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   D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:21 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

   Some 56 years ago, on April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. articulated the devastating impact of the war on both impoverished Americans & Vietnamese peasants, asserting it was a moral imperative for America to take radical, nonviolent steps to end the conflict.

   It was a speech that surprised many of his supporters.

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   Image: US helicopters, Tay Ninh, Cambodian border, 1965

   If you want to read uninterrupted text:

   Blog; https://400years.substack.com/p/when-the-good-king-became-the-bad

   Video Archive:
   https://m.youtube.com/@400YearsUNLeashed/videos

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:07 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     Dr. Ralph A. Bunche, a former United Nations Under Secretary for Political Affairs, director of the N.A.A.C.P. Dr. Bunche, and winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize, expressed reservations about King’s decision to link civil rights and the Vietnam War, believing that these were distinct issues that should not be conflated.

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     Image: Dr. Ralph Bunche (1904-1971)

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:07 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

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     Said. Bunche:

     "He is, after all, an active clergyman and naturally sensitive to moral issues and values. But he should realize that his anti-U.S. in Vietnam crusade is bound to alienate many friends and supporters of the civil rights movement and greatly weaken it - an ironic twist for a civil rights leader."

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     Image: King, third from the right, listens to United Nations Undersecretary Ralph Bunche, in 1967

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:08 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

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     The New York Times characterized King’s words as both “facile” and “slander.” It said the moral issues in Vietnam “are less clear-cut than he suggests” and warned that “to divert the energies of the civil rights movement to the Vietnam issue is both wasteful and self-defeating,” given how the movement needed to confront what the paper called “the intractability of slum mores and habits.”

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     Image: Lyndon Johnson, King, and other civil rights leaders White House Jan. 18, 1964.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:08 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

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     Whitney Young Jr., the executive director of the National Urban League, questioned King’s decision to speak out against the Vietnam War, fearing that it would divert attention and resources away from the pressing issues of racial inequality and poverty in the United States. Young believed that King should concentrate on these domestic concerns rather than becoming embroiled in foreign policy matters.

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     Image: Whitney Young Jr. late 1950s..

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:09 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     The initial response to King’s speech at Riverside Church in April 1967 was met with a considerable degree of skepticism and criticism. For instance, the Washington Post published an editorial on April 6, 1967, titled “A Tragedy,” in which they characterized King’s speech as “sheer inventions of unsupported fantasy” and lamented how “many who have listened to him with respect will never again accord him the same confidence.”

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     Image: Dr. King displays his book in Atlanta, March 4, 1968

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:09 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

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     According to the PBS documentary "MLK: A Call to Conscience" (2010), the speech faced condemnation from 168 newspapers across the nation. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 1964, went so far as to suggest that the speech "might be on the brink of treason."

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     Image: Barry Goldwater, 1962.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:12 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     For example, when he declared, "For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I could not be silent," he employed parallelism to escalate his call to action, urging his audience to voice their opinions and actively oppose the unjust war in Vietnam.

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     Image: Women and children crouch in a muddy canal as they take cover from intense Vietcong fire on 1 January 1966

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:12 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     King also provided a historical perspective, condemning Western arrogance for Vietnam’s devastation, asserting that the U.S. sided with the wealthy while creating misery for the poor. He outlined a 5-point plan to end the war, including a call for a unilateral ceasefire. To King, the Vietnam War was a glaring symptom of American colonialism worldwide.

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     Image: Entertainers Carroll Baker and Bob Hope on the flight deck of the USS Ticonderoga in December 1965

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:12 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     King contended that America hindered peaceful revolution by refusing to relinquish the benefits from overseas investments and advocated for a radical shift in values towards love and justice, rather than economic nationalism.

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     Image: An unidentified US soldier wears a hand-lettered slogan on his helmet in June 1965. Phuoc Vinh airfield.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:14 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     Throughout this speech, King carefully selected words with negative connotations to firmly associate the Vietnam War with injustice. By labeling Americs as the "greatest purveyor of violence" and accusing it of favoring "massive doses of violence to solve its problems," he effectively cast the U.S. government as the principal wrongdoer.

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     Image: Exhausted South Vietnamese soldiers sleep on a US Navy troop carrier taking them back to the provincial capital of Ca Mau in August 1962.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:14 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     This deliberate choice of allowed King to argue that addressing the oppressor, America, was essential in advocating for the oppressed.

     King's characterization of the war as "broken and eviscerated" set a tone of disappointment, condemning the war as morally bankrupt. When he insisted that the war's immorality should be "incandescently clear," he implied that those who remained silent were complicit in the erosion of America's integrity and values.

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     Image: May 26, 1967, cover of TIME.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:14 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     Moreover, King employed the powerful technique of parallelism within his discourse to elicit emotional responses from his audience. His repeated use of the phrase, "for the sake of," created a rhythmic cadence that enhanced receptivity to his message.

