Bobby and Barack

For one who has experienced both eras, the current movement for Barack Obama has achieved a living remembrance of Bobby Kennedy's campaign in the week when RFK's murder is painfully remembered.

On June 4, 1968, I watched from a New York townhouse the murder of a second Kennedy in five years. Martin Luther King already was gone, Vietnam and our cities were burning. I was in the midst of chaotic planning for anti-war demonstrations at the Democratic Convention coming in August.

I drifted off with friends to St. Patrick's Cathedral where Kennedy staffers let us through the doors late at night. After sitting a while in silence, I found myself as a member of a makeshift honor guard standing next to his simple coffin. I was wearing a green Cuban hat and weeping. The last political hope of the Sixties vision -- a movement-driven progressive government -- was finished, whether by chance or plot, it mattered little. The violence I had resisted under white racism in the South was seeping into my veins. Like many who took their rage even farther, I was hardening, and never dared again to recover my young idealism.

"Dad, don't you recognize anything of yourself in this movement?", asked an angry email from my son Troy, nearly forty years later. He was working 24/7 with his [now] wife Simone, for Barack Obama, spreading the boundless energy of the young and an artist's flair for silk-screens. How could I share your giddy utopianism, I wanted to respond, after the murders of the Sixties icons -- John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, all of whom I had known as a young man? If those killings were not enough, we suffered the Nixon and Reagan eras of counter-revolution aimed at what our generation had achieved. Then the war and sanctions and war again for control of the Persian Gulf. During the coming decades, I was limited every day by the sordid realities, as well as the occasional modest achievements, of electoral politics.

I didn't see him coming. When I heard of the young state senator with a background in community organizing who wanted to be president, I was at least sentient enough to be interested. When I read Dreams of My Father, I was taken aback by its depth. This young man apparently gave his first public speech, against South African apartheid, at an Occidental College rally organized by Students for Economic Democracy, the student branch of the Campaign for Economic Democracy [CED] which I chaired in 1979-82. The buds of curiosity quickened. Soon I was receiving emails from David Peck, an organizer of the Occidental rally, who now is coordinating Americans in Spain for Barack Obama.

One of Bobby Kennedy's qualities, or perhaps it was a quality of the times, was an easy and growing familiarity with the New Left. He evolved from 1961 to 1963 from viewing the Freedom Riders as a dangerous nuisance to a prophetic minority. By 1967, he even wanted to copy SDS community organizing projects -- a forerunner of Barack Obama's path -- as a template for a national war on poverty.

He had a talent for engaging outsiders while trying to remain presidential. When Staughton Lynd and I met with him in late 1967, we sparred with RFK over his still-forming position on the madness of Vietnam. He mocked the Vietnamese communist position on free elections, for example, but realized there was no answer to the evidence that Ho Chi Minh would have won 80 percent of the national vote in 1956 -- in elections which France and the United States prevented. He wanted to be the anti-war candidate, but hoped for peace through negotiations, not a unilateral withdrawal. Yet his thoughts seemed free-floating, driven by curiosity.

I sensed there was no fixed version of Robert Kennedy. He was evolving, improvising, feeling his way, from former counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, to his brother's attorney general, to a dissenter from the Democratic establishment...It was unclear where he was headed, perhaps even to himself, but it was my sense that he was on some deep level, astonishingly, on our side.

For this intuition I was sharply criticized from all directions. FBI memos suggested that I was a Kennedy "agent" in the movement, though our formal positions were quite different. Many in the revolutionized [and fragmenting] SDS held the same suspicions. The Yippies considered calling off the Chicago protests for fear that Bobby Kennedy might co-opt them with his lengthening hair. The McCarthy volunteers were livid that he was stealing their dream.

But he was the only one who could bridge the chasm between the traditional Democrats and the disaffected young, the striking farmworkers, the rebellious blacks, even the utterly disenfranchised native Americans. I learned from that experience that, like it or not, a charismatic and willing candidate, not just a linear program, is needed to mold a diverse majority.

