Somehow this madness must cease. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. 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. Then we must make what reparations we can for the damage we have done. P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. JFIF C Five: Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva Agreement. 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. 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. And so we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would hardly live on the same block in Chicago. 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. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. or 404 526-8968. King had stepped up his anti-war proclamations on February 25, 1967, when he appeared at a convention in Beverly Hills, California. King's Beyond Vietnam sermon, delivered on April 4, 1967, at New York's Riverside Church . Freedom's Ring: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views. 7 reason to bring into his "moral vision". Soon, the only solid solid physical foundations remaining will be found at our military bases and in the concrete of the concentration camps we call fortified hamlets. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam on such grounds as these. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence argues his stance against the government and their decisions on war. To speak for them is to explain this lack of confidence in Western words, and especially their distrust of American intentions now. 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. << /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 >> 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, WNET is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 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. Published January 12, 2023. 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. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. If it is, let us trace its movements 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. 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? Though her portions be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom, and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism (unquote). xcbd`g`b``8 "Y& D2 IF>E0y6DrLb`] R3XM-c |)f&!ME 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. 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. Did you find this entry while surfing the web? Martin Luther King April 4, 1967 Riverside Church, New York City 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. King holds the U.S. government and the American people responsible for the Vietnam . Tax ID: 26-2810489. Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? 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. He spoke at Riverside Church in New York City, a venue that had a history of hosting progressive speakers and thinkers. 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. The Washington Post criticized his "sheer inventions of unsupported fantasy" and lamented how "many who have listened to him with respect will never again accord him the same confidence . Open Document. KW;UmBkT/k_rvtg+W`Y?eeu,+I$ZkZu?I'}[fXj7vHovEwU=h.87
<3nmVG"5tU]~7M.^5CCJz4 I,lU-}*WI:quZFv%[-p+jbn ST4PS&5DF4Oxy;g '2v!l37GGDv.JKm{e.m+(k/p@ The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. Despite public criticism, King continued to attack the Vietnam War on both moral and economic grounds. 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 South 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. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam. 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. Martin Luther King Jr. gave many speeches in his lifetime. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. $2.00. Martin Luther King uses persuasive argument in his speeches. We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will. They wander into the hospitals with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one Vietcong-inflicted injury. When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. In Hanoi are the men who led the nation to independence against the Japanese and the French, the men who sought membership in the French Commonwealth and were betrayed by the weakness of Paris and the willfulness of the colonial armies. Soon we would be paying almost the full costs of this tragic attempt at recolonization. The actual speech begins at 1:41 in the recording. 4. give the NLF a say in negotiations. Members get extended access to PBS video on demand and more. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. In this speech he use Logos and Pathos. PBS talk show host Tavis. In its April 7 editorial "Dr. King's Error," The New York Times lambasted King for fusing two problems that are "distinct and separate.". #6 Low Expenses. 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. 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 speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. 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. 1. stop all bombing in Vietnam. % He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. by Rick Sterling January 16, 2023. 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). 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. 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). I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. This has driven many to feel that only Marxism has a revolutionary spirit. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. In the light of such tragic misunderstanding, I deem it of signal importance to try to state clearly, and I trust concisely, why I believe that the path from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church the church in Montgomery, Alabama, where I began my pastorate leads clearly to this sanctuary tonight. What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our many words concerning land reform? 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. stream A Tragedy,Washington Post, 6 April 1967. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 speech "Beyond Vietnam" is incredibly insightful regarding how it speaks to issues we face today. I speak now not of the soldiers of each side, not of the ideologies of the Liberation Front, 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. 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. 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? We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. They ask if our own nation wasnt using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. endstream This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. Answer (1 of 9): There is little evidence that the US sent troops to Vietnam for economic considerations. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence was actually a collaborative work largely written by a close associate and friend of Martin Luther King, Jr. - Vincent Harding. The essence of the speech focused on the war in Vietnam. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence Rev. They ask how we can speak of free elections when the Saigon press is censored and controlled by the military junta. And the choice goes by forever twixt that darkness and that light. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. 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. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. against the "triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism." Audio. By that time the communists and South Vietnamese were already engaged in what journalists labeled the "postwar war.". Surely we must understand their feelings, even if we do not condone their actions. Watch the Public Broadcasting Laboratory documentary Free at Last: Martin Luther King Jr. (streaming on THIRTEEN Specials), which was being filmed when Dr. King was assassinated and premiered on THIRTEEN just three days after his death. 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. This February, the Humanities curriculum for Grade 7 is focused on the Vietnam War. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. Hear the entire recording of Martin Luther King, Jr.s Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence speech, including introductory applause and a greeting King makes to his fellow clergy speakers. Two, Three.Many Vietnam's: A Radical Reader on the Wars in Southeast Asia and the Conflicts at Home. In Dr. Martin Luther King's speech "Beyond VietnamA Time to Break Silence" (1967), Dr. King asserts that the war in Vietnam is totally immoral and has far reaching negative implications not only for Vietnam, but for The United States and the rest of the World as well. 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). They were led by Ho Chi Minh. Could we blame them for such thoughts? They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. 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. Number two: Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation. 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. Why did Rev. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship and brotherhood, and because I believe that the Father is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless and outcast children, I come tonight to speak for them. Christina Knight is Managing Editor of Institutional Marketing at The WNET Group. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of concerned clergy and laity at Riverside Church in New York City, New York. The speech titled "Beyond Vietnam" is relevant to today's war in Ukraine. King,Beyond Vietnam,4 April 1967, NNRC. They must see Americans as strange liberators. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of April 4, 1967, now known as the "Beyond Vietnam" speech are such words. Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs. 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. King,The Casualties of the War in Vietnam,25 February 1967, CLPAC. << /Filter /FlateDecode /S 163 /Length 230 >> Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. We must move past indecision to action. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. Dr. In April 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an eloquent and stirring denunciation of the Vietnam War and US militarism. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor both black and white through the poverty program. 'I Have a Dream'. Good or bad, the US was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. 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. Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. I say it plain, 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 continue to raise our voices and our lives if our nation persists in its perverse ways in Vietnam. He drafted several speeches for King over the years and eventually became the first director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center. Here's the essay I wrote in the video: In the speech "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence," Dr. Rev. Declaringmy conscience leaves me no other choice,King described the wars deleterious effects on both Americas poor and Vietnamese peasants and insisted that it was morally imperative for the United States to take radical steps to halt the war through nonviolent means (King, Beyond Vietnam, 139). Vietnam's Amended Constitution 1992 recognized the role of private sector in the economy. 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 Agreement concerning foreign troops. 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 * I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here tonight, and how very delighted I am to see you expressing your concern about the issues that will be discussed tonight by turning out in such large numbers. 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.