They were led by Ho Chi Minh. 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.. The peasants watched and cringed as Diem ruthlessly rooted out all opposition, supported their extortionist landlords, and refused even to discuss reunification with the North. During this time period there was a lot of controversy surrounding the war. Or will there be another message of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? In April 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an eloquent and stirring denunciation of the Vietnam War and US militarism. Now let us begin. The belief of the clergy took the theme of silence is betrayal. Could it be that they do not know that the good news was meant for all men for Communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative? For 7 reasons: 1. 3 Pages. This is a case of getting out of a certain frame of mind, of a way of thinking about ourselves and about the world.. Beyond Vietnam (or Time to End the Silence) . In addition to Martin Luther King, Jr., the church has hosted many prominent speakers, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was executed in 1945 at a German concentration camp; Cesar Chavez, the Mexican-American civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association; and Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and former president of South Africa. $2.00. Could we blame them for such thoughts? In that address, he articulated his reasons for his opposition to the Southeast Asian conflict. America will be! The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood it ebbs. Martin Luther King - Beyond Vietnam - 1967 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Volume 90% 00:00 51:49 Martin Luther King - Beyond Vietnam - 1967 Topics Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam, war, social justice, peace * Reverend Martin Luther King * Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence * April 4, 1967 * In the strife of truth and Falsehood, for the good or evil side; The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. Since I am a preacher by calling, I suppose it is not surprising that I have seven major reasons for bringing Vietnam into the field of my moral vision. endobj As Arnold Toynbee says: Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. I say it plain, On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on lifes roadside, but that will be only an initial act. My third reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness, for it grows out of my experience in the ghettoes of the North over the last three years especially the last three summers. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. "I think there . Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. I heard him speak so many times. We must not engage in a negative anticommunism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice. Now they languish under our bombs and consider us, not their fellow Vietnamese, the real enemy. King holds the U.S. government and the American people responsible for the Vietnam . 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. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The speech was drafted from a collection of volunteers, including Spelman professor Vincent Harding and Wesleyan professor John Maguire. #7 Infrastructure Development. Get a roundup of broadcast and digital premieres, special offers, and events with our weekly newsletter. As that noble bard of yesterday, James Russell Lowell, eloquently stated: Once to every man and nation comes a moment to decide, 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. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. 4. give the NLF a say in negotiations. Surely we must understand their feelings, even if we do not condone their actions. At the time, civil rights leaders publicly condemned him for it. It was titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." King criticized the war in Vietnam, calling on those of draft age to seek status as conscientious objectors and saying, "we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war." << /Pages 117 0 R /Type /Catalog >> endstream 1. stop all bombing in Vietnam. 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. All the while the people read our leaflets and received the regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts. The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. These are the times for real choices and not false ones. If Americas soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read: Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. 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. xcbd`g`b``8 "Y& D2 IF>E0y6DrLb`] R3XM-c |)f&!ME After more than a decade in the public eye fighting racism and inequality in America, King plunged himself into another searing, divisive issue in America with his speech, Beyond Vietnam: A. The pro-social justice and anti-war speech were delivered to state MLK's opposition . Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. Did you find this entry while surfing the web? It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. What must they think of the United States of 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? On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., an enormously influential civil rights activist, conveys his indignant and hopeful thoughts regarding the Vietnam War, in his speech "Beyond Vietnam," by utilizing biblical allusion, anaphora, and use of diction. When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. 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 1954; and I cannot forget that the Nobel Peace Prize 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. King, Interview on Face the Nation, 29 August 1965, RRML-TxTyU. Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs. Ho Chi Minh has watched as America has spoken of peace and built up its forces, and now he has surely heard the increasing international rumors of American plans for an invasion of the North. Therefore, communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions that we initiated. One of Martin Luther King Jr.'s lesser known yet equally impactful speeches, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence," condemns the violence and atrocities committed by the U.S against the Vietnamese in their foolish bid to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. I come to this platform tonight to make a passionate plea to my beloved nation. Delivered in New York at the height of the Vietnam War in 1967, "Beyond Vietnam" is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s powerful call to America to end the Vietnam War, as well as to change the. 