So it was with great interest that I attended a Robert Kennedy human rights event in Washington early last year, featuring Barack Obama as the honored speaker. I sat in a small audience that included Sen. Ted Kennedy, Bobby's widow Ethel, and several of her grown sons and daughters. Obama's written remarks were heartfelt, thoughtful, but not especially inspiring, at least as I recall. What struck me was how enthralled the Kennedys were, especially Ethel. He definitely was the one they had been waiting for.

There are vast differences between Bobby Kennedy and Barack Obama, owing to circumstance, though both have followed hero's journeys of the classic sort. Kennedy was shaped by his brother's murder and the climate of his times, which drove all but the most robotic towards alienation. Barack is a product of globalization, immigration, even slavery, but nonetheless a privileged inheritor of the movements for which Bobby Kennedy stood. Both have believed, with Camus, that greatness lies in touching and uniting both ends of the arc of experience. Both were painfully cautious in formulating policy positions that seemed to placate everyone while leaving little solid ground for their core beliefs. It was hard to believe this was their Way, not just calculated opportunism.

My hopes for Robert Kennedy might have been dashed by his subsequent policies if he had lived to be president, but I don't think so. The best evidence is the progressive course consistently pursued by those closest to him, Ethel and Ted Kennedy, to this day. It is hard to imagine him abandoning all those poor people, fervent anti-war activists, and early environmentalists who swarmed his rallies -- and who, like the farmworkers, carried him to victory on the ground in California.

The most impressive parallel between Bobby and Barack is the reappearance of a unified African-American community along with an inspired new generation of activists and voters. Win or lose, the Obama movement will shape progressive politics, and our racial climate, for a generation to come.

Those who denounce Obama -- and the possibilities of all electoral politics- - should ponder the effectiveness of sitting judgmentally on the sidelines while an Unexpected Future arrives through the sheer will of a new generation. They should consider whether politics and history can be reduced to a fixed determinism that is endlessly repeated, as if there are no surprises. We can have our differences with Obama's specific policies, as I certainly do, but those should be measured against the prospect that a movement might transform him even as his very rise continues to transform the rest of us.

Comments

[mjc]

This blog is one of the best on the HuffPo. Hayden's understanding of Bobby Kennedy is quite good, especially when he shows how Bobby grew in his experiences in government and developed such a radical ideology and about where political involvement could take the average American. His message resonated with many. My husband was in charge of his campaign in one of the upstate counties in New York but not much of a groupie he still had a lot of respect and genuine liking for Bobby.

[swkidder]

Brilliant - a really lovely synthesis of some “unconnected dots” that had me puzzled. Some connections have emerged previously when I did that “defocalize my gaze” thing that works on pictures composed of “random dots.” Your piece showed me some new ones.
I always felt as though some of Obama’s "less detailed" solutions to complex problems were pretty appropriate - if there were an easy answer then the problem would already be gone. Other times his positions felt less progressive than he did, and certainly less progressive than I would have preferred.
Two “random thoughts” that could affect how his policies might evolve? #1 from those who practice the martial arts. You break a brick, not by "seeing" the brick shatter in your imagination, but by “seeing” your hand, whole and unharmed, on the other side. You let the energy pull the physical reality into being - Power not Force.
#2 is strictly personal. Increasingly when I see two opposing "truths," often even those that appear mutually exclusive, a willingness to shift perspective reveals that they are both necessary pieces of a larger "Reality," in which each is necessary and neither sufficient. I wonder if the Universe could possibly be organized in paradox as a tool to teach us humility and connection?
Personally I look forward to watching Barack Obama’s policies evolve, and to being a part of the collective "perfectability" in this nation that seems to be underway right now – regardless of how much opposition we encounter before

[spiderweb]

I have always felt robbed of decency regarding the American government because of the assassinations of the Kennedys, Martin L King, Malcolm X, etc. who fought for justice. I have no doubt that times have not changed as much when it comes to "justice for all." I pray for Obama who has spiraled to the top of the Demo ticket. I pray for this country and the haters of fairness for all. Please believe me, prayers are powerful and the Hand of the Lord is moving across this country.