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     Image: Medic Thomas Cole looks up with his one unbandaged eye as he treats wounded Staff Sergeant Harrison Pell during a firefight on 30 January 1966

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:15 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     King emphasized his responsibility to the American people & explained how conversations with young, poor black men reinforced his commitment to nonviolence.

     This poignant imagery not only underscored the horrors of war but also connected the struggles of racial segregation to the Vietnam conflict, resonating deeply with his audience at Riverside Church, who could empathize with injustices committed by the American government.

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     Image: Long Binh, Vietnam: Black soldiers, 1972

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:15 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     Similarly, King's portrayal of men, regardless of race, "in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village," emphasized the war's catastrophic & inhumane nature.

     When he asserted that all this brutality was carried out in the name of America, he stirred the audience's anger, compelling them to break their silence about the injustice of the war.

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     Image: Buddhist monks and women pull at a barbed-wire barricade, Saigon, Giac Minh Pagoda, July 27, 1963.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:16 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     When asked about the choice of the title "Beyond Vietnam" during a period when the country was deeply entrenched in the war, Harding explained in an interview with Tavis Smiley, "This goes beyond merely withdrawing from Vietnam. It pertains to breaking free from a particular mindset, a way of perceiving ourselves and the world."

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     Image: Vincent Harding, 2005

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:16 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     In "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence," King employed a masterful use of imagery, diction, and parallel structure to draw poignant associations between the Vietnam War and injustice.

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     Image: Dr. Martin Luther King urged in a press conference the Johnson administration consider prompt U.S. withdrawal from the Vietnam war, in Miami on April 13, 1966

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:16 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     Throughout his address, King skillfully wove vivid imagery to illustrate the harrowing realities of the war, evoking a sense of outrage at its injustices. For instance, he painted a stark picture of, "Negro and white boys on TV screens, killing and dying together for a nation that had segregated them in schools."

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     Image: A wounded American soldier is bought to a landing zone north of Saigon in March, 1966.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:17 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     The speech was a collaborative effort primarily authored by Dr. Vincent Harding, who hailed from Harlem, New York City, and completed his undergraduate studies at City College of New York. Additionally, he obtained a Master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University, served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955, and earned a PhD in History from the University of Chicago in 1965.

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     Image: Vincent Harding speaks at the Eighth Mennonite World Conference in Amsterdam, 1967.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:18 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     King wanted to expose the inconsistency of U.S. foreign policies when juxtaposed with the persisting domestic inequality in America. This address, often referred to as "The Riverside Church Speech," faced criticism from various quarters, including prominent media outlets like The New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as organizations like the NAACP, which objected to the Civil Rights Movement's involvement in anti-war protests.

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     Image: US paratroopers, Ben Cat on 25 September 1965.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:18 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     On April 4, accompanied by Amherst College Professor Henry Commager, Union Theological Seminary President John Bennett, and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, King addressed over 3,000 attendees at New York’s Riverside Church during an event sponsored by Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam.

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     Image: Rabbi Heschel and Dr. King at Arlington National Cemetery, February 6, 1968

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:19 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     In early 1967, King intensified his anti-war stance, delivering similar speeches in Los Angeles and Chicago. His Los Angeles speech, titled “The Casualties of the War in Vietnam,” highlighted the war’s history and advocated for redirecting American power towards peace and humanity, rather than unleashing it inhumanely on defenseless people.

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     Image: Under sniper fire, a Vietnamese woman carries a child to safety, My Son, near Da Nang, 25 April 1965.

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:20 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     King’s public opposition to the Vietnam War began to emerge in March 1965 when he stated, “millions of dollars can be spent every day to hold troops in South Viet Nam, and our country cannot protect the rights of Negroes in Selma.” King, speaking on “Face the Nation,” and at the United Nations emphasized his prophetic role as a minister and his deep concern for global peace and mankind’s survival, further solidifying his commitment to the anti-war cause.

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     https://youtu.be/YpGFOiSTs3Q?si=xS9RA36ScZmF2X14

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:20 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     In a variation of his “Transformed Nonconformist” sermon delivered in January 1966 at Ebenezer Baptist Church, King openly expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War, condemning American aggression as a violation of the 1954 Geneva Accord, which promised self-determination.

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     Image: King speaking in Washington, D.C., in February 1968

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     D. Elisabeth Glassco (deglassco@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 08:43:21 JST D. Elisabeth Glassco

     in reply to

     While King had previously expressed criticism of the Vietnam War, it was his impassioned "Beyond Vietnam" speech, delivered at an event sponsored by "Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam," that garnered widespread attention. King who typically delivered speeches w/o reading from a text, read out "Beyond Vietnam" because he intended to submit it to publications and wanted to ensure his words were accurately conveyed without misquotation.

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     Image: MLK speaking in rural Alabama, 1966