A
little over eleven years ago, the film, Bobby,
was released in Europe—my home at the time. Media interest in his contribution
to history had been awakened and I, as the resident American, had been invited
to give an interview with Wedi Saith
(=After Seven, a Welsh language television program) about my experiences on the
day that Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy (RFK) was assassinated.
This
gave me an opportunity and a very good reason to research his life so that I
had something of value to contribute to the interview.
What
I learned was amazing—if what had been written about him was true—and
bewildering. Sirhan B. Sirhan was a Palestinian Christian who became fixated on
Robert Kennedy before the Six Day War in June 1967. What about Kennedy then
triggered his hatred?
RFK
was a powerfully motivated man from his earliest days in government in the
1950s. His contribution was already huge before he was murdered: civil and
human rights, anti-Apartheid, fighting organized crime and rogue unions. He
would have worked to end America's involvement in the Vietnam War much sooner
than Nixon—a good 5 years before.
There
was no evidence that RFK supported Israel in the Six Day War, but that is the
reason Sirhan B. Sirhan gave for his action.
Yet,
RFK most likely would have put human rights at the center of the foreign policy
of the United States and this may likely have made a significant difference to
developments in the Middle East.
How
much different would the world be if not for a 24-year-old obsessive? This
question rings as true today as it did in 2007.
How
much of our personal interests are given as excuses for our obsessions? How
deeply do any of us delve into the “bigger picture” to look beyond personal
opinion, our particular world view, to consider the exponential ramifications
of our actions?
Very
few of us will have the impact on the course of history of either Bobby or
Sirhan but we sometimes act as though we do. If we have a purpose at all, I
believe our greatest contributions are in our personal relationships and
especially those with our offspring.
The
psychologist, Brenda Wade, when asked what parents should tell their children
about tragedies and crises in the world, said to the effect, “Why should your
children know anything about these matters?” She enjoined parents not to allow
their children to watch the nightly news.
In
today’s atmosphere, some parents think nothing of exposing their small children
to violence and mayhem for the sake of their own jaded beliefs.
Childhood
should be a time of innocence, wonder and limitless possibilities. When we
teach our children to hate and fear and judge, we limit their potential to live
fully, grow to their greatest expectations and contribute to the best we all
can be.
Each
new generation can be the greatest or we can spoil their chances with our own
blighted vision. If we do that, are we not fulfilling our worst fears for the
future?
Writers
have always had a role to play, as story-tellers and myth-creators, to enlighten
and clarify, not always to expose the worst in us, but to bring a greater
vision forward, to stand for the best and the true—the bigger true than the
squalid, narrow “real” of the evening news.
In
memory of Mollie Tibbets, Kate Steinle and too many others.
