. And we will-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.

With- (Interrupted by applause) Let us 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. (Applause)

Robert F. Kennedy - April 4, 1968