DAVIE, Fla. – The nephew of President John F. Kennedy spoke to students and faculty at Broward College on Wednesday, two days before the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the president.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recalled writing a letter to his uncle about environmental pollution.
"It interested me, the environment, from when was a little kid, and in fact, when I was 8 years old, I wrote my uncle, President Kennedy, a letter asking him if I could come see him to talk about environmental pollution, and he invited me to the White House and had me in the Oval Office," he said.
Kennedy said his uncle encouraged him to study the environment, and to defend the poor who are harmed by pollution.
"Four out of every five toxic waste dumps in America is in a black neighborhood," said Kennedy. "The highest concentration of toxic waste dumps in America is the south side of Chicago, which is a black neighborhood."
In his remarks, Kennedy didn't mention the upcoming 50th anniversary of his uncle's death.
"My family likes to observe or likes to remember the president on his birthday other than the day he died, and to remember the things that he represented in his life, and actually, coincidentally, my father's birthday was the 20th, and so we celebrate, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, has this big gala every year and it happens to be Friday of this year, and I think that's an appropriate way to remember President Kennedy to," he said.