Imagine for me what the world would be like if these four men had lived long, fruitful natural lives...their promise struck down by violence
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SageWanderer · 70-79, M
It would have depended on how Lincoln handled Reconstruction after the Civil War; after all his VP was impeached. Hoover was building a smear campaign against MLK but who knows where Civil Rights would have developed. Finally John and Robert Kennedy may have not got us involved in Vietnam as much as we were and that time could have been used to build the country. The country could be very different that what we have now.
freedomlover · M
@SageWanderer Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address, 'With malice toward none, with charity for all' was the blueprint for reconstruction, had he not been assassinated.
SageWanderer · 70-79, M
@freedomlover And that was Johnson's idea also but there were a lot of people in government that wanted to punish the South. It would have been interesting to see if Lincoln would have been a forceful enough leader to push his vision or would he have compromised?
freedomlover · M
@SageWanderer I disagree, that wasn't Johnson's instinct in any fashion - he gave no voice to the black slaves, none at all. He's the reason Reconstruction failed in the long term, and why it started out headed that way.
Otoh, Lincoln had already showed the world his strength as a leader by reuniting a divided, warring nation back into the one United States of America. He was the promise of America, shot down by a coward, a blindside, like all assassinations.
Abe and JFK and MLK and RFK were the promise that our Founders gave to all future Americans to perfect, to always strive for a more equal society, ever improving the rights of the disenfranchised, always seeking more opportunity for all...that's the promise of America that has yet to be fully fulfilled, and right now we're under this President we're heading backwards.
Otoh, Lincoln had already showed the world his strength as a leader by reuniting a divided, warring nation back into the one United States of America. He was the promise of America, shot down by a coward, a blindside, like all assassinations.
Abe and JFK and MLK and RFK were the promise that our Founders gave to all future Americans to perfect, to always strive for a more equal society, ever improving the rights of the disenfranchised, always seeking more opportunity for all...that's the promise of America that has yet to be fully fulfilled, and right now we're under this President we're heading backwards.
SageWanderer · 70-79, M
@freedomlover But don't you find it odd that those who have stood up for the disenfranchised, opportunity and promises are silenced?
room101 · 51-55, M
@SageWanderer This is a question that has bothered me for a very long time. Why were these people assisinated?
I don't go for conspiracy theories and, in the case of MLK, the answer seemed quite self-evident, but why the others? Is the common denominator racism? After all, here were people who fought for the rights of black people. So was there some sort of concerted effort to silence the efforts of those who stood for black people?
NB: when I use the phrase "concerted effort", I'm not implying that there is a singular organisation that orchestrated these assassinations.
I don't go for conspiracy theories and, in the case of MLK, the answer seemed quite self-evident, but why the others? Is the common denominator racism? After all, here were people who fought for the rights of black people. So was there some sort of concerted effort to silence the efforts of those who stood for black people?
NB: when I use the phrase "concerted effort", I'm not implying that there is a singular organisation that orchestrated these assassinations.