In 1957 a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. It was the speech he labored over the most. Delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Manhattan's Riverside Church, April 4, 1967 . This is Howard, which you know me. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. "[10], King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms. [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. 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. Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva agreement. That's what set so many of them off. CONAN: We're talking with Tavis Smiley about his PBS special, "Tavis Smiley Reports MLK: A Call to Conscience." 0000005696 00000 n The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. We in the West must support these revolutions. Fifty years ago in 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr.. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" was a powerful and angry speech that raged against the war. Carson and Shepard, 2001. n/a martin luther king jr. (born michael king january 15, 1929 april 1968) was an american baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in . 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. Mr. SMILEY: Indeed, he did. complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children. On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a speech named, "Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence" addressing the Vietnam War. 0000030467 00000 n They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers. The speech and its echoes for Afghanistan and Iraq are the subject of "Tavis Smiley Reports MLK: A Call to Conscience.". He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. But two, to the audio, there are only less than 10 minutes of this speech that got covered. They question our political goals and they deny the reality of a peace settlement from which they will be excluded. In his 1967 speech on the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King, Jr. employs figurative language and syntactical elements to construct his argument against the hypocrisy and cruelty of American involvement in the war. "It basically ruins their relationship," says Smiley. 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. 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. 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. 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." (2)] 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! Therefore, communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions we initiated. 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. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. 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 . Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poorboth black . Exactly one year before his assassination, on April 4, 1967, Rev. There are people who have come to see the moral imperative of equality, but who cannot yet see the moral imperative of world brotherhood. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. Mr. SMILEY: We - let me just tell you this. 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. No, Howard, I thank you for your phone call. Martin Luther King's Most Controversial Speech: Beyond Vietnam - THIRTEEN He was stabbed at one time. Email us: talk@npr.org. The United States got involved in the Vietnam War because they wanted to stop the spread of communism. I feel that Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali are two of the, you know, greatest Americans we've ever had. Undeterred, King, Spock, and Harry Belafonte led 10,000 demonstrators on an anti-war march to the United Nations on 15 April 1967. [citation needed]. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. There were a lot of people inside. Martin Luther King Jr. - Acceptance Speech - NobelPrize.org And that's the issue that King was raising. 0000002784 00000 n When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor. Those pictures turned Dr. King's stomach. 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. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. So all that we have is less than 10 minutes of video of the speech. 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? 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. So they go primarily women and children and the aged. 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. Hundreds of folks listened outside on loudspeakers. *];\n~~/iQ|h Q We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world a world that borders on our doors. (1997). King to Weigh Civil Disobedience If War Intensifies, New York Times, 2 April 1967. 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. King Scores Poverty Budget, New York Times, 16 December 1966. Howard's calling us from South Bend. After he gives it, 168 major newspapers the next day denounce him. King Leads Chicago). Dr. We appreciate that. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation. All Rights Reserved. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible. Beyond Vietnam2 in that . 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. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which now has justified the presence of U.S. military advisors in Venezuela. That night Dr. King shocked the world and his followers when . CONAN: Walt, thank you. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter but beautifulstruggle for a new world. They asked if our own nation wasnt using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. "[9], King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history. 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. Take immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia by curtailing our military buildup in Thailand and our interference in Laos. For as popular as King was, he was a Nobel laureate, there were only one or two news crews who actually came to see the speech that night, Neal. Dr. King And Malcolm X Teaching Resources | TPT He passed the Voting Rights Act. I just wanted to say that I was an 18-year-old Marine in Vietnam when the speech was given, and I didn't hear it until three or four years ago. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. And that's just the Times and the Post. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. ml.K-x1x*tcSO p[ endstream endobj 62 0 obj 720 endobj 63 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 62 0 R >> stream Martin Luther King, who was already beginning to lose some of his influence, nevertheless made a huge challenge to the establishment. Challenges of the final years of Martin Luther King, Jr. 0000004621 00000 n Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts. He passed the Civil Rights Act. Afghanistan, not so much. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. Well, it was taken in that context, anyway. And we are spending money for a war abroad that ought to be spent for the war on poverty here at home. 0000002025 00000 n For it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. 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 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. And Tavis, nice to have you back in the program. 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. 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. 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]. But Carson makes a powerful point in the special that you just identified, about whether or not Martin King himself would be welcome in some of these mega-churches, at certain political gatherings. