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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, correspondence
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, correspondence
-
box: 185
folder: 4
-
1959 to 1968
-
J U
90
fy
ee
Mis Maden Lather Ning fre
eply opprociale
and gralofully
acknowledge
é
oul, hind
S ynpelly
express tow
anrerr
JOO
i Yeh
O
Sat
April 11,
My dear Mrs.
1968
King:
It is impossible for me adequately to express
in words what I feel in my heart for you and your family
in this moment of your deep personal grief, but as one
of so many millions of Americans who loved and
respected your husband as a great and good man I want
you to know that my thoughts and prayers are with you.
I know how completely you share your husband's
passionate belief in the essential goodness of man, his
wr
aga
te
eS
ae
ill ASE
IRE SEa
4
your greatest consolation.
e
I know,
i
a
i
ti
i
It is given to few men to possess the insights
into the souls of human beings which Dr. King
|
possessed and it is given to few his ability to arouse
the conscience and the courage of so many and to set
in motion so irrevocably a march toward freedom and
Lacs i
5
CRO
will be,
ie
total commitment to the cause of peace and nonviolence
and his dedication to the principle that love and understanding will inevitably and ultimately triumph over
prejudice and hatred.
This devotion to his principles
ti ale
justice for all.
.
f
ea NE Santee
last.
ltl imam eal
entrain
on Monday
i la
Memphis
-
I was honored to have shared the privilege of
marching with Dr. King in Detroit, in Washington, in
Selma and in Jackson, Mississippi, and I was deeply
honored to have been able to march with you in
mh
i
It is true, as he said, that he had seen the
promised land and that his “eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord,"
As one individual, I pledge to you, as my
memorial to your husband, to work with all the strength
and courage I possess to help carry forward the march
into the promised land which Dr. King saw but did not
live to enter.
My colleagues in the UAW
join me in that pledge.
We send to you and your family our deepest
sympathy and love.
Respectfully,
WPR:ob
opeiu 42
Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr.
332 Auburn Avenue, N. E.
30303
Atlanta, Georgia
JAN 14 1965
G. E. DELORME
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
A.
DISTRICT
CHAS, W. GREENE
DIR. PUBLIC RELATIONS
F,. HERNDON
FOUNDER
'N. B. HERNDON
DR.
PRESIDENT-TREASURER
KE. M,
MARTIN
VICE
W.H.
P.
PRESIDENT-SECRETARY
SMITH
H.
MANAGER
HILL. JR.
ACTUARY
E. L. SIMON
DIRECTOR
OF
AGENCIES
.
DISTRICT MANAGER
148 AUBURN AVENUE. N. E.
eine
ATLANTA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
apa
aagaireestee
P. O. BOX 897
Sas
ATLANTA 1,GEORGIA
January
12, 1965
Mr. Walter Reuther,
United Auto Workers
Detroit,
Michigan
Dear
Mr.
ogg
les
1
ee
bo
oh
sh
ae
President
of America
Reuther:
On Wednesday, January 27, 1965 an Atlanta Citizens
Committee will sponsor a Testimonial Dinner honoring
Dr. M. L. King, Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
As you
-havé probably read
in
the
New
York
Times
and
other
press
several influential bankers and businessmen have attempted to discourage support and participation in the event.
As a member of the sponsoring committee which includes
Mr. Ralph McGill and prominent Atlanta clergy of all denominations,
I can assure you that the affair will be
carried through with determination.
:
DIRECTOR
WILLARD
JESSE
VICE PRESIDENT
Ww, LEE
H. L. LANG
MEDICAL
DISTRICT
F. A. TOOMER
VICE PRESIDENT- AUDITOR
GEO.
MANAGER
However,
in
order
to
avoid further
resistance
from
some people in the community the committee decided that
the tickets for the affair would be kept to the minimum
cost of the dinner of $6.00, thus leaving no funds available to provide a significant token for Dr. King.
