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The substance that Robert Francis Kennedy possessed moral criticisms on American society condition in 1960s that would confirm his support toward
minority groups ’ non-violence actions becomes the interesting topic for the
researcher to be analyzed. He was among the first white politicians who dared to speak up about the minority issues and supported their actions as a minority
stated , “No other white man had this same quality” Chafe, 1991: 368. Thus, the
researcher intends to explore further the role of Robert Kennedy in American politics in 1960s, specifically related to his moral criticisms during his political
career, as well as his support on minority groups and their non-violence actions. This research is conducted to find out his moral criticisms that were verified
through his support toward minority groups non-violence actions in 1960s.
B. Research Questions
Concerning the significant issues above about Robert Francis Kennedy and his interest on non-violence actions from minority groups, this thesis is aimed
to find out two subjects as follows: 1. What were Robe
rt Francis Kennedy’s moral criticisms on American society condition in 1960s?
2. How did Ro bert Francis Kennedy’s moral criticisms affect his support toward
minority groups non-violence actions in 1960s?
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C. Objectives of Study
Based on the research questions, the objectives of the thesis are: 1. To find out Robert
Francis Kennedy’s moral criticisms on American society condition in 1960s.
2. To find out how Ro bert Francis Kennedy’s moral criticisms affected his
support toward minority groups non-violence actions in 1960s.
D. Scope of Study
In having research on Robert F. Kennedy and his moral criticisms that supported minority groups non-violence actions, it is important to put boundaries
so that the research would not go too far in analyzing the provided materials. In the thesis, the researcher limits on the minority groups whose non-violence
actions were supported by Robert Kennedy in 1960s. These groups include Black American with their civil rights movement and Latin American with their two
non-violence actions, California grape boycott and 25-day hunger strike. For those two minority groups, Robert Kennedy argued himself that
their commitments to seek admittance from American government in particular and American people in common were significant. He proved it through his
consistent relation with the two leading figures of those minority groups, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Estrada Chavez. Many of his speeches, especially
spoken during his active years as politician in 1952 until 1968, contained
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recommendation to ban violence in the United States. How Robert Kennedy put his non-violence interest onto prior of his support toward Black and Latin
America actions is the issue raised in the thesis.
E. Research Significance
