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He asserts that Vietnam War has hindered the Civil Rights movement to achieve its goals. He expounds that the military drafted young black man to protect the rights of people of Vietnam and yet, these black youngsters did not have freedom for themselves. He says, " We were taking black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8, 000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So, we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white to boys on TV screens as the kill and die tighter for a nation that has been unable to seat them tighter in the same schools...
I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor. " King presented to the people a fact that no one could disprove. Blacks were fighting side by side with whites to honor their country, and yet, blacks had very less liberties and freedoms than whites. Black people could not express themselves, have a better life, or have opportunities, same as white men. King had hit the nail on the head, no one could answer the question King was asking; Why is it that they, blacks and whites, kill and die side by side, but they do not have the same equality in society?
Furthermore, he gave addition reason of why he was speaking out. He say, "As I walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems... But they asked-and rightly so- what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn't using massing doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. " King was the messenger of peace and if he had not spoken against the tragedy of Vietnam, some people might have called a hypocrite, who is the preacher of peace and does not address the greatest example of violence.
He wanted people to remember him not as a hypocrite. Furthermore, King's conscious would not forgive him if he had not spoken for the suffering people of Vietnam. Moreover, he gives a religious reason for his speech. He says, " Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless and outcaste children, I come tonight to speak for them. " He justifies his speech by saying that it was the will of God. It is common for King to refer to God in his speeches because he is a reverend.
He says he is the speaker for the people who can not do anything to protect them selves. In addition, he says that the sacrifices made in Vietnam are in vein. King expounds, "This business of burning human beings with napalm, of lifting our nation's homes with orphans and widow, of injection poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from the dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, just and love. " He means that war is not answer for anything; war brings suffering to both sides. The sacrifices of the people are for nothing; the soldiers of the United States are giving life for a useless cause of taking lives. The Vietnam War has only brought despair and hatred. Therefore, if the reason for the fight was to give love and justice to the people of Vietnam, then the sacrifices are in vein.
Finally, Martin Luther King gives foreshadows, what would happen if the crisis is not solved. He says, "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. " King warns of the consequences if the war in Vietnam does not stop. King ties to convey people that when wars go on for a long time they make people loses their sense of perception and they forget the difference between right and wrong. King is aware that long wars make people desperate to end them and desperate people take drastic measures.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King gave many reasons why the war in Vietnam should end. He says the Vietnam War has brought despair and hatred. It has hindered the goals of Civil Rights movement, it has taken lives, God forbids war, war might make the United States lose its sense of perception, and most importantly it might fuel the idea that violence is the answer to all the questions. Even though some people criticized him for speaking publicly about Vietnam War, King did not stop because he was not just a speaker for blacks, but a speaker for all oppressed people.
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Research essay sample on Martin Luther King Civil Rights Movement
