Help Read Martin Luther King’s 1967 Speech “Beyond Vietnam” Amistad Statue, 12 Noon Friday, January 13, 2017
Help Read Martin Luther King’s 1967 Speech
“The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality,
and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will nd ourselves organizing “clergy and laymen concerned” committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a signi cant and profound change in American life and policy. So such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.
“In 1957 a sensitive American of cial overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which has now justi ed the presence of U.S. military advisors in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. 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.
“It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. 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 pro ts of overseas investments. 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, we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing- oriented society to a person-oriented society.When machines and computers, pro t motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. 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 life’s highway. True compassion is more than inging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edi ce which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will nd ourselves organizing “clergy and laymen concerned” committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a signi cant and profound change in American life and policy. So such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.
“In 1957 a sensitive American of cial overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which has now justi ed the presence of U.S. military advisors in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. 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.
“It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. 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 pro ts of overseas investments. 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, we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing- oriented society to a person-oriented society.When machines and computers, pro t motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. 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 life’s highway. True compassion is more than inging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edi ce which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
“Beyond Vietnam”
Amistad Statue, 12 Noon Friday, January 13, 2017
Amistad Statue, 12 Noon Friday, January 13, 2017
TO JOIN IN READING CONTACT: grnhpeacecouncil@gmail.com
“I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.”
Federal Discretionary Spending 2015
Food, Agric. 1.1% Transport 2.3% Science 2.5% International 3.3% Energy, Environ 3.3% Social Security, Labor
4.8%
Medicare, Health 4.9% Housing 5.3% Government 5.5% Veterans 5.6% Education 6.2%
PO Box 3105
New Haven, CT 06515-0205 http://uspeacecouncil.org/ uspc@uspeacecouncil.org
Call Rep. DeLauro, Sen. Murphy & Sen. Blumenthal, 202-224-3121:
Stop the Wars! Cut War Spending! Fund Human Needs!
“I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.”
Food, Agric. 1.1% Transport 2.3% Science 2.5% International 3.3% Energy, Environ 3.3% Social Security, Labor
4.8%
Medicare, Health 4.9% Housing 5.3% Government 5.5% Veterans 5.6% Education 6.2%
PO Box 3105
New Haven, CT 06515-0205 http://uspeacecouncil.org/ uspc@uspeacecouncil.org
Call Rep. DeLauro, Sen. Murphy & Sen. Blumenthal, 202-224-3121:
Stop the Wars! Cut War Spending! Fund Human Needs!
United States
Peace Council
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