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. 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 . 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. The speech primarily concerns the Memphis sanitation strike.King calls for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent protest, while challenging the United States to live . The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. Of course, again, that philosophy, when the papers got a hold of him the next day, that strategy didn't work so well. And there was a 18-year-old black Marine that picked me up since I couldn't walk, got me away from bombs and saved my life. 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. Dr. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. 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. Of course, he's assassinated in Memphis a year to the day later after giving this speech. And it was on that occasion that he - when he saw those pictures, said, I have to speak out about this. Ho Chi Minh has watched as America has spoken of peace and built up its forces, and now he has surely heard of the increasing international rumors of American plans for an invasion of the north. Ken Rudin joins guest host Rebecca Roberts. Martin Luther King Jr. - Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam The True Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Free Press. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. These are revolutionary times. 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. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Tonight, however, I wish not to speak with Hanoi and the NLF, but rather to my fellow Americans, who, with me, bear the greatest responsibility in ending a conflict that has exacted a heavy price on both continents. But certainly one of the greatest orators of our time. So when the president suggests - and whether directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally diminishes in that Nobel speech Martin's powerful, nonviolent philosophy, it tweaked some people, and you'll see that in the presentation Wednesday night. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. 16, 1967 in New York. I want to thank you, as I know listeners do as well, for your service to this country. (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. Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. 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). Soon we would be paying almost the full costs of this tragic attempt at recolonization. And when you see the piece on "Lens" tonight that's the part of the speech that set off so many of those who are in King's inner circle, so many scholars who have written about King. 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. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. Others, including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, called it King's most important speech. Finally, as I try to delineate for you and for myself the road that leads from Montgomery to this place I would have offered all that was most valid if I simply said that I must be true to my conviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the living God. What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? 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. Where are the roots of the independent Vietnam we claim to be building? President Obama, this is one campaign promise that he has kept. That's my own personal assessment. Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony. Appreciate it. Excuse me. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) 0000002247 00000 n If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. I Have a Dream | Date, Quotations, & Facts | Britannica But the entire speech, of course, thankfully, was recorded on audio. You can also join the conversation at our Web site. 0000005717 00000 n 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. MLK Opposed "Poverty, Racism & Militarism" in Speech One Year Before U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act, King: A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis, The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World; Nicolas Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King. And thirdly, I think the main point here in this MLK "Beyond Vietnam" speech is that there is another way. It's a powerful refrain, Neal, about what would've happened in his life, what he would've missed if he had sneezed at that very moment. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us. "[24] King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution. While King was personally opposed to the war, he was concerned that publicly criticizing U.S. foreign policy would damage his relationship with President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had been instrumental in passing civil rights legislation and who had declared in April 1965 that he was willing to negotiate a diplomatic end to the war in Vietnam. Read The Full Text And Listen To Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" Speech. 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? hide caption. (1967) Martin Luther King, Jr., "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" 800-989-8255. Grossfield, Stan. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. But anyway, where he says, I am mindful of those who spoke at this podium, this spot before me, including Martin Luther King and that I stand on his shoulders as a champion of civil rights. Full text of speech. King, Beyond Vietnam, in A Call to Conscience, ed. I say we must enter the struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. 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. PDF. Martin Luther King's Speech Against the Vietnam War 0000008347 00000 n You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. [18] He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. CONAN: We (unintelligible) to see it. Now there is little left to build onsave bitterness. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. We most provide the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available in this country if necessary. But I'm hoping that people will get a chance, once they see the speech, they'll be moved to go read the speech and to make comparisons, Neal. I've always argue that Dr. King is the greatest American we've ever produced. Let me say this right quick: The comparisons between what King was addressing then about militarism, poverty and racism sound familiar 45 years later. Martin Luther King Jr. announced his strong opposition to the war in Vietnam, the media attacked him for straying outside of his civil rights mandate. All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. So 60 year(ph) is really, really a hot year here around this particular issue. 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. That's what I feel. 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. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men. "[14][15], The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. Martin Luther King, Jr., giving his speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence at Riverside Church in NYC, April 4, 1967. They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. The march was organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. "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. "[14] Such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God. 1967 speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr.