Exactly a year later, King was assassinated. 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. 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? I would like to suggest five concrete things that our government should do [immediately] to begin the long and difficult process of extricating ourselves from this nightmarish conflict: Number one: End all bombing in North and South Vietnam. They ask if our own nation wasnt using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Beyond Vietnam Ethos Pathos Logos. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Fifty years ago in 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech that startled even many of his supporters in the Civil Rights Movement. He stated . endobj 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. King's famous speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A time to break the silence," deserves study by antiwar activists and others seeking a better understanding of the battle for economic justice, racial equality and freedom at home and abroad. 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. And finally, as I try to explain 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. Soldier of the 25th Infantry Division, c., 1969. Violence of the US government - How can we criticize violence abroad when our own His speech appears below. A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. 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. Two, Three.Many Vietnam's: A Radical Reader on the Wars in Southeast Asia and the Conflicts at Home. Five years ago he said, Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. 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 investments. Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. So, too, with Hanoi. King holds the U.S. government and the American people responsible for the Vietnam . We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. "I think there . 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. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. both may have justifiable reason 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. Now let us begin. Follow along with the transcript, below. 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. 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. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. "Beyond Vietnam", Silence is Betrayal: Martin Luther King's Historic 1967 Speech Introduction by Michel Chossudovsky. 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. #3 Government Support. Dr. King's purpose is to make the church leaders he is speaking to aware that King told reporters on Face the Nation that as a minister he hada prophetic functionand asone greatly concerned about the need for peace in our world and the survival of mankind, I must continue to take a stand on this issue(King, 29 August 1965). Martin Luther King Beyond Vietnam. 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. In the speech at Riverside Church, King talked about how the US had supported France in trying to re-colonize . What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? King enumerated seven major reasons to bring the war to an end based on moral vision. Somehow this madness must cease. Mandy Jackson A Time to Break Silence On April 4,1967, in Riverside Church, New York City Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers a speech called Beyond Vietnam He initiates, "War is not the answer. On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a speech named, "Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence" addressing the Vietnam War. Even before the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, they began to despair of their reckless action, but we did not. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. Vietnam's universal health coverage index is at 73higher than regional and global averageswith 87 percent of the population covered. 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. 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? To change course, King suggested a five point outline for stopping the war, which included a call for a unilateral ceasefire. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. 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. 3. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. And 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. I also want to say that I consider it a great honor to share this program with Dr. Bennett, Dr. Commager, and Rabbi Heschel, and some of the distinguished leaders and personalities of our nation. We have cooperated in the crushing in the crushing of the nations only non-Communist revolutionary political force, the unified Buddhist Church. And of course its always good to come back to Riverside church. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. In the air, America reached new heights with NASA's Apollo 8 orbiting the moon and Boeing's 747 jumbo jet's first flight. MLK: Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change 251K views 7 years ago William Pepper - The Execution of Martin Luther King. The speech titled "Beyond Vietnam" is relevant to today's war in Ukraine. endobj 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. 3. stop the creation of battlefield in Laos and Thailand. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. 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. However, all was not well on the ground: the country lost a Navy intelligence ship (USS Pueblo) and two Kings Error,New York Times, 7 April 1967. 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. 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. 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. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. Communism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons. Senator Barry Goldwater (AZ), the Republican Party presidential nominee in 1964, said the speech could border a bit on treason., Civil Rights activist and U.S. Representative John Lewis (GA), who was among the 3,800 in the audience when King gave the speech, told the New Yorker Magazine in 2017 that the speech was a speech for all humanityfor the world community. If we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream., 2023 WNET. I say we must enter that struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. In this speech he use Logos and Pathos. 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. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues 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. 52 0 obj This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against communism. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence " Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence ", also referred as the Riverside Church speech, [1] is an anti-Vietnam War and pro- social justice speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was assassinated. Here's the essay I wrote in the video: In the speech "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence," Dr. Rev. Both the Washington Post and New York Times published editorials criticizing the speech, with the Post noting that Kings speech haddiminished his usefulness to his cause, to his country, and to his peoplethrough a simplistic and flawed view of the situation (A Tragedy,6 April 1967). 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. King, Transformed Nonconformist, Sermon Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 16 January 1966, CSKC. This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Photo: Ad Meskens. Being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Vietnam becomes a strategic place for many foreign entrepreneurs to invest. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. 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. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering realityand if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing clergy and laymen concerned committees for the next generation. 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. Their questions are frighteningly relevant. << /BitsPerComponent 8 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /ColorTransform 0 /Filter /DCTDecode /Height 609 /Subtype /Image /Type /XObject /Width 1600 /Length 68988 >> #7 Infrastructure Development. MLK: Beyond Vietnam to Ukraine. << /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 international conflicts, the truth is hard to come by because most nations are deceived about themselves. English "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence", also referred as Riverside Church speech, is an anti-Vietnam war and pro- social justice speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1967. 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. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. In April 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an eloquent and stirring denunciation of the Vietnam war and US militarism. Get a roundup of broadcast and digital premieres, special offers, and events with our weekly newsletter. 55 0 obj 9 min read. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. King, Statement on voter registration in Alabama, 9 March 1965, MLKJP-GAMK. by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. w . Decent Essays. 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. 2. create an unilateral cease fire leading to peace talks. They wander into the hospitals with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one Vietcong-inflicted injury. In that address, he articulated his reasons for his opposition to the Southeast Asian conflict. It is not addressed to China or to Russia. They will be concerned about Guatemala Guatemala and Peru. It decided to send money, supplies, and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese g. << /Pages 117 0 R /Type /Catalog >> In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. . 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, WNET is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Freedom is still the bonus we receive for knowing the truth. King followed with an historical sketch outlining Vietnams devastation at the hands ofdeadly Western arrogance,noting,we are on the side of the wealthy, and the secure, while we create a hell for the poor(King,Beyond Vietnam,146; 153). Could we blame them for such thoughts? The U.S. became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam and those who wanted peace. King views the Vietnam war as only a symptom of a disease that is affecting America and the American spirit. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. 4. give the NLF a say in negotiations. 7 reason to bring into his "moral vision". Viet Thanh Nguyen on Dr. King's 1967 speech 'Beyond Vietnam' King spoke that afternoon about Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. The immediate response to Kings speech was largely negative. dVb+==*7O5yM^sN/3 ? If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. Shall we say the odds are too great? Good or bad, the US was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. By that time the communists and South Vietnamese were already engaged in what journalists labeled the "postwar war.". In 1967, however, Beyond Vietnam ignited an uproar. These words, spoken exactly one year to the day before his assassination . The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. 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. 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 Time to Break Silence, given at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967. In its April 7 editorial "Dr. King's Error," The New York Times lambasted King for fusing two problems that are "distinct and separate.". % Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today my own government. The Los Angeles speech, calledThe Casualties of the War in Vietnam,stressed the history of the conflict and argued that American power should beharnessed to the service of peace and human beings, not an inhumane power [unleashed] against defenseless people(King, 25 February 1967). On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on lifes roadside, but that will be only an initial act. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. Recent flashpoints. In the end, Vietnamese communism stopped short of exporting revolution beyond Indochina because its radical character had created enemies . Fall of Saigon during Vietnam War. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. In the mid-1950s, King led the movement to end segregation and counter prejudice in the . #2 Young, Skilled Population. Life expectancy rose from 70.5 to 75.5 years between 1990 and 2020. Martin Luther King, Jr. makes a compelling case for the proposition that the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War is unjust using ethos (facts and commonly accepted values or ethics), pathos (appeals to emotion through powerful descriptive language), and . King, Statement on voter registration in Alabama, 9 March 1965, MLKJP-GAMK. On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King delivered his first major public statement against the Vietnam War, entitled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence." Addressing a crowd of 3,000 at Riverside Church in New York City, King condemned the war as anti-democratic, impractical, and unjust. 3. What of the National Liberation Front, that strangely anonymous group we call VC or communists? They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live.