martin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcript

Vietnam War - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute Of course, the Nobel Peace Laureate, a man who clearly believed in nonviolence down to his very soul CONAN: but he'd wanted to give that speech two years earlier. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in . A call for equality and freedom, it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men. In that address, he articulated his reasons for his opposition to the Southeast Asian conflict. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain.. This quote is from a sermon by Dr. King on April 30, 1967 at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, drawing from his infamous April 4 sermon at Riverside Church. And that is precisely what concerned Dr. King so much, that these young boys were being sent halfway around the world to fight a war that was unwinnable, that resources were being used there that should've been used here at home. Though the cause of evil prosper, Yet tis truth alone is strong; Though her portion be the scaffold, And upon the throne be wrong: Yet that scaffold sways the future, And behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow Keeping watch above his own. King 's work to eradicate racial segregation was abruptly halted when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, on the balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. On 4 April 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his seminal speech at Riverside Church condemning the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King April 4, 1967 Riverside Church, New York City . One of the things, I hope, Neal, will happen here is that when people get a chance to see the special, they will be moved - I think they will be - to Google or Bing, whatever search engine you use, to go online, because the speech is so readily available, Neal, as you know. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world a world that borders on our doors. In a way we were agreeing with Langston Hughes, that black bard of Harlem, who had written earlier: O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath America will be! Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that peace and economic justice were critical to his fight for human rights. And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. [citation needed] Content [ edit] And thank you for sharing what had to be a difficult story to tell. I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. Kings opposition to the war provoked criticism from members of Congress, the press, and from his civil rights colleagues who argued that expanding his civil rights message to include foreign affairs would harm the black freedom struggle in America. King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism", he also rejected communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism", and its "political totalitarianism. Because he received a letter from a little white girl who said, Dr. King, I read the newspaper that had you sneezed that blade would've moved, ruptured your aorta and you would've drowned in your own blood. These are revolutionary times. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam. When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. We have destroyed their land and their crops. Summary Of Martin Luther King Jr Vietnam Speech | ipl.org Answering press questions after addressing a Howard University audience on 2 March 1965, King asserted that the war in Vietnam was accomplishing nothing and called for a negotiated settlement (Schuette, King Preaches on Non-Violence). "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their governments policy, especially in time of war. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech opposing the Vietnam War in April 1967. "The press is being stacked against me", King said,[13] At what cost? Speeches, writings, movements, and protests, Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. 0000011739 00000 n A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. 2/QB(yQVz^*oU.FW (1997). King Leads Chicago). All Rights Reserved. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Vietnam War Speech Analysis His wife, Coretta Scott King, took a more active role in opposing the war, speaking at a rally at the Washington Monument on 27 November 1965 with Benjamin Spock, the renowned pediatrician and anti-war activist, and joined in other demonstrations. He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nations only non-Communist revolutionary political force the unified Buddhist church. In this speech, he opposes violence and militarism, particularly the war in Vietnam. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 0000009168 00000 n [11], King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham,[citation needed] union leaders and powerful publishers. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: Too late. There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. King, Excerpts, Address at mass rally on 12 August 1965, 13 August 1965, MLKJP-GAMK. During the last year of his life, King worked with Spock to develop Vietnam Summer, a volunteer project to increase grassroots peace activism in time for the 1968 elections. Beyond Vietnam A Time To Break Silence Rhetorical Precis Somehow this madness must cease. He criticized the Vietnam War and praised Muhammad Ali for being a conscientious objector. The Story Of King's 'Beyond Vietnam' Speech : NPR All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. PDF A TIME TO BREAK THE SILENCE - nps.gov A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. We must not call everyone a Communist or an appeaser who advocates the seating of Red China in the United Nations and who recognizes that hate and hysteria are not the final answers to the problem of these turbulent days. [1][5], King was long opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. Therefore, communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions we initiated. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam on such grounds as these? And Walt's with us from Cortez in Colorado. How Martin Luther King, Jr.'s multifaceted view on human rights still That's what set so many of them off. Mr. SMILEY: It's a powerful point made by Clayborne Carson at Stanford who is in charge, as you know, Neal, of the King papers. It was they who led a second struggle against French domination at tremendous costs, and then were persuaded to give up the land they controlled between the thirteenth and seventeenth parallel as a temporary measure at Geneva. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, April 15, 1967 Anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", List of lynching victims in the United States, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beyond_Vietnam:_A_Time_to_Break_Silence&oldid=1133369048, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 12:35. To me the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against the war. I just wanted to say that I was an 18-year-old Marine in Vietnam when the speech was given, and I didn't hear it until three or four years ago. And we are spending money for a war abroad that ought to be spent for the war on poverty here at home. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. Please c, ontact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. at. Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will. Though he avoided condemning the war outright, at the August 1965 annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) convention King called for a halt to bombing in North Vietnam, urged that the United Nations be empowered to mediate the conflict, and told the crowd that what is required is a small first step that may establish a new spirit of mutual confidence a step capable of breaking the cycle of mistrust, violence and war (King, 12 August 1965). Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the one who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them? Realistically accept the fact that the National Liberation Front has substantial support in South Vietnam and must thereby play a role in any meaningful negotiations and in any future Vietnam government. 0000005717 00000 n On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a speech named, "Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence" addressing the Vietnam War. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. 0000008347 00000 n I come to this platform tonight to make a passionate plea to my beloved nation. Martin Luther King Jr - n/a - Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation. Dr. King in a March 25, 1967 antiwar march in Chicago. That Vietnam was a mistake. And after I was wounded, we had four or five 100-pound bomb dropped on us, and 10 Marines were killed outright and 24 were wounded. Check your local listings. Well, it was taken in that context, anyway. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist that led the Civil Rights Movement, and other movements until his assassination in 1968. The initiative to stop it must be ours. People And Peace Not Profits And War Rhetorical Devices In "People and Peace, not Profits and War," Shirley Chisholm repeats the words "two more years" (42). What then can I say to the Vietcong or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister of this one? Freedom's Ring: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views, Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam (CALCAV). One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on lifes highway. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, organized the 1963 March on Washington, advocated for civil disobedience and. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one Vietcong-inflicted injury. Four years after President John F. Kennedy sent the first American troops into Vietnam, Martin Luther King, Jr., issued his first public statement on the war. 0000046786 00000 n It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. This is Howard, which you know me. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within ones own bosom and in the surrounding world. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. "[22] We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. Dr. Martin Luther King's 'Beyond Vietnam' Speech - HistoryNet I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. But the entire speech, of course, thankfully, was recorded on audio. Q%F70%iR! trailer << /Size 93 /Info 36 0 R /Root 40 0 R /Prev 148547 /ID[<8f2b4dd6f2f061944c7ff807c44fcc1f><651247ae294a1a197a948cb3bc3f8412>] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 40 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 38 0 R /Metadata 37 0 R /Threads 41 0 R /Names 43 0 R /OpenAction [ 44 0 R /XYZ null null null ] /PageMode /UseNone /PageLabels 35 0 R >> endobj 41 0 obj [ 42 0 R ] endobj 42 0 obj << /I << /Title (A)>> /F 45 0 R >> endobj 43 0 obj << /Dests 33 0 R >> endobj 91 0 obj << /S 76 /E 200 /L 216 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 92 0 R >> stream You can also join the conversation at our Web site. Soon the only solid physical foundations remaining will be found at our military bases and in the concrete of the concentration camps we call fortified hamlets. Mr. SMILEY: Indeed he did, Neal. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Vietnam War - The Atlantic 0000003996 00000 n It is a sad fact that, because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries. Excuse me. A few other Americans know, of course, the "Mountaintop" speech given the night before he's assassinated in Memphis. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Martin built his speech that night, Neal, around three major points: around increasing militarism, around escalating poverty and around the issue of racism. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy- and laymen . But when he turns the corner and then says, essentially, that Martin's philosophy wouldn't work in today's world, he goes on to say that Dr. King didn't know al-Qaida, as if to suggest that Martin didn't understand evil, that Martin didn't understand violence, that he himself had not been subjected to it. Martin Luther King Jr. announced his strong opposition to the war in Vietnam, the media attacked him for straying outside of his civil rights mandate. 0000002516 00000 n For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives. Some civil rights leaders urged King not to speak out on the Vietnam War, but he said he could not separate issues of economic injustice, racism, war, and militarism. Martin Luther King, Jr., giving his speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence at Riverside Church in NYC, April 4, 1967. When you read the speech, if you replace the word Vietnam, every time it pops up, with the word Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, you will be - it will blow your mind at how King, where he alive today at 81, could really stand up and give that same speech and just replace, again, Vietnam with Iraq and Afghanistan. King Scores Poverty). This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. He was stabbed at one time. But there was a great turnout for the speech. W. E. B. 0000011068 00000 n There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Grossfield, Stan. How can they believe in our integrity when now we speak of aggression from the north as if there were nothing more essential to the war? 0000006536 00000 n BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress International News/Alerts/Announcements , Martin Luther King, Jr., delivering speech. [6], King delivered the speech, sponsored by the group Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, after committing to