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Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy’s America in Black and White
“A profound and uplifting account of Robert F. Kennedy’s brave crusade for racial equality. This is narrative history at its absolute finest, with RFK squarely at the center of the 1960s civil rights movement along with Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, César Chávez, and other fearless activists. Bare-knuckled, with a golden heart, RFK was a visionary force to reckon with. This towering biographical portrait will stand the test of time.”
―Douglas Brinkley, author of Rosa Parks
A leading civil rights historian places Robert Kennedy for the first time at the center of the movement for racial justice of the 1960s―and shows how many of today’s issues can be traced back to that pivotal time.
History, race, and politics converged in the 1960s in ways that indelibly changed America. In Justice Rising , a landmark reconsideration of Robert Kennedy’s life and legacy, Patricia Sullivan draws on government files, personal papers, and oral interviews to reveal how he grasped the moment to emerge as a transformational leader.
When protests broke out across the South, the young attorney general confronted escalating demands for racial justice. What began as a political problem soon became a moral one. In the face of vehement pushback from Southern Democrats bent on massive resistance, he put the weight of the federal government behind school desegregation and voter registration. Bobby Kennedy’s youthful energy, moral vision, and capacity to lead created a momentum for change. He helped shape the 1964 Civil Rights Act but knew no law would end racism. When the Watts uprising brought calls for more aggressive policing, he pushed back, pointing to the root causes of urban entrenched poverty, substandard schools, and few job opportunities. RFK strongly opposed the military buildup in Vietnam, but nothing was more important to him than “the revolution within our gates, the struggle of the American Negro for full equality and full freedom.”
On the night of Martin Luther King’s assassination, Kennedy’s anguished appeal captured the hopes of a turbulent “In this difficult time for the United States it is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in.” It is a question that remains urgent and unanswered.
―Douglas Brinkley, author of Rosa Parks
A leading civil rights historian places Robert Kennedy for the first time at the center of the movement for racial justice of the 1960s―and shows how many of today’s issues can be traced back to that pivotal time.
History, race, and politics converged in the 1960s in ways that indelibly changed America. In Justice Rising , a landmark reconsideration of Robert Kennedy’s life and legacy, Patricia Sullivan draws on government files, personal papers, and oral interviews to reveal how he grasped the moment to emerge as a transformational leader.
When protests broke out across the South, the young attorney general confronted escalating demands for racial justice. What began as a political problem soon became a moral one. In the face of vehement pushback from Southern Democrats bent on massive resistance, he put the weight of the federal government behind school desegregation and voter registration. Bobby Kennedy’s youthful energy, moral vision, and capacity to lead created a momentum for change. He helped shape the 1964 Civil Rights Act but knew no law would end racism. When the Watts uprising brought calls for more aggressive policing, he pushed back, pointing to the root causes of urban entrenched poverty, substandard schools, and few job opportunities. RFK strongly opposed the military buildup in Vietnam, but nothing was more important to him than “the revolution within our gates, the struggle of the American Negro for full equality and full freedom.”
On the night of Martin Luther King’s assassination, Kennedy’s anguished appeal captured the hopes of a turbulent “In this difficult time for the United States it is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in.” It is a question that remains urgent and unanswered.
544 pages, Hardcover
Published June 8, 2021
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262 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 8, 2021
Robert F. Kennedy is a personal hero of mine, and I've read extensively about his life and work since I was at least a teenager. I've read the Arthur Schlesinger two-volume biography, Evan Thomas' one-volume but very good biography, David Halberstam's very good look at the 1968 campaign, and Larry Tye's magnificent biography as well. I also read Chris Matthews' book about Bobby from a few years ago, which felt like it was more about RFK's time in his brother's administration than what he did after. Kennedy is one of my heroes, as I said, and so I've come to view him as a flawed man who nonetheless saw the best potential in America, held its feet to the fire on the issues of race, poverty, and injustice, and died before his promise could be fulfilled to heal this nation in the aftermath of the turmoils of the Sixties. Had he lived, I believe he'd have been elected president, and our national discourse might well have been much, much different on the issues that he cared about and campaigned on to try and solve.
"Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White," by Patricia Sullivan, feels like the sort of book that someone unfamiliar with all of Kennedy's efforts throughout his life and career to render justice to those less fortunate would likely be advised to start. As I said, I've read extensively on Bobby Kennedy over the years, and so I don't feel like I learned anything new about his legacy with regards to civil rights. But I appreciate that Sullivan wrote this book and that it's available to be read by folks who haven't thought much about Bobby Kennedy or know what it was that he stood for.