We are
therefore seeking to show reluctant Atlantans that Dr. King
is admired and appreciated by many Americans throughout the
country, by presenting him with significant tokens on the
night of the testimonial.
As you probably know, Dr. King and his family live
very modestly and limits his income for himself and family
to his salary as co-pastor of his home church.
All other
funds and contributions including the $54,000 Nobel Peace
Prize is given to the Civil Rights effort.
January 21,
My dear Dr.
autographed
with you
freedom
yards of
promises
1959
King:
It was most gracious of you to favor me with an
copy of your book "Stride
Toward
Freedom."
It is a great personal privilege to be associated
in the struggle to advance the cause of human
and dignity and to do the practical job in the vineAmerican democracy so that America's noble
will be matched by practical performance.
The courage, devotion and dedication which you
have given this cause is a source of inspiration for all of
those who are joined with you.
the book.
My warmest best wishes and many thanks for
Sincerely,
WPRiol
oeiu 42
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
530-C South Union Street
Montgomery, Alabama
Mr.
Walter
Dr.
expensive
Page
Reuther
King
rarely
very
However,
items.
accepts
have
we
12,
January
2
gifts,
personal
discovered
from
1965
especially
close
lly
rea
he
t
tha
ms
ite
ful
use
few
a
are
re
the
t
tha
s
ate
oci
ass
needs that would be useful and if they came from persons
m.
the
ept
acc
ld
wou
he
t
tha
ly,
end
fri
ely
uin
gen
he considered
and
s
son
per
few
of
t
lis
a
m
fro
e
nam
r
you
ed
ect
sel
I have
organizations whose friendship he values.
of
the
An Office Desk Portable Television
A Home Portable Television Set
Set
If you would like to contribute one
please communicate with me immediately:
l.
—2.
3.
4.
5.
A Tape
Travel
A Small
(Dr.
that
JHJr:b
Recorder
Luggage
is
|
Low
Cost
Auto
in
poor
condition)
King
following,
presently
owns
a small
1960 model
car
4
r\Viai
thenezer Baptist Church
407 Auburn Avene, N. £.
Atlanta, Georgia
Auckson
May
Mr.
Walter
P.
Detroit
Dear
14,
Mr.
2,
Reuther,
International Union,
8000 East Jefferson
2-4395
1961
President
UAW
Avenue
Michigan
Reutner:
This is just a note again to express my appreciation
to you for making my recent visit to Detroit sucha
I will long remember the warm
meaningful one.
reception that I received at the 25th Anniversary of
Please know that you have my continued
U AW.
support in the great work that you are doing for the
working man, and indeed for all humanity.
With
warm
personal
regards,
lam
Sincerely
Wj
Martin
Km
yours,
Atta
Luther
King,
Jr.
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ARRANGEMENT FOR A LARGE QUANTITY ORDER
VICTOR WEINGARTEN AT COUNCTL OFFICE 10 EAST “hh SYREE
TELEPHONE 212 MURRAY HILL 2028
HER KING JR WHITNEY M YOUNG JR ROY WILKINS
DR MARTIN
JAMES FARMER JAMES FOREMAN DOROTHY HEIGHT JACK GREENBERG.
SSSR EST OCT. 3 65
I
WESTERN UNION
TELEGRAM
WESTERN UNION
TELEGRAM
TELEGRAM
UNION >
WESTERN
MAR 18 1965
M
WUA135 SSDO8O DE GVAQ42 (A LLY163) DL PD
FAX ATLANTA GA 18 NFT
WALTER REUTHER
|
|
|
DLR SOLIDARITY HOUSE 8000 EAST JEFFERSON DET
THE PRESIDENT AND FEDERAL FUDICIARY HAVE SPOKEN-AFFIRMATIVELY
OF THE CAUSE FOR WHICH
WE STRUGGLE. ALL CITIZENS MUST
NOW MAKE THEIR PERSONAL WITNESS. THE FREEDOMS OF SUFFRAGE
AND ASSEMBLY ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO AWL OUR TRADITIONS. I THEREