Monday, October 12, 2015

Marin Luther King gives "Beyond Vietnam speech -Jack Ryan

This speech was given on April 4th, 1967, it was held in Riverside church.  Dr.King gave this speech to speak out about the war in Vietnam.  Upon giving this speech he was rejected by many in the civil rights groups and some considered this to be a falling out in the public eye for Dr.King.  The speech caused so much uproar that President Johnson dis invited him to the white house.  One of the reasons for the speeches rejection is that it directly challenged the President who made many risks to support civil rights laws.  Dr.King believed that Vietnam was no more than american imperialism.  He felt that it was unfair for the government to be sending young black men to a foreign south Asian country to fight for rights that they themselves still didn't fully have.



Dr.King giving the speech 






Sources:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Vietnam:_A_Time_to_Break_Silence
  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125355148
 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-king-jr-speaks-out-against-the-war

Full speech here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qf6x9_MLD0

6 comments:

  1. i agree with his point that he did not agree with sending african americans to vietnam to fight for rights that they fully did not have, it only puts their lives in danger with no reward for them.

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  2. It's interesting how almost none of us had ever heard of the "Beyond Vietnam" speech before, even though it was given by such a prominent figure in US history. It makes you reconsider what we learn in school, and how history remembers its icons.

    Also, I did some research and found an actual audio recording of the speech here:

    http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_beyond_vietnam/

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  3. This speech was amazing and I can't believe I have never heard of it until now. His point that African Americans are fighting for freedom they don't even have is truly an eye opener. I will definately be sharing this speech with others because it's just as important as his "I Have a Dream" speech, just in a different context.

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  4. This speech was amazing and I can't believe I have never heard of it until now. His point that African Americans are fighting for freedom they don't even have is truly an eye opener. I will definately be sharing this speech with others because it's just as important as his "I Have a Dream" speech, just in a different context.

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  5. I really enjoyed this speech and Dr.King makes some very good points about the fairness of the war. The one, and only thing I disliked about his speech is that it almost seems like he was looking for a racial criticism about the war. I think it would of been more effective for him to talk about the war and the problems overall. While highlighting the racial problems instead of making it seem like that's the main issue/ problem with the war.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really enjoyed this speech and Dr.King makes some very good points about the fairness of the war. The one, and only thing I disliked about his speech is that it almost seems like he was looking for a racial criticism about the war. I think it would of been more effective for him to talk about the war and the problems overall. While highlighting the racial problems instead of making it seem like that's the main issue/ problem with the war.

    ReplyDelete

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