{"id":21209,"date":"2024-04-08T05:14:20","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T05:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=21209"},"modified":"2024-04-08T05:14:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T05:14:20","slug":"rfk-and-mlk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/rfk-and-mlk\/","title":{"rendered":"From Rage to Reason: How RFK Appealed to Peace After MLK&#8217;s Assassination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Robert F. Kennedy&#8217;s speech on Martin Luther King Jr.&#8217;s (MLK) assassination is one of the most memorable and impactful moments in American politics.<\/p>\n<p>On April 4, 1968, the day MLK was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President. That evening, he was scheduled to speak at a campaign rally in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>RFK&#8217;s speech was remarkable for its compassion, empathy, and call for peace and understanding during great national turmoil. He spoke from the heart, without a prepared script, urging those present to respond to hate and violence with love and wisdom.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what great communicators can learn from this historic speech.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A2kWIa8wSC0?si=3Utpj88Ar6z3OK8T\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" frameborder=\"&quot;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Create a Direct Connection With the Audience<\/h2>\n<p>Upon learning of King&#8217;s death, Kennedy decided to go ahead with his scheduled appearance despite concerns for his safety, and recommendations from local police to cancel the event.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd, primarily African American, had not yet heard the news of King&#8217;s assassination. Kennedy delivered the news, standing on a flatbed truck in a predominantly African American neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>In delivering this speech, RFK took a significant chance, with the risk that a white man attempting to discuss this tragedy might not be able to grasp the painful reality of the event.<\/p>\n<p>RFK, however, confidently stepped into it by specifically addressing race:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cFor those of you who are Black and are tempted to fill with &#8212; 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 a white man killed him.<\/p>\n<p>But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to try to understand, to get past, or to go beyond these rather difficult times.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>RFK attempts to bridge the gap between himself and his audience by identifying the rising tide of (primarily white) radicalism that has already pushed back against civil rights, voting rights, etc. He also points out the death of his brother, noting that there is a shared struggle that has taken the life of someone important.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasizes this moment by citing power from Aeschylus:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cEven in our sleep, pain which cannot forget<\/p>\n<p>falls drop by drop upon the heart,<\/p>\n<p>until, in our own despair,<\/p>\n<p>against our will,<\/p>\n<p>comes wisdom<\/p>\n<p>through the awful grace of God.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As marketers, we rarely deal with issues so heavy or society-shaping. However, we can learn the importance of empathy in creating genuine connections with an audience in this speech. Kennedy doesn\u2019t mince words or hedge himself\u2013by coming out fresh, breaking the news, and identifying with it, he opens a space for shared experience. Good communication can focus on empathizing with an audience and their needs, finding a shared experience, and showing oneself as authentic.<\/p>\n<h2>Appeal to Calm<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-21211 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/RFK-portrait.jpg\" alt=\"RFK portrait\" width=\"300\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/RFK-portrait.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/RFK-portrait-241x300.jpg 241w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/RFK-portrait-768x956.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/RFK-portrait-196x245.jpg 196w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While appealing to emotion is a powerful rhetorical technique, it can also get out of control. RFK, even while he appeals to the emotional weight of the situation, uses reason to warn the crowd against violence:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhat 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.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King &#8212; yeah, it&#8217;s true &#8212; but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love &#8212; a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s hard to hear someone call for unity at such a time, but RFK appeals to a sense of American unity (\u201cwe do not need violence and lawlessness\u201d) and shared identity. He uses this time to call for justice, a challenging concept in highly emotional situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He closes that idea out with a call for unity, one which reiterates his call for connection and shared experience:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we build our communication skills, we learn how important it is to balance emotional and logical appeals to appeal to our audience. Shared experience and pain points must be complemented with facts, reason, and an appeal to make good decisions even in the worst of times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Appeal to Higher Values<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kennedy called for an effort to &#8220;tame the savageness of man and make the life of this world gentle.&#8221; He appealed for unity, understanding, and a peaceful response to the tragedy, emphasizing the need to work together to end society&#8217;s division and hatred.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His speech had a profound effect. While over 100 cities across the country erupted in riots following King&#8217;s assassination, Indianapolis remained calm. Many attribute this to Kennedy&#8217;s words and how he connected with the crowd in a moment of shared sorrow and shock while calling on a sober sense of national unity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As marketers and communicators, this speech teaches us how to combine emotional and logical appeals to help customers understand their needs while making good decisions. It also helps us better assess our messaging to serve the highest human values.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For marketing communication that makes a difference, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/mediashower.com\/user\/free_trial\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">get a free trial of the Media Shower platform<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which combines AI and creative expertise in one streamlined workflow.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/ai-generate-blog-topics\/?__mscta=3321_100200_14882\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-21205 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/3-1.png\" alt=\"inspiration in an instant\" width=\"680\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/3-1.png 680w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/3-1-300x106.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read more about the rhetoric of RFK\u2019s speech on the day of Martin Luther King, Jr.&#8217;s assassination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":21210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[459],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21212,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21209\/revisions\/21212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}