martin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcript

For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives. Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both. 20072023 Blackpast.org. capitalism, and the Vietnam War. 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. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. I would like to suggest five concrete things that our government should do immediately to begin the long and difficult process of extricating ourselves from this nightmarish conflict: 1. After 1954 they watched us conspire with Diem to prevent elections which would have surely brought Ho Chi Minh to power over a united Vietnam, and they realized they had been betrayed again. 0000003454 00000 n And they are surely right to wonder what kind of new government we plan to help form without them the only party in real touch with the peasants. V)U5v\@apkk;#WF. PDF Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence - hawaii.edu 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. As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. Nearly five years after Kings assassination, American troops withdrew from Vietnam and a peace treaty declared South and North Vietnam independent of each other. Martin built his speech that night, Neal, around three major points: around increasing militarism, around escalating poverty and around the issue of racism. 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. The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. Tomorrow, the latest installment with the political junkie. [29], Excerpts from this speech are used in the songs "Together" and "Spirit" by Nordic Giants. All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. I join with you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization which has brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. Thank you. 39 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 44 /H [ 1739 286 ] /L 149455 /E 105346 /N 8 /T 148557 >> endobj xref 39 54 0000000016 00000 n We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva agreement. How Martin Luther King, Jr.'s multifaceted view on human rights still "[9], King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. After he gives it, 168 major newspapers the next day denounce him. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on. 0000040748 00000 n On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech in New York City at Riverside Church on the occasion of his becoming co-chairperson of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam (subsequently renamed Clergy and Laity Concerned ). 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 How can they trust us when now we charge them with violence after the murderous reign of Diem and charge them with violence while we pour every new weapon of death into their land? So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such. The film is the second episode of Tavis Smiley Reports. (Scott) King,My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., 1969. On the evening of April 4, 1967, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King lent his full-throated oratory to a growing chorus of opposition to the rapidly expanding American role in the Vietnam War. 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. 0000002964 00000 n Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. 2. As that noble bard of yesterday, James Russell Lowell, eloquently stated: Once to every man and nation Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth and falsehood, For the good or evil side; Some great cause, Gods new Messiah, Offring each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes by forever Twixt that darkness and that light. Nor is it an attempt to overlook the ambiguity of the total situation and the need for a collective solution to the tragedy of Vietnam. [11], King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham,[citation needed] union leaders and powerful publishers. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. At the U.N. King also brought up issues of civil rights and the draft. We must continue to raise our voices if our nation persists in its perverse ways in Vietnam. King contemplated but ultimately decided against the proposal on the grounds that he felt uneasy with politics and considered himself better suited for his morally unambiguous role as an activist.[25]. 0000001739 00000 n 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. The major speech at Riverside Church in New York City, followed several interviews[2] and several other public speeches in which King came out against the Vietnam War and the policies that created it. 0000011068 00000 n As if the weight of such a commitment to the life and health of America were not enough, another burden of responsibility was placed upon me in 1964; and I cannot forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commission a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for the brotherhood of man. This is a calling that takes me beyond national allegiances, but even if it were not present I would yet have to live with the meaning of my commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ. I Have a Dream | Date, Quotations, & Facts | Britannica Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation. 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 . 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. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. And he said these three issues of racism and poverty and militarism are going to destroy this nation. On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. 0000004621 00000 n 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. Dr. King is trying to get the point across that our country is being unfair to others. "[10], King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms. 0000013330 00000 n (1997). I think of them too because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries. His tireless work advocating for the end of. People And Peace Not Profits And War Rhetorical Devices 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. So it was a great turnout. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - Zinn Education Project 0000009147 00000 n King delivered a speech entitled Beyond Vietnam, pointing out that the war effort was taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem (King, Beyond Vietnam, 143). In the 1950s and 1960s, his words led the Civil Rights Movement and helped change society. Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. Now there is little left to build onsave bitterness. The Riverside Church donated largely with Rockefeller money. Is our nation planning to build on political myth again and then shore it up with the power of new violence? These too are our brothers. To speak for them is to explain this lack of confidence in Western words, and especially their distrust of American intentions now. Martin Luther King Jr. - Acceptance Speech - NobelPrize.org King to Weigh Civil Disobedience If War Intensifies, New York Times, 2 April 1967. 0000001616 00000 n Before long they must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese, and the more sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the wealthy and the secure while we create hell for the poor. 0000012541 00000 n Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King at Ebenezer Church. He had fallen off already the list, as you mentioned, had already fallen off the list of the most admired Americans as tallied by Gallup every year. Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment. But two, to the audio, there are only less than 10 minutes of this speech that got covered. 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.

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