participate in New York's April 15, 1967 anti-Vietnam war march from Central Park to the United Nations, sponsored by the Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam. King, Beyond Vietnam, in A Call to Conscience, ed. 0000013309 00000 n 0000001739 00000 n Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? MLK: Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence - YouTube So Martin's advisors basically said, if you are intent on giving the speech, at least allow us to craft a speech and to create a setting that will allow you to speak to clergy members and laity so at least before you get to this rally that we know is going to be controversial, we could at least roll this thing out with a different kind of a crowd. Mr. TAVIS SMILEY (Host, "The Tavis Smiley Show"): Neal, always an honor to be on with you. 0000003503 00000 n 0000002337 00000 n 0000017817 00000 n V)U5v\@apkk;#WF. PDF. When the Rev. 0000003199 00000 n When Martin Luther King Jr. Spoke Out Against the Vietnam War When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. This speech was enormously controversial. "[24] King quoted a United States official who said that from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution. But LBJ disinvites him to the White House. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition. Some, like civil rights leader Ralph Bunche, the NAACP, and the editorial page writers of The Washington Post[3] and The New York Times[4] called the Riverside Church speech a mistake on King's part. Peace and civil rights dont mix, they say. And I think that if nothing else what we need to wrestle with in a contemporary sense, Neal, is the question of whether or not there is another way that King would have us consider were he allowed to do. In the light of such tragic misunderstandings, I deem it of signal importance to try to state clearly, and I trust concisely, why I believe that the path from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church the church in Montgomery, Alabama, where I began my pastorate leads clearly to this sanctuary tonight. Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? (AFP via Getty Images) "Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? We most provide the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available in this country if necessary. Accuracy and availability may vary. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. Shall we say the odds are too great? America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. King spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. Tonight, however, I wish not to speak with Hanoi and the NLF, but rather to my fellow Americans, who, with me, bear the greatest responsibility in ending a conflict that has exacted a heavy price on both continents. King, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, in A Knock at Midnight, ed. Is our nation planning to build on political myth again and then shore it up with the power of new violence? Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs. But they didn't stay for the speech in its entirety. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Check your local listings. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Challenges of the final years | Britannica But two, to the audio, there are only less than 10 minutes of this speech that got covered. From Harlem to Hanoi: Dr. King and the Vietnam War There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America. That's the problem with it. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. For as popular as King was, he was a Nobel laureate, there were only one or two news crews who actually came to see the speech that night, Neal. They must see Americans as strange liberators. "[23], King also stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. Jazmyn Ford. 0000009147 00000 n Others, including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, called it King's most important speech. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. 800-989-8255. 0000003415 00000 n Meanwhile we in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. In the 1950s and 1960s, his words led the Civil Rights Movement and helped change society. So practically everybody was opposed to him giving this speech. There is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. 0000004855 00000 n [19][20], In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said: "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic"[21] In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood. Tavis Smiley joins us today from the Sheryl Flowers Studios in Los Angeles. Let me say this right quick: The comparisons between what King was addressing then about militarism, poverty and racism sound familiar 45 years later. 0000011437 00000 n 0000002004 00000 n 5. 0000044282 00000 n [29], Excerpts from this speech are used in the songs "Together" and "Spirit" by Nordic Giants. And they, as news crews tend to do, they stayed to get just enough B-roll, as we call it Mr. SMILEY: for the news that night. And so the question was, Martin, why would you antagonize the president who has been our friend? $25.00. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA on January 15th, 1929. n the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on lifes roadside; but that will be only an initial act. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. On April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a controversial sermon opposing the Vietnam War at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, then helped lead a large antiwar march from Central Park to the United Nations later that month. But it ends up being the most controversial speech. CONAN: And there's an interesting point you also make in the film that - or at least some of the participants in your film make - that were he alive today and saying the kinds of things you would expect him to say, given that speech, he probably would not be invited to many Martin Luther King Day celebrations. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poorboth black . He passed the Civil Rights Act. While King was personally opposed to the war, he was concerned that publicly criticizing U.S. foreign policy would damage his relationship with President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had been instrumental in passing civil rights legislation and who had declared in April 1965 that he was willing to negotiate a diplomatic end to the war in Vietnam. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just. No, Howard, I thank you for your phone call. The problem was that practically everyone in his inner circle - not all, there was James Bevel and a couple of others - but practically everyone in his inner circle advised him strongly not to give this speech. A few years ago there was a shining moment. 0000009964 00000 n

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