martin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcriptmartin luther king jr vietnam war speech transcript

0000001427 00000 n Now there is little left to build onsave bitterness. 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. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. 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. BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress International News/Alerts/Announcements , Martin Luther King, Jr., delivering speech. These are the times for real choices and not false ones. Check your local listings. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" was a powerful and angry speech that raged against the war. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. 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. The New York Times calls it wasteful and self-defeating. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. We must move past indecision to action. Keep in mind now that 1967, Neal, as you know, is the same year that Muhammad Ali, the world champion, decides to not accept that draft to go and fight in Vietnam. Because, to your point now, one, I want people to go online and read the speech so you can see the text for yourself. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, April 15, 1967 Anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", List of lynching victims in the United States, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beyond_Vietnam:_A_Time_to_Break_Silence&oldid=1133369048, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 12:35. Moreover I would encourage all ministers of draft age to give up their ministerial exemptions and seek status as conscientious objectors. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one Vietcong-inflicted injury. A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. 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. That's what set so many of them off. 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! To me the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against the war. Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. 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. 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? 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. P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. HdTn0+=3hRnm)zK#-t\|Ha)S "[22] King to Weigh Civil Disobedience If War Intensifies, New York Times, 2 April 1967. Robert B. Semple, Jr., Dr. Let me say this right quick: The comparisons between what King was addressing then about militarism, poverty and racism sound familiar 45 years later. He criticized the Vietnam War and praised Muhammad Ali for being a conscientious objector. 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. We must stop now. 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. 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. The Riverside Church donated largely with Rockefeller money. CONAN: Well, take us back to 1967. [24], King's stance on Vietnam encouraged Allard K. Lowenstein, William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas, with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the 1968 United States presidential election. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. And about a month after that speech was given, I was wounded. For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives. CONAN: Indeed, it was Oslo. The United States got involved in the Vietnam War because they wanted to stop the spread of communism. [29], Excerpts from this speech are used in the songs "Together" and "Spirit" by Nordic Giants. Part of our ongoing commitment might well express itself in an offer to grant asylum to any Vietnamese who fears for his life under a new regime which included the Liberation Front. Somehow this madness must cease. He turned that into a great speech when he got out of the hospital. 0000013408 00000 n 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. 0000003503 00000 n 0000003415 00000 n 0000002025 00000 n 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. All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. There is.a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America. 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. Let's go to Walt(ph). Even before the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, they began to despair of the reckless action, but we did not. On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his first major public address on the war in Vietnam at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. 0000004834 00000 n Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter but beautifulstruggle for a new world. At what cost? Hb```f``; 6Pco;{Q. 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True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. "It basically ruins their relationship," says Smiley. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 0000002694 00000 n Mr. SMILEY: We - let me just tell you this. 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. 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. The film is the second episode of Tavis Smiley Reports. [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. Mr. TAVIS SMILEY (Host, "The Tavis Smiley Show"): Neal, always an honor to be on with you. And the last poll taken in his life by Harris, the Harris Poll, Neal, found that nearly three quarters of the American people, nearly three quarters, had turned against Martin on this issue, and 55 percent of his own people, black folk, had turned against him. We appreciate that. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts. 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. As the head of state, I cannot necessarily embrace the same principles that, as you point out, Martin Luther King, a prophet, an outsider could embrace. So all that we have is less than 10 minutes of video of the speech. 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. Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence . With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain.. And after I was wounded, we had four or five 100-pound bomb dropped on us, and 10 Marines were killed outright and 24 were wounded. Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva agreement. Well, it was taken in that context, anyway. American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King, Jr: A Time to Break Silence (Declaration Against the Vietnam War) M artin L uther K ing, J r. Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City [Photo Credit: John C. Goodwin] [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr ., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, delivers a speech entitled "Beyond Vietnam" in front of 3,000 people at Riverside Church in. Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence when it helps us to see the enemys point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. But most Americans, I think, do not know this speech, "Beyond Vietnam.". Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech opposing the Vietnam War in April 1967. 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. I say we must enter the struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. CONAN: We (unintelligible) to see it. And number two, at what cost? Dr. King is trying to get the point across that our country is being unfair to others. The initiative to stop it must be ours. In 1957 when a group of us formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, we chose as our motto: To save the soul of America. We were convinced that we could not limit our vision to certain rights for black people, but instead affirmed the conviction that America would never be free or saved from itself unless the descendants of its slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wear. 0000011068 00000 n 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 Martin Luther King, Jr., giving his speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence at Riverside Church in NYC, April 4, 1967. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. And so the question was, Martin, why would you antagonize the president who has been our friend? $25.00. Then we must make what reparations we can for the damage we have done. He did say he was going to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, so he's kept that promise. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. 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. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent. 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. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. Some, like civil rights leader Ralph Bunche, the NAACP, and the editorial page writers of The Washington Post[3] and The New York Times[4] called the Riverside Church speech a mistake on King's part. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. I guess the question now is whether or not Afghanistan is a war of necessity or a war of choice. That's at npr.org, click on TALK OF THE NATION. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. "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. 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. 0000012541 00000 n Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their governments policy, especially in time of war. Undeterred, King, Spock, and Harry Belafonte led 10,000 demonstrators on an anti-war march to the United Nations on 15 April 1967. This quote is from a sermon by Dr. King on April 30, 1967 at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, drawing from his infamous April 4 sermon at Riverside Church. In "People and Peace, not Profits and War," Shirley Chisholm repeats the words "two more years" (42). A few years ago there was a shining moment in that. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. I've always argue that Dr. King is the greatest American we've ever produced. We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. 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. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 speech in New York. At the time, civil rights leaders publicly condemned him for it. But the entire speech, of course, thankfully, was recorded on audio. 0000002964 00000 n Before he was assassinated at age 39, the Rev. We must not engage in a negative anti-communism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice. No, Howard, I thank you for your phone call. And I think most Americans know the "I Have A Dream" speech. Arent you hurting the cause of your people, they ask? [citation needed] Content [ edit] "[10], King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms. 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. This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Beyond Vietnam2 in that . So, that's all I had to say. Mr. SMILEY: That's right. Mr. SMILEY: Yeah. A Comparative Study of Martin Luther King Jr & Malcolm X. by. This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News in Washington. Beyond Vietnam: The MLK speech that caused an uproar. Fifty years ago in 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr.. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. 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? And we are spending money for a war abroad that ought to be spent for the war on poverty here at home. Mr. SMILEY: And therein lies the rub. King led his first anti-war march in Chicago on 25 March 1967, and reinforced the connection between war abroad and injustice at home: The bombs in Vietnam explode at homethey destroy the dream and possibility for a decent America (Dr. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, organized the 1963 March on Washington, advocated for civil disobedience and. For those who ask the question, Arent you a civil rights leader? and thereby mean to exclude me from the movement for peace, I have this further answer. During the last year of his life, King worked with Spock to develop Vietnam Summer, a volunteer project to increase grassroots peace activism in time for the 1968 elections. 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. 0000004621 00000 n Later that year King framed the issue of war in Vietnam as a moral issue: As a minister of the gospel, he said, I consider war an evil. "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee. 0000008347 00000 n It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poorboth black . If you remember the speech, tell us what it meant at that time, and does the principle of nonviolence apply in the age of al-Qaida? 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. King delivered the speech, sponsored by the group Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, after committing to participate in New York's April 15, 1967 anti-Vietnam war march from Central Park to the United Nations, sponsored by the Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam. 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. Take immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia by curtailing our military buildup in Thailand and our interference in Laos. 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. 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. 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. V)U5v\@apkk;#WF. Nearly five years after Kings assassination, American troops withdrew from Vietnam and a peace treaty declared South and North Vietnam independent of each other. Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. And I can't tell young black men, who are being denied right here in the streets of America, that they should offer themselves up and to sign themselves up to go - to do harm to people around the world who they do not know.

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