The History Channel website reminds me that it was this day in 1968 that Sirhan Sirhan caught up with Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel and shot him in the head. I came down the stairs the next morning and, just as had happened with Rev. King’s assassination, I heard the news on the morning news. Reporters said that Senator Kennedy was still alive but in grave condition and that his pregnant wife, Ethel, was at his side.
My heart started pounding. Not again! I still remembered the trauma of President Kennedy’s assassination. As I did in April, I went into the dining room where my parents were eating and mouthed to them what had happened. They were shocked and we all went back into the living room to watch the coverage until it was time for me to leave for school.
I would say I’d become “woke” after Reverend King’s assassination and had become interested in political news. I began following Senator Kennedy’s campaign; he was speaking to a crowd of African Americans when the news came about Rev. King. His grief and comforting words helped people stay calm. I liked his message. I liked that he seemed to be for regular people, white and of color, and not just rich folks like himself. I thought he might be able to bring the bloody war in Viet Nam to a close. Senator Kennedy was a candidate of hope.
I prayed and prayed so hard that God would save him. Maybe that head wound wasn’t as terrible as his brother’s had been. Our country really needed him, please, God. But that wound had been a lethal one and he died on June 6th. I was heart-broken. I didn’t blame God; I blamed the gunman, Sirhan Sirhan. And I was angry at the impulsive decision Senator Kennedy made to go through the kitchen instead of the way he was supposed to go.
If he had lived to become President, how different our lives would have been!
No comments:
Post a Comment