Robert Francis Kennedy’s moral criticisms toward american society and his support on minority groups non-violence actions in 1960s

Oleh :
Yogi Rohim Aryani - C0305064 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

ABSTRACT Robert Francis Kennedy was one of the most notable figures in 1960s when the United States of America underwent what was called as a turbulent decade dealing with social and political problems. This research is focused on his role in supporting minority groups non-violence actions so that their human rights could be regained. Robert Kennedy’s support toward these groups was delivered through his speeches and applied on his moral criticisms he held during his career as a politician in 1952 to 1968. The thesis is aimed to find his moral criticisms that were verified through his support toward minority groups non-violence actions in 1960s. The source of data of the research was two speeches spoken by Robert Kennedy in 1968. The main data were taken from the source of data that implied his support toward social condition in the United States in time as well as toward minority groups and their non-violence actions. The main data were then analyzed together with supporting data taken from books, journals, articles and movie. The thesis was a descriptive qualitative research, conducted through the employment of library exploration. The researcher used three approaches as the method to analyze the data and to achieve the goal of the thesis, they were: sociopolitical approach as an approach to find out the urgency between Robert Kennedy’s career as politician and his support toward minority groups actions in 1960s; biographical approach as an approach to comprehend the figure of Robert F. Kennedy so that the researcher was able to discover a background of his moral criticisms; and historical approach as an approach to reveal how social issues existed among society in the United States shaped Robert Kennedy’s moral criticisms and encouraged him to support Black and Latin Americans non-violence actions in 1960s. From the research, it was found that Robert Kennedy gave his criticisms toward three social conditions in the United States in 1960s: on the fear of difference, on the sickness of the soul and on the use of violence. He concluded his criticisms on the concept of society who lived under the rule of law and through his support toward black and Latin American non-violence actions. His support was important in giving black and Latin Americans chance to gain their basic rights as full citizen and guaranteed their future in the country they named their own.