martin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcript
I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. 39 0 obj
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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. ", After King delivered the speech, Smiley reports, "168 major newspapers the next day denounced him." Now let us begin. So, too, with Hanoi. And King gives a great speech out of that hospital called "If I Had Sneezed." Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. (Unintelligible) on this program about, you know, the chances he took and even, you know, speaking truth to power to LBJ helped him so much in civil rights. While his legacy is commonly remembered by his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, we've sourced four powerful, lesser-known speeches from Dr. King to listen to and commemorate . "The press is being stacked against me", King said,[13] Thank you. For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of Vietnam the right of independence. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) 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. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. Well, it was taken in that context, anyway. I speak now not of the soldiers of each side, not of the junta in Saigon, but simply of the people who have been living under the curse of war for almost three continuous decades now. 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 ). A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. All Rights Reserved. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Undeterred, King, Spock, and Harry Belafonte led 10,000 demonstrators on an anti-war march to the United Nations on 15 April 1967. Also it must be clear that the leaders of Hanoi considered the presence of American troops in support of the Diem regime to have been the initial military breach of the Geneva agreements concerning foreign troops, and they remind us that they did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had moved into the tens of thousands. "MLK: A Call to Conscience" premieres on PBS tomorrow night. April 30, 1967: "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam" Speech We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. CONAN: We (unintelligible) to see it. After the French were defeated it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva agreements. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Mr. SMILEY: Neal, thank you for the opportunity. CONAN: Indeed, it was Oslo. [27] Thich Nhat Hanh, who publicly held a news conference in Chicago with King in 1966, was acknowledged for urging King to oppose the Vietnam War. This is an excellent Common Core-aligned primary source from Martin Luther King speaking about his stance on the Vietnam War. King Scores Poverty Budget, New York Times, 16 December 1966. 5 of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most memorable speeches 0000011739 00000 n
Let me say this right quick: The comparisons between what King was addressing then about militarism, poverty and racism sound familiar 45 years later. 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. In so many words, powerful interests told him: "Mind your own business.". 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. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men. 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. The New York Times editorial suggested that conflating the civil rights movement with the Anti-war movement was an oversimplification that did justice to neither, stating that "linking these hard, complex problems will lead not to solutions but to deeper confusion." Take immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia by curtailing our military buildup in Thailand and our interference in Laos. 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. Could we blame them for such thoughts? Martin Luther King's Speech Against the Vietnam War It was the speech he labored over the most. How are you, sir? A few other Americans know, of course, the "Mountaintop" speech given the night before he's assassinated in Memphis. He gave a famous speech about the fact that he - when stabbed in New York at a book signing, the blade was just a scintilla away from his aorta. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that peace and economic justice were critical to his fight for human rights. The message directly challenged the president who'd taken great political risks to support civil rights legislation and also challenged many of his colleagues in the movement who've called it a tactical mistake. In December 1966, testifying before a congressional subcommittee on budget priorities, King argued for a rebalancing of fiscal priorities away from Americas obsession with Vietnam and toward greater support for anti-poverty programs at home (Semple, Dr. It was, to your earlier point, the most controversial speech he ever gave. 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. Excuse me. Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 But there was a great turnout for the speech. I've always thought that was, to me, his best speech, his most consequential speech, even better than I have a dream in the mountain top speech. 0000023610 00000 n
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At this point I should make it clear that while I have tried in these last few minutes to give a voice to the voiceless on Vietnam and to understand the arguments of those who are called enemy, I am as deeply concerned about our troops there as anything else. If Americas soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. A few days later, King made it clear that his peace work was not undertaken as the leader of the SCLC, but as an individual, as a clergyman, as one who is greatly concerned about peace (Dr. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. And he starts out in the opening line at Riverside Church by saying: I am here tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. 0000044282 00000 n
Paul A. Schuette, King Preaches on Non-Violence at Police-Guarded Howard Hall, Washington Post, 3 March 1965. Mr. SMILEY: That's right. Five years ago he said, Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" was a powerful and angry speech that raged against the war. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Not only that, but then-President Lyndon Johnson disinvited King to the White House. Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. "[9], King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. Tavis Smiley joins us today from the Sheryl Flowers Studios in Los Angeles. Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination - HISTORY We were 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. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted conceptso readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly forcehas now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. Perhaps only his sense of humor and of irony can save him when he hears the most powerful nation of the world speaking of aggression as it drops thousands of bombs on a poor weak nation more than eight thousand miles away from its shores. 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. (AFP via Getty Images) "Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? So 60 year(ph) is really, really a hot year here around this particular issue. [16][17] King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. And I think most Americans know the "I Have A Dream" speech. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. 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. A few years ago there was a shining moment. So practically everybody in his inner circle was against him giving it - one, because they knew the kind of pushback he was going to get. Moreover I would encourage all ministers of draft age to give up their ministerial exemptions and seek status as conscientious objectors. 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. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. He was one of the most important and influential Civil Rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps the more difficult but no less necessary task is to speak for those who have been designated as our enemies. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. We in the West must support these revolutions. He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. King to Weigh Civil Disobedience If War Intensifies, New York Times, 2 April 1967. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. 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. 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? Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. That's the problem with it. 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]. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. Martin Luther King, Jr. 4 April 1967. 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). Beyond Vietnam A Time To Break Silence Rhetorical Precis Mr. SMILEY: Yeah. 0000002427 00000 n
I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. The Story Of King's 'Beyond Vietnam' Speech : NPR Arent you hurting the cause of your people, they ask? 800-989-8255, email us [email protected]. This has driven many to feel that only Marxism has the revolutionary spirit. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Vietnam War - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute Dr. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers. Dr. 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. )
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CONAN: Walt, thank you. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. 0000004834 00000 n
Exactly one year before his assassination, on April 4, 1967, Rev. Somehow this madness must cease. 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. 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? 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. Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. 800-989-8255. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, organized the 1963 March on Washington, advocated for civil disobedience and. CONAN: And I think a lot of people will see your parallels regarding Iraq, where, indeed, the United States was the aggressor in that conflict. Check your local listings. A Baptist minister and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), King had led the civil rights movement since the mid-1950s, using a combination of impassioned speeches. Hanoi remembers how our leaders refused to tell us the truth about the earlier North Vietnamese overtures for peace, how the president claimed that none existed when they had clearly been made. Neither is it an attempt to make North Vietnam or the National Liberation Front paragons of virtue, nor to overlook the role they can play in a successful resolution of the problem. We're talking with Tavis Smiley. Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress International News/Alerts/Announcements
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