[MaureenSharkey]

How dare people be running articles comparing Barack to RFK!!! Don't they realize Obama could be assasinated!!!

[Jazzbeau]

Of Course they realize it! I am sure Barack and Michelle Obama also realize it.

This is a fear many of us have and few would be astonished by such an attempt. Some are even convinced that these 'murders of convenience,' JFK, MLK, Bobby, Medgar, Malcolm, et al, which deterred America's movement toward progressivism for a lifetime, were more than just 'convenient.'

However, if we allow this fear to change our principals or to deter our quest, then the fight for ultimate justice is already lost. Will there be more casualties in this quest? Probably, but we must maintain our firm resolve and continue the struggle.

As another great leader once said, 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'

[luxou812]

MaureenSharkey: Is this a reference to Hillary's comments about staying in the race?

lol

[ApolloSpeaks]

BARACK AND HILLARY'S MEETING ON RFK'S ASSASSINATION ANNIVERSARY.

The Barack and Hillary meeting last night was on the ominous day of Bobby Kennedy's assassination by a fanatical Palestinian gunman. LIke RFK Obama and Clinton are anti-war candidates. LIke RFK they are U.S. senators. Like RFK Hillary is a senator from New York and related to a former president. RFK was murdered by Sirhan Sirhan who was born in 1944-the 44th year of the 20th century the number of the next president.

Hillary was born in Chicago, Obama resides there. RFK's campaign stop after the California primaries was to be Chicago the site of the disastrous Democratic Convention and anti-war riots.

In 1968 Mitt Romney's father George ran in the Republican presidential primaries and lost to Richard Nixon, like Mitt lost to John McCain. It was Nixon who ended the war and freed McCain from prison.

If Bobby Kennedy had lived he would have beat Nixon and become president. If Hillary had beat Obama in the primaries she would have went on to defeat McCain in the fall as she is clearly more electable. Her loss to Obama prefigures his defeat as RFK's assassination prefigured the defeat of Hubert Humphrey 40 years ago.

It is interesting to note that Obama gave his victory speech at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the home of Hubert Humphrey when he ran for president.

[lafcadio]

Your candidate lost. Get over it.

[Jazzbeau]

What a rambling, incoherent, disjointed post. The only truly clear statement was:

"Her loss to Obama prefigures his defeat as RFK's assassination prefigured the defeat of Hubert Humphrey 40 years ago."

Which is simply an assertion unsupported by any evidence and very improbable.

[jacqmac]

Ahhh! A breath of fresh air from the 'older generation'. Thanks Tom, for putting it into words that make sense. I was in Chicago in '68-I remember the events leading up to that convention well-two assassinations within two months, the invasion of Czechoslovakia a couple of weeks before the convention, the endless bickering about 'rightness' and 'wrongness' of any protest of any kind at the convention, whether it was inside or outside the hall. Yep-got chased by Chicago's 'worst', got teargassed, stood appalled as National Guard troops with barbed wire attached to the fronts of their jeeps stood by, ready to 'move in' at a moment's notice. I remember the despair of election night , of the utter disbelief of EVERYONE sitting in the room where we were watching the returns. I watched a lot of history go by between '68 and 2008-like a lot of us and I am totally thrilled that we have a chance to GET IT RIGHT this time. Our time has come-Our time is now!

[rbloom]

Hi Tom. This is the best thing I've read in quite a while. Certainly the best ever on HuffPo. Thanks!

[GiannaX]

It's beautful thing to watch AMAZING happen!

[elfpix]

Here's hoping.

I remember everything about November 22, 1963 - the temperature, the way the air felt, the rake of the hilly sidewalk I was walking up on my way to my dorm.