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. To Build a Mature Society: The Lasting Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" Speech By Kristopher Burrell At Riverside Church in Harlem on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a blistering and sophisticated critique of U. S. intervention in Vietnam. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. 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. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" was a powerful and angry speech that raged against the war. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. Omar Khayyam is right: The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on.. We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. Tonight, however, I wish not to speak with Hanoi and the National Liberation Front, but rather to my fellow Americans. A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Please c, ontact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. at. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men. Follow along with the transcript, below. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam. To King, however, the Vietnam War was only the most pressing symptom of American colonialism worldwide. A year to the day before his assassination, Martin Luther King publicly and decisively denounced not only the US war in Vietnam but the militarism that enabled the war and undermined American society. Two, Three.Many Vietnam's: A Radical Reader on the Wars in Southeast Asia and the Conflicts at Home. Vietnam spending eviscerated of the Poverty Program 2. 609 Words. 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. 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 in Vietnam and to understand the arguments of those who are called enemy, I am as deeply concerned about our own troops there as anything else. The AMERICAN War had come to define AMERICA in the second half of the 20th century. We must speak for them and raise the questions they cannot raise. How do they judge us when our officials know that their membership is less than twenty-five percent communist, and yet insist on giving them the blanket name? The essence of the speech focused on the war in Vietnam. Part of our ongoing 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. But the day has passed for superficial patriotism. 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 until the descendants of its slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wear. In April 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an eloquent and stirring denunciation of the Vietnam war and US militarism. endobj . When Diem was overthrown they may have been happy, but the long line of military dictators seemed to offer no real change, especially in terms of their need for land and peace. They wander into the hospitals with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one Vietcong-inflicted injury. They ask if our own nation wasnt using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. Perhaps a more difficult but no less necessary task is to speak for those who have been designated as our enemies. What of the National Liberation Front, that strangely anonymous group we call VC or communists? They know they must move on or be destroyed by our bombs. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.. Martin Luther King Beyond Vietnam. All Rights Reserved. After the French were defeated, it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva Agreement. %# , #&')*)-0-(0%()( C Some great cause, Gods new Messiah offering each the bloom or blight, Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of April 4, 1967, now known as the "Beyond Vietnam" speech are such words. Exactly a year later, King was assassinated. Let us not join those who shout war and, through their misguided passions, urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations. Martin Luther King had spoken critically about the Vietnam War before, but it was his blistering Beyond Vietnam speech at an event sponsored by Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam that gained wide attention. 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. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. << /BitsPerComponent 8 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /ColorTransform 0 /Filter /DCTDecode /Height 609 /Subtype /Image /Type /XObject /Width 1600 /Length 68988 >> They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. Dr. King's purpose is to make the church leaders he is speaking to aware that Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.. MLK's Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. They remind us that they did not begin to send troops in large numbers and even supplies into the South until American forces had moved into the tens of thousands. Dr. What must they be thinking when they know that we are aware of their control of major sections of Vietnam, and yet we appear ready to allow national elections in which this highly organized political parallel government will not have a part? This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: Let us love one another, for love is God. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor both black and white through the poverty program. King,Beyond Vietnam,4 April 1967, NNRC. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative method of protest possible. 3. stop the creation of battlefield in Laos and Thailand. In the North, where our bombs now pummel the land, and our mines endanger the waterways, we are met by a deep but understandable mistrust. King views the Vietnam war as only a symptom of a disease that is affecting America and the American spirit. 55 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /L 585080 /H [ 1225 310 ] /O 55 /E 123247 /N 10 /T 584505 >> Dr. King's purpose is to make the church leaders he is speaking to aware that Equally unclear is why Vietnam decided to begin accepting deportees who arrived in the United States prior to 1995. 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. Shall we say the odds are too great? A year to the day before his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Martin Luther King Jr. was in New York City, at the Riverside Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side, talking about Vietnam. 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 Im speaking against the war. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent? Peace and civil rights dont mix, they say. 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? In the air, America reached new heights with NASA's Apollo 8 orbiting the moon and Boeing's 747 jumbo jet's first flight. What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? !S4@'rS[c5TcZ,Ay -\t[ mMIf$s958! aoOyeV_5i#>Z:ShY| x_5i,e*q}iaI$r99SE^gBvDO9 U{-gp=95TF*v*:[lrS;Gqk$>T.mO-+[hGoW sTr".[Z>?n{ 6(|oZQ{=+KND|=OU,QW_#n^iya46/u2H-j= In the 1967 speech, "Beyond Vietnam", the author, activist Martin Luther King jr, states reasons why America needs to end their involvement in the Vietnam War. In that address he articulated his reasons for his opposition to the Southeast Asian conflict. << /Contents 62 0 R /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /Parent 115 0 R /Resources << /ExtGState << /G3 75 0 R >> /Font << /F4 76 0 R /F5 77 0 R /F6 78 0 R /F7 79 0 R /F9 80 0 R >> /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI ] /XObject << /X10 57 0 R /X12 59 0 R /X14 61 0 R /X8 56 0 R >> >> /StructParents 0 /Type /Page >> In the speech at Riverside Church, King talked about how the US had supported France in trying to re-colonize . 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. They see the children degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food. It is not addressed to China or to Russia. As we counsel young men concerning military service, we must clarify for them our nations role in Vietnam and challenge them with the alternative of conscientious objection. endobj MLK: Beyond Vietnam to Ukraine. A Speech That Took a Stand But arguably "Beyond Vietnam" was the most famous, and widely denounced, since it came before the Tet Offensive and the massacre at My Lai which turned public opinion in the U.S. broadly against the war. It is a sad fact that because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch antirevolutionaries. According to a recent report by Transparency International, Vietnam's corruption levels significantly decreased in 2021, down to 87th most corrupt from 104th in 2020. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers. The most serious trouble in recent decades has flared between Vietnam and China, and there have also been stand-offs between the Philippines and China. King, Statement on voter registration in Alabama, 9 March 1965, MLKJP-GAMK. On 4 April 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his seminal speech at Riverside Church condemning the Vietnam War. Dr. Martin Luther King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech and analyze his opposition to the war and his commitment to fighting for justice for the poor and marginalized. What then can I say to the Vietcong or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister of this One? The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. The neo-gothic Riverside Church in New York City has a long history of progressive leaders and activism, dating back to its opening in October, 1930. Introduction Martin Luther King, Jr in his speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" argued that US foreign policy was hypocritical when compared to the inequality present in the United States. 9 min read. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. Soldier of the 25th Infantry Division, c., 1969. Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? The speech titled "Beyond Vietnam" is relevant to today's war in Ukraine. Recently one of them wrote these words, and I quote: Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. 54 0 obj We have destroyed their land and their crops. I still think this is probably the best., It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor both black and white through the poverty program. Martin Luther King, Jr., giving his speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence at Riverside Church in NYC, April 4, 1967. 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. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond ones tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. He spoke at Riverside Church in New York City, a venue that had a history of hosting progressive speakers and thinkers. At the time, it was most frequently used to describe public scepticism about the Lyndon B. Johnson administration's statements and policies on the Vietnam War. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Cambodia and why American napalm and Green Beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru. 2. create an unilateral cease fire leading to peace talks. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? 56 0 obj Kings Error,New York Times, 7 April 1967. 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. I think of them, too, because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. 52 0 obj Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing 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. Answer (1 of 9): There is little evidence that the US sent troops to Vietnam for economic considerations. ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( a@" c Credibility gap is a term that came into wide use with journalism, political and public discourse in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. The United States got involved in the Vietnam War because they wanted to stop the spread of communism. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. Five: Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva Agreement. 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 hundred rather, eight thousand miles away from its shores. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word (unquote). I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor., 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. The U.S. became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam and those who wanted peace. P. 206-215. 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. 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. For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of Vietnam the right of independence. While they both may have justifiable reasons 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. Why did Rev. endobj King, " Beyond Vietnam, " 4 April 1967, NNRC. Communism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons. Now there is little left to build on, save bitterness. Regarding choosing Beyond Vietnam for the title when the country was deep in the middle of the war, Harding recalled in an interview with Tavis Smiley, this is more than a simple case of getting out of Vietnam. Three: Take immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia by curtailing our military buildup in Thailand and our interference in Laos. Neither is it an attempt to make North Vietnam or the National Liberation Front paragons of virtue, nor to overlook the role they must play in the successful resolution of the problem. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. We must provide the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available in this country, if necessary. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent. Fall of Saigon during Vietnam War. We must continue to raise our voices and our lives if our nation persists in its perverse ways in Vietnam. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would never live on the same block in Detroit. 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.
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