The observation of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday has not been accompanied by a broad understanding of King's thought. Each year, we are reminded that Dr. King "had a dream" for racial equality, but rarely do we hear his opinions about the Vietnam War or economic disparities in the wealthiest nation in human history.
On April 4, 1967, exactly a year before his assassination, King gave a speech "A Time to Break Silence: Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam" at Riverside Church in New York City. This speech was attacked by media institutions such as Time and the Washington Post for his critique of the war, including the observation that "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government."
"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. We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. 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…. 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 still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation." For the full text, see: www.mlkonline.com/vietnam Here are selections from several other relevant speeches by Dr. King
"The Drum Major Instinct" February 4, 1968, Ebenezer Baptist Church: "I love this country too much to see the drift that it has taken. ... God didn't call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war, [such] as the war in Vietnam. And we are criminals in that war. We have committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world, and I'm going to continue to say it. And we won't stop it because of our pride, and our arrogance as a nation."
"Where do we go from here?" King's last, and most radical Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) presidential address: "And one day we must ask the question, 'Why are there forty million poor people in America?' And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. ... You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the iron ore?' You begin to ask the question, 'Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water?' ... Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problems of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together."
The Casualties of the War in Vietnam, 25 February 1967: "An ugly repressive sentiment to silence peace-seekers depicts ... persons who call for a cessation of bombings in the north as quasi-traitors, fools or venal enemies of our soldiers and institutions. Free speech and the privilege of dissent and discussion are rights being shot down by bombers in Viet Nam. When those who stand for peace are so vilified it is time to consider where we are going and whether free speech has not become one of the major casualties of the war."
Common Dreams news service recently stated that "If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were alive today, he might well be leading acts of civil disobedience against the war in Afghanistan. And he would probably be charged with domestic terrorism, under the new anti-terrorism act. Anyone who has any links to his organization, or contributed money to it, could be charged too." -- "Martin Luther King: A Domestic Terrorist?" by Ira Chernus www.commondreams.org/views01/103008.htm
Many of King's speeches can be found in the collection A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., James. M. Washington, ed., Harper Collins, 1986, and at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project, www.stanford.edu/group/King/home.htm They are indispensible guides for understanding the evolution of Dr. King's ideas. King's murder destroyed many hopes for positive transformation of our society.
Reprinted by Lutheran Peace Fellowship, 1710 11th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122, 206-720-0313, lpf@ecunet.org