martin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcript
But I'm hoping that people will get a chance, once they see the speech, they'll be moved to go read the speech and to make comparisons, Neal. 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. His speech appears below. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Vietnam War "The greatest irony and tragedy of all is that our nation, which initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world, is now cast in the. And when you see the piece on "Lens" tonight that's the part of the speech that set off so many of those who are in King's inner circle, so many scholars who have written about King. So, too, with Hanoi. Excuse me. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. But Martin understood very clearly that what we ought to be doing at home is being - we are being distracted, rather, by our engagement around the world. Smiley continues, "it was the most controversial speech he ever gave. [citation needed] Content [ edit] 0000002964 00000 n 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. 0000003996 00000 n They brought in extra chairs. 3. He turned that into a great speech when he got out of the hospital. James L. Bevel dies at 72; civil rights activist and top lieutenant to King", "Martin Luther King Jr. made our nation uncomfortable", "The Uncompromising Anti-Capitalism of Martin Luther King Jr", "Why Martin Luther King Didn't Run for President", "Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master and Political Reformer, Dies at 95", "The Story Of King's 'Beyond Vietnam' Speech", "Dragons, legos, and solitary: Ai Weiwei's transformative Alcatraz exhibition", Full transcript of the speech from Commondreams.org. 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. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest. 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! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA on January 15th, 1929. The speech and its echoes for Afghanistan and Iraq are the subject of "Tavis Smiley Reports MLK: A Call to Conscience.". King, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, in A Knock at Midnight, ed. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. We must move past indecision to action. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. 0000003415 00000 n Less than two weeks after leading his first Vietnam demonstration, on 4 April 1967, King made his best known and most comprehensive statement against the war. 0000009147 00000 n In that address, he articulated his reasons for his opposition to the Southeast Asian conflict. That's what set so many of them off. or 404 526-8968. [18] He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. War is not the answer. We had to do a whole lot of work in the booth trying to get that audio right. He was one of the most important and influential Civil Rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s. 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. But what I want - I think the question - I've always thought that Dr. King, that that speech about Vietnam was his best speech in my mind. After the French were defeated it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva agreements. 0000023610 00000 n Ken Rudin joins guest host Rebecca Roberts. Some 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington. And I think most Americans know the "I Have A Dream" speech. He passed the Voting Rights Act. 0000001427 00000 n In Martin Luther King Jr.'s Vietnam speech, lines 413-416, he repeats the phrase "this is not just" (161). Full text of speech. [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. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. So King understood violence. 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. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Due to the Vietnam War is that plenty of individuals, both Americans and Vietnamese were killed. Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that peace and economic justice were critical to his fight for human rights. Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the one who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them? We have cooperated in the crushing of the nations only non-Communist revolutionary political force the unified Buddhist church. Thanks, as always for your time. Could we blame them for such thoughts? MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. Had the president stopped by giving Martin King his just respect - as he did, to his credit - it would have been okay. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. But most Americans, I think, do not know this speech, "Beyond Vietnam.". 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? 0000009168 00000 n 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. Seeking to reduce the potential backlash by framing his speech within the context of religious objection to war, King addressed a crowd of 3,000 people at Riverside Church in New York City. 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. Challenges of the final years of Martin Luther King, Jr. Others, including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, called it King's most important speech. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today my own government. 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. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism.. And there was a 18-year-old black Marine that picked me up since I couldn't walk, got me away from bombs and saved my life. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nations self-defined goals and positions. Is our nation planning to build on political myth again and then shore it up with the power of new violence? They ask how we can speak of free elections when the Saigon press is censored and controlled by the military junta. With that tragic decision we rejected a revolutionary government seeking self-determination, and a government that had been established not by China (for whom the Vietnamese have no great love) but by clearly indigenous forces that included some Communists. . [29], Excerpts from this speech are used in the songs "Together" and "Spirit" by Nordic Giants. If we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. Attachment 4: Are We Ready to Listen to Dr. King? Although the peace community lauded Kings willingness to take a public stand against the war in Vietnam, many within the civil rights movement further distanced themselves from his stance. Thank you. This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against communism. Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony. Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. And it was on that occasion that he - when he saw those pictures, said, I have to speak out about this. Then we must make what reparations we can for the damage we have done. He would no longer be respected. And so he does in New York City. between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not ready for independence, and we again fell victim to the deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere for so long. JwNt YHiA:{p . Moreover I would encourage all ministers of draft age to give up their ministerial exemptions and seek status as conscientious objectors. These too are our brothers. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. n the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on lifes roadside; but that will be only an initial act. 0000002427 00000 n When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. While they both may have justifiable reason to be suspicious of the good faith of the United States, life and history give eloquent testimony to the fact that conflicts are never resolved without trustful give and take on both sides.