martin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcript

%PDF-1.3 % Martin Luther King April 4, 1967 Riverside Church, New York City . 159. CONAN: Oh, the audio is terrible, though. So 60 year(ph) is really, really a hot year here around this particular issue. 0000001616 00000 n So far we may have killed a million of them mostly children. 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. It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: This is not just. The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. Let's go to Walt(ph). He rarely gave speeches from a text. On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. 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. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for example, issued a statement against merging the civil rights and peace movements. So it was a great turnout. "[14] "This was a huge, huge speech," he continues, "that got Martin King in more trouble than anything he had ever seen or done. Du Bois to Coretta Scott King: The Untold History of the Movement to Ban the Bomb. In his last Sunday sermon, delivered at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on 31 March 1968, King said that he was convinced that [Vietnam] is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world (King, Remaining Awake, 219). I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But certainly one of the greatest orators of our time. 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 Have a Dream, speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. We must speak for them and raise the questions they cannot raise. "[22] 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. "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence", also referred as the Riverside Church speech,[1] is an antiVietnam War and prosocial justice speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was assassinated. Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist that led the Civil Rights Movement, and other movements until his assassination in 1968. Can I threaten them with death or must I not share with them my life? Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. It was the speech he labored over the most. What do they think as we test our latest weapons on them, just as the Germans tested out new medicine and new tortures in the concentration camps of Europe? The cornerstones of his activism were based on non-violence and civil disobedience, both of which were inspired by his Christian faith and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. 20072023 Blackpast.org. CONAN: And one thing that I was unaware of was the timing of the speech in that he had wanted to say something along these lines. They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. 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]. For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives. What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. Somehow this madness must cease. 0000006536 00000 n dH(*b(jGB@'k1zTR~{dA9|\b. 0000001739 00000 n We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. And secondly, so many civil rights leaders were opposed to him giving it because LBJ had been the best president to black people on civil rights. Well, it was taken in that context, anyway. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both. We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. Mr. SMILEY: Yeah, Walt, I thank you for sharing that story as well, for being courageous to tell it, number one. They ask how we can speak of free elections when the Saigon press is censored and controlled by the military junta. Mr. SMILEY: We - let me just tell you this. Hb```f``; 6Pco;{Q. X@ h(]1fbap d``al`zds1;/(d_f)"#EC+s3Vp{4P2Vb`uL@ ` endstream endobj 92 0 obj 167 endobj 44 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 38 0 R /Resources 53 0 R /Contents [ 61 0 R 63 0 R 67 0 R 69 0 R 71 0 R 77 0 R 79 0 R 89 0 R ] /CropBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /B [ 45 0 R ] /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /Rotate 0 >> endobj 45 0 obj << /T 42 0 R /P 44 0 R /R [ 45 45 567 747 ] /V 46 0 R /N 47 0 R >> endobj 46 0 obj <> endobj 47 0 obj <> endobj 48 0 obj <> endobj 49 0 obj <> endobj 50 0 obj <> endobj 51 0 obj <> endobj 52 0 obj <> endobj 53 0 obj << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageC /ImageI ] /Font << /F1 58 0 R /F2 65 0 R /F3 73 0 R /F4 74 0 R /TT2 54 0 R >> /XObject << /Im1 90 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 81 0 R >> /ColorSpace << /Cs6 55 0 R /Cs8 56 0 R >> >> endobj 54 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /TrueType /FirstChar 49 /LastChar 56 /Widths [ 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 ] /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding /BaseFont /CAPGPE+TimesNewRoman /FontDescriptor 59 0 R >> endobj 55 0 obj [ /ICCBased 86 0 R ] endobj 56 0 obj [ /Indexed 55 0 R 255 87 0 R ] endobj 57 0 obj << /Type /FontDescriptor /Ascent 733 /CapHeight 692 /Descent -281 /Flags 34 /FontBBox [ -166 -283 1021 927 ] /FontName /CAPHEN+Palatino-Roman /ItalicAngle 0 /StemV 84 /XHeight 469 /StemH 84 /CharSet (/I/space/c/o/m/e/t/h/i/s/a/g/n/f/u/w/r/p/b/y/l/v/period/j/d/k/z/colon/C/\ L/V/T/x/quotedbl/A/E/comma/quoteright/N/M/semicolon/S/W/P/O/q/D/B/emdash\ /H/F/R/U/G/one/nine/five/seven/six/four/J/question/hyphen/parenleft/pare\ nright/two/three/K) /FontFile3 84 0 R >> endobj 58 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /FirstChar 32 /LastChar 151 /Widths [ 250 278 371 500 500 840 778 208 333 333 389 606 250 333 250 606 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 250 250 606 606 606 444 747 778 611 709 774 611 556 763 832 337 333 726 611 946 831 786 604 786 668 525 613 778 722 1000 667 667 667 333 606 333 606 500 333 500 553 444 611 479 333 556 582 291 234 556 291 883 582 546 601 560 395 424 326 603 565 834 516 556 500 333 606 333 606 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 278 0 0 0 0 1000 ] /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding /BaseFont /CAPHEN+Palatino-Roman /FontDescriptor 57 0 R >> endobj 59 0 obj << /Type /FontDescriptor /Ascent 891 /CapHeight 0 /Descent -216 /Flags 34 /FontBBox [ -568 -307 2028 1007 ] /FontName /CAPGPE+TimesNewRoman /ItalicAngle 0 /StemV 0 /FontFile2 85 0 R >> endobj 60 0 obj 763 endobj 61 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 60 0 R >> stream This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond ones tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. And thirdly, I think the main point here in this MLK "Beyond Vietnam" speech is that there is another way. When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. or 404 526-8968. King Leads Chicago). Please c, ontact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. at. Mr. SMILEY: He'd wanted to give it two years earlier and had attempted a dry run at this speech, to your appoint, Neal, a couple of years prior to when he gave it. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. 0000040748 00000 n The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. Recently one of them wrote these words: Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence . 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. At the time, civil rights leaders publicly condemned him for it. Rev. Accuracy and availability may vary. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. And that's the issue that King was raising. Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi",[9] and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people. This is an excellent Common Core-aligned primary source from Martin Luther King speaking about his stance on the Vietnam War. 5. Let me say this right quick: The comparisons between what King was addressing then about militarism, poverty and racism sound familiar 45 years later. 1967 speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. And Tavis, nice to have you back in the program. 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. The great initiative in this war is ours. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that peace and economic justice were critical to his fight for human rights. But the entire speech, of course, thankfully, was recorded on audio. Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation. 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 would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. Martin Luther King Jr. was deeply troubled by the Vietnam War for years, but the "Beyond Vietnam" speech was his first major policy statement on the issue. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Colombia and why American napalm and green beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru. 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. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? What must they think of us in America when they realize that we permitted the repression and cruelty of Diem which helped to bring them into being as a resistance group in the south? It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. The peasants watched and cringed as Diem ruthlessly routed out all opposition, supported their extortionist landlords and refused even to discuss reunification with the north. Grossfield, Stan. Mr. SMILEY: That's right. [26], The same year, King nominated Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize, but the prize was not awarded to anyone that year. The first signs of opposition to King's tactics from within the civil rights movement surfaced during the March 1965 demonstrations in Selma, Alabama, which were aimed at dramatizing the need for a federal voting-rights law that would provide legal support for the enfranchisement of . Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King at Ebenezer Church. CONAN: Indeed. A few years ago there was a shining moment. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. President Obama, this is one campaign promise that he has kept. 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. Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), African American founding fathers of the United States, Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (Pueblo, Colorado), Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, San Francisco. 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. I've always argue that Dr. King is the greatest American we've ever produced. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad China into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. 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.