After that everything was simply too awful to remember. One stupidity after another, year after relentless year. 45 relentlessly stupid years. My entire adulthood filled with stupid choices - choices to fight, choices to live irresponsibly, choices to lie, choices to ignore, choices to hate, choices to waste, choices to murder, choices to refuse to listen.

Now I'm 65. And this white man with dark skin, young enough to be my child, comes bearing messages of smartness, messages of understanding the struggle to be a white man in a dark skin, messages of understanding the stupidities, messages of a will to start repairing their damage, messages of wisdom, messages of tenderness and respect, messages of working together.

Here's hoping.

[realistic2008]

I was in Chicagoi in 1968, Michigan and Adams Streets, what a day, it lives in my memory forever. We were against a criminal war that served no purpose whatsoever and 40 years later we are in one even more criminal but one which American people have gotten used to it because our government has successfully managed to brain washed a new generation who does not give a damn what the government does or who gets killed or why.

[anthonyretford]

I was born in 1944 so have lived through an awful lot. I can understand why Michelle Obama said she was finally proud of being an American. I know the media and many people were outraged at that statement and she was forced to clarify it, but I still hold the belief that she was acknowledging that she was finally proud because people were being awoken. I, and many others of my age have been so disappointed in the leadership of this country for 40 years, and outraged at the last 16 years. I am finally proud now that we have nominated Barack, and I am finally proud to say I have worked on this campaign and contributed several times, something I have never done previously.

[Clairvaux]

Great post Mr. Hayden!

[kellygrrrl]

that our Idealism is returned to us
in the form of a skinny bi-racial son of a single teen mom
is

POETIC JUSTICE

[RRonin]

"The last shall be first and the first shall be last." Matthew, Chapter 20, vs. 1-16

[Jazzbeau]

Amen... let it be so!

[MyThought]

You can't go back and you can't bring them back. Hopefully, Obama is his own person and not trying to be someone else.

I rememer it all well myself. Sad to see the Kennedy family trying to bring their brothers back via Obama - sad indeed.

So, we now have, via Obama - the Kennedy Dynasty returning. I don't feel comfortable about this.

[OwenScottIII]

Barack has some similarities to the Kennedy's in that he is elegant, articulate, and inspirational (and Irish, too); but, he doesn't think he is a Kennedy. He appeals to the best in people and that's a good thing. We've had enough of people appealing to our fear, resentment, and aggression. Those of us who came up in the 50's and 60's understand about being idealistic and then becoming disillusioned. We are in a position to help the young idealists understand the clash between our ideals and the harsh realities of power struggles in the world. We're excited by the possibilities and that's also a good thing after all these years.

[whitegoldwielder]

Give Bobby credit where credit is due. Then acknowledge that it was the Kennedys who invaded Cuba [preemptive strike anyone?], it was the Kennedys who escalated the involvement in Viet Nam, it was the charisma that was so attractive to americans that was seen by the soviets as naivete and almost got us into a war. Give him credit for being an idealist and a change agent. And don't speak ill of the dead. But don't paint progressives with such an broad and pleasant brush. They are as subject to the foibles of humankind as anyone else. The Tom Haydens of the world also disparaged the servicemen in that day to their shame.

[ARBOC2]

Actually it was Eisenhower who organized and trained, through the CIA, the Cuban exiles who were involved in the disasterous Bay of Pigs fiasco. Kennedy arrived in office after it was almost underway. He more or less had to go ahead with what had been planned and organized by the Republican administration or be accused of being soft on Communism, as was anyone in those days who resisted tlhe many idiotic Republican plans to deal with the real and perceived threats of Communism just as it does to this day in the Republican fiascos ongoing or planned for lthe Middle East. Kennedy took the rap for something he had damn little to do with in order to avoid the internal disruption of debating the mess.

[Islandwoman59]

I agree with you.., people seem to always focus on the negative of a positive being. I am praying the prayer of safety for Obama, and that God put a shield of protection around him. So a man thinketh, so is he.