The book begins with Kennedy's efforts to have Ralph Bunche speak at the University of Virginia's law school in the early Fifties, at a time when segregated audiences were the norm and Bunche, a Black man, wouldn't have been likely to be invited to speak anywhere in the South (or the North, for that matter). Sullivan makes the argument that, from early on in his life, Kennedy had an innate sense that something wasn't right about the racial divide in America, and that his public life would be devoted to redressing those wrongs. Kennedy was always a champion for the underdogs in society, so it's not hard to see how he would eventually come to believe that the Civil Rights Movement was just and that its demands were righteous. That he would sometimes zag instead of zig (ordering wire-taps on MLK at the FBI's behest, for example) simply shows that he was a product of his times even as he eventually transcended those times to speak to a better future where the crisis in American life centered on race could be resolved peacefully with justice for those who had never known it. Kennedy was a complicated man, in many ways, a son of privilege who never looked down upon those with less than he'd had.
Like I said, I've read extensively about Bobby Kennedy's life and work, and so in some ways I'm not in the target audience for this one; I'm well-versed in many of the episodes that Sullivan recounts here, so in some ways this book was not terribly eye-opening. But the book gets better when she covers his career in the Senate, after JFK's assassination and his resignation from the Justice Department, where Kennedy could be more effective in addressing the needs of the poor and disenfranchised (and where he ran into the reluctance of Lyndon Johnson, his main enemy in many ways). Here the book feels less bogged down in recapping the Kennedy-era record on civil rights (which in many ways was more open to changes than previous administrations, but still held hostage by Southern lawmakers who could block legislation on a whim). Robert Kennedy's time in the Senate, leading up to his run for the presidency in 1968, is truly the time when he started to become the man who would inspire millions to dream of a better future for America. Sullivan makes timely associations between the fear-mongers of RFK's day and those of our present moment, and the book shows that Kennedy wasn't just one for making speeches; he got on the ground and spoke to the people in different communities, all held back by limited opportunities based on race, class, or income.
I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read a lot about Bobby Kennedy, because in that sense it's an important introduction to the legacy of the man who, by all rights, should've lived to become president in 1968. His firm stance against oppression and his open-hearted embrace of those less fortunate are qualities sorely lacking in the political leaders of today, and as the previous administration showed, malicious selfishness lies at the root of many modern political movements (cults of personality built around failed reality TV show hosts, red baseball caps and the like). Robert F. Kennedy, like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, remains a figure from our past who can help us better understand our present and perhaps inspire us to do better in the future. "Justice Rising" serves a noble purpose of highlighting the efforts of Bobby Kennedy to make gentle the light of this world, for all of those ignored by the people in power. Would that we all strive to do better than we've done even at this juncture in our collective history.
"Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White," by Patricia Sullivan, feels like the sort of book that someone unfamiliar with all of Kennedy's efforts throughout his life and career to render justice to those less fortunate would likely be advised to start. As I said, I've read extensively on Bobby Kennedy over the years, and so I don't feel like I learned anything new about his legacy with regards to civil rights. But I appreciate that Sullivan wrote this book and that it's available to be read by folks who haven't thought much about Bobby Kennedy or know what it was that he stood for.
The book begins with Kennedy's efforts to have Ralph Bunche speak at the University of Virginia's law school in the early Fifties, at a time when segregated audiences were the norm and Bunche, a Black man, wouldn't have been likely to be invited to speak anywhere in the South (or the North, for that matter). Sullivan makes the argument that, from early on in his life, Kennedy had an innate sense that something wasn't right about the racial divide in America, and that his public life would be devoted to redressing those wrongs. Kennedy was always a champion for the underdogs in society, so it's not hard to see how he would eventually come to believe that the Civil Rights Movement was just and that its demands were righteous. That he would sometimes zag instead of zig (ordering wire-taps on MLK at the FBI's behest, for example) simply shows that he was a product of his times even as he eventually transcended those times to speak to a better future where the crisis in American life centered on race could be resolved peacefully with justice for those who had never known it. Kennedy was a complicated man, in many ways, a son of privilege who never looked down upon those with less than he'd had.
Like I said, I've read extensively about Bobby Kennedy's life and work, and so in some ways I'm not in the target audience for this one; I'm well-versed in many of the episodes that Sullivan recounts here, so in some ways this book was not terribly eye-opening. But the book gets better when she covers his career in the Senate, after JFK's assassination and his resignation from the Justice Department, where Kennedy could be more effective in addressing the needs of the poor and disenfranchised (and where he ran into the reluctance of Lyndon Johnson, his main enemy in many ways). Here the book feels less bogged down in recapping the Kennedy-era record on civil rights (which in many ways was more open to changes than previous administrations, but still held hostage by Southern lawmakers who could block legislation on a whim). Robert Kennedy's time in the Senate, leading up to his run for the presidency in 1968, is truly the time when he started to become the man who would inspire millions to dream of a better future for America. Sullivan makes timely associations between the fear-mongers of RFK's day and those of our present moment, and the book shows that Kennedy wasn't just one for making speeches; he got on the ground and spoke to the people in different communities, all held back by limited opportunities based on race, class, or income.
