This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. And we are spending money for a war abroad that ought to be spent for the war on poverty here at home. Perhaps the more difficult but no less necessary task is to speak for those who have been designated as our enemies. Mr. SMILEY: Yeah. 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 only change came from America as we increased our troop commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept and without popular support. 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. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nations only non-Communist revolutionary political force the unified Buddhist church. 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 . That Vietnam was a mistake. He supported Johnsons calls for diplomatic negotiations and economic development as the beginnings of such a step. *];\n~~/iQ|h Q And it was on that occasion that he - when he saw those pictures, said, I have to speak out about this. 0000002516 00000 n
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. 0000011068 00000 n
I am pleased to say that this is the path now being chosen by more than seventy students at my own alma mater, Morehouse College, and I recommend it to all who find the American course in Vietnam a dishonorable and unjust one. 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. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. 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. 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. If Americas soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam. This is an excellent Common Core-aligned primary source from Martin Luther King speaking about his stance on the Vietnam War. 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. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. 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. So it was a great turnout. "[8] He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change: A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. 0000007161 00000 n
And so the question was, Martin, why would you antagonize the president who has been our friend? Let's go to Walt(ph). All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. These are the times for real choices and not false ones. To speak for them is to explain this lack of confidence in Western words, and especially their distrust of American intentions now. And King had preached at this church any number of times before, of course. So practically everybody was opposed to him giving this speech. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Speeches, writings, movements, and protests, Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. 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? [citation needed], One of the eight "sound cells" in @Large, Ai Weiwei's 201415 exhibit at Alcatraz, features King's voice giving the "Beyond Vietnam" speech. AFP/AFP/Getty Images [27], In 2010, PBS commentator Tavis Smiley said that the speech was the most controversial speech of King's career, and the one he "labored over the most". 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. 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. 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. Smiley continues, "it was the most controversial speech he ever gave. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. They asked if our own nation wasnt using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. 0000004855 00000 n
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. Delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Manhattan's Riverside Church, April 4, 1967 . King linked his anti-war and civil rights work in speeches throughout the country, where he described the three problems he saw plaguing the nation: racism, poverty, and the war in Vietnam. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence - American Rhetoric 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? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? 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. 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! On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. 16, 1967 in New York. 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. This speech is not addressed to Hanoi or to the National Liberation Front. But instead there came the United States, determined that Ho should not unify the temporarily divided nation, and the peasants watched again as we supported one of the most vicious modern dictators our chosen man, Premier Diem. Those pictures turned Dr. King's stomach. And so I think most Americans, Neal, know the "I Have A Dream" speech. When he saw those pictures, there's a very famous picture, Neal, that we all know of a Vietnamese girl running naked in the streets who had just been, you know, had been victimized as had her village by these napalm attacks. It was a tactical mistake. Others, including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, called it King's most important speech. 0000013408 00000 n
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And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nations history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. But they chose Riverside because King was going to be speaking some days later at a huge rally and march in New York City, and they knew that that rally was going to bring out a different kind of element, a more controversial element. MLK Opposed "Poverty, Racism & Militarism" in Speech One Year Before 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. But this is, again, precisely what King was concerned about, putting the lives of everyday Americans on the line in a fight that was not winnable and a war that was unjust. So he was no longer on that particular list. A few years ago there was a shining moment. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam on such grounds as these? 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. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. "It basically ruins their relationship," says Smiley. We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. Hundreds of folks listened outside on loudspeakers. So even McNamara eventually comes around to that point. The MLK Speech We Need Today Is Not the One We Remember Most 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. A complete unit of instruction - include ALL answer documents - comparing and contrasting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X's early lives & speeches.This unit of study, which can be taught as a complete unit, or separated into 13 distinct activities . Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination - HISTORY [28], A portion of this speech is used in the track "Wisdom, Justice, and Love" by Linkin Park, from their 2010 album A Thousand Suns. Martin Luther King: Beyond Vietnam and Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, 90th Cong., 2d sess., Congressional Record 114 (9 April 1968): 93919397. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. [6] At the urging of people such as SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, and inspired by the outspokenness of Muhammad Ali,[7] King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public. 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. Shall we say the odds are too great? Fifty-years ago in April 1967, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered one of his most memorable, if not controversial sermons, at Riverside Church just steps away from the Columbia University campus. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. hide caption. The Washington Post says he has done a discredit to himself, to his people, to his country. Mr. SMILEY: Neal, thank you for the opportunity. A few other Americans know, of course, the "Mountaintop" speech given the night before he's assassinated in Memphis. [11], King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham,[citation needed] union leaders and powerful publishers. 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.