Le mythe Robert Kennedy cinquante ans plus tard

Présenté ces jours-ci comme un rassembleur, le défenseur des déshérités, Robert Kennedy n'était même pas certain de devenir la candidat démocrate pour l'élection de 1968. Joshua Zeitz présente ici un portrait nuancé du candidat démocrate, un portrait qui diffère de l'image mythique entretenue pas certains journalistes alors qu'on souligne le triste anniversaire de son assassinat.

 "The myth of Kennedy’s interracial appeal was born in Indiana, where the candidate trounced his cooler, more professorial rival, Eugene McCarthy. In the immediate aftermath of the primary, the influential political columnists Robert Novak and Rowland Evans noted that in Gary, “while Negro precincts were delivering about 90 percent for Kennedy, he was running 2 to 1 ahead in some Polish districts.” Such findings quickly formed the basis of Bobby’s image as a candidate of racial reconciliation. He was a tough, Irish Catholic Democrat with unimpeachable credentials as a Cold Warrior and law enforcer. But he was also the preferred candidate of the urban ghetto—a truth speaker on racial and economic injustice. “Kennedy’s Indiana Victory Proves His Appeal Defuses Backlash Voting,” one headline declared."

  https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/05/rfk-bobby-kennedy-myth-legend-history-218593