I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read a lot about Bobby Kennedy, because in that sense it's an important introduction to the legacy of the man who, by all rights, should've lived to become president in 1968. His firm stance against oppression and his open-hearted embrace of those less fortunate are qualities sorely lacking in the political leaders of today, and as the previous administration showed, malicious selfishness lies at the root of many modern political movements (cults of personality built around failed reality TV show hosts, red baseball caps and the like). Robert F. Kennedy, like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, remains a figure from our past who can help us better understand our present and perhaps inspire us to do better in the future. "Justice Rising" serves a noble purpose of highlighting the efforts of Bobby Kennedy to make gentle the light of this world, for all of those ignored by the people in power. Would that we all strive to do better than we've done even at this juncture in our collective history.
October 1, 2021
I want to like this book, but it was a slog to get through. I think the problem is that Sullivan is writing two different books here. One is a biography of RFK. That mostly works: her focus on the civil rights angle is a bit different, although most of the content isn't new to anyone who has read at least one biography of RFK.
The other book is supposed to "challenge and upend some of the interpretations that have framed our understanding of the 1960s." (xxi) That is a lofty goal, and often seems to get lost in the biography.
The two different books don't mesh well together. The book seems to largely focus on the biography to it's detriment. You'll spend pages reading about Bobby and then pages reading about JFK, MLK Jr, Bob Moses, and other 1960s figures. These generally do not tie well back into the biography of RFK, leaving the reader to figure out why they're connected. Reading this often reminded me of graduate school writing. She's trying to fit every note she took into this book, even when it doesn't add to the argument.
It was not until the last pages of the final chapter and the epilogue that it really came together that she's also tying these events to present challenges in American society. It's an argument I'm 100% on board with, I just wish she'd focused on that versus the biography. There are plenty of great RFK biographies, by including her own extensive biography here we lose sight of the thesis. If I was her editor I'd cut at least a third of the book and request some transition paragraphs to make the connections clearer.
Maybe for someone who hasn't extensively studied RFK it would be a good read. I still think they would struggle to follow her thesis though.
The other book is supposed to "challenge and upend some of the interpretations that have framed our understanding of the 1960s." (xxi) That is a lofty goal, and often seems to get lost in the biography.
The two different books don't mesh well together. The book seems to largely focus on the biography to it's detriment. You'll spend pages reading about Bobby and then pages reading about JFK, MLK Jr, Bob Moses, and other 1960s figures. These generally do not tie well back into the biography of RFK, leaving the reader to figure out why they're connected. Reading this often reminded me of graduate school writing. She's trying to fit every note she took into this book, even when it doesn't add to the argument.
It was not until the last pages of the final chapter and the epilogue that it really came together that she's also tying these events to present challenges in American society. It's an argument I'm 100% on board with, I just wish she'd focused on that versus the biography. There are plenty of great RFK biographies, by including her own extensive biography here we lose sight of the thesis. If I was her editor I'd cut at least a third of the book and request some transition paragraphs to make the connections clearer.
Maybe for someone who hasn't extensively studied RFK it would be a good read. I still think they would struggle to follow her thesis though.
July 16, 2021
Justice Rising is a history of Bobby Kennedy, brother to John F. Kennedy, who fought for civil rights and the poor from 1960 to 1968. He was killed in 1968 while campaigning for president of the U.S. The book covers year by year his efforts working with MLK some of the time, to secure voting rights, desegregation, and help to the poor with education, housing, etc. In a five year period of time, 1963-1968, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy were all killed by gun fire. Bobby Kennedy left his wife and eleven children behind. The story also includes his contentious relationship with Johnson when he was president from 1964 to 1968 and struggles to cope with Southern resistance when working toward desegregation.
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January 4, 2022Superb. What a well written and researched book not only on RFK but on the times in which he lived. Interactions with so many others that came alive on the pages. More than everything, I loved seeing his persistence, his drive, his commitment and his constant learning. It is so relevant to today not similar in that we just don't have that same vision or action around the vision. We may have the dream, the commitment but we keep chasing our tails and we do not ignite a movement that works cohesively with the politics of the time. We need a MLK Jr and we need an RFK working together even though there were differences, the goals and the real commitment was genuine. What a read! Took me time and I read it with a friend so we could discuss it as we proceeded.
August 30, 2021
What an amazing book. I admit to being someone who, to this day, sometimes wonders what our country would be like if Bobby had won the '68 election. I've read many books by, and about, Bobby. This is one of the best. Brought back the pain and frustration of losing a great man and never knowing the answer to "what if."
November 24, 2024
Good read and accounting of RFK’s political life as attorney general, US Senator and Presidential nominee. The author writes in a compelling way and extensively researches RFKs role in the Civil Rights movement. Would have liked to have learned a bit more about what prompted RFK to be assassinated, as the book kind of just ends after the tragedy. Nevertheless, enjoyed it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2021
The author has written a phenomenal book on the late Bobby(Robert) Kennedy. It was thoroughly researched, informative, and captivating! This was the kind of history I should have been taught in school growing up.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews