The “Beyond Vietnam” speech, also known as the Riverside Church Speech, was one delivered by none other than Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City. It was a very powerful and aggressive anti-Vietnam war speech. He was concerned about the lives of African Americans that were going over to serve because he felt that it was not fair that they had to be sent over to fight for something that they do not even have themselves. He wanted to know, how can an African American man be asked to fight alongside a white man in Vietnam when he cannot live alongside him on the same block in Chicago? How can he ask him to fight in a war where he is more likely to die than a white man? King said, “...the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home…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.”
Civil Rights leaders publicly condemned King for giving his speech, and many people believe it was the most controversial speech he had ever given. He also participated in an anti-Vietnam war march from Central Park to the United Nations.
This speech was so important because the war did not just affect Vietnam, it affected America as well, and King brought attention to the fact that having African American men fight in the war seemed contradictory.
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| Martin Luther King Jr. walking alongside others who were against the Vietnam war. |
I never realized that this was probably one of Martin Luther Kings Jr.s most important speeches he gave. When you think MLK you think of his "I have a dream speech" not this one but this one is a very important one.
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool how, MLK Jr. gave this speech even though he probably knew how controversial it would be. He didn't worry about being "publicly condemned" he got his message across, regardless of any repercussions.
ReplyDeleteI find it surprising that people took MLK's speech so negatively. I am sure that if critics took his words as food for thought, they would certainly come to the conclusion that he has a good point. Not only were African Americans fighting for a country that treat them as second class, they were more likely to die than white soldiers in doing so.
ReplyDeleteI never even knew of this speech or that the controversy behind it, and to be honest I didn't know Martin Luther King jr had anything to do with it. It is said however that this was a low point in his lifetime.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to learn about this! I really wasn't aware that he was even associated with this issue at the time, I never knew about the speech prior.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this speech, or even knew that MLK was against the war. I completely agree with his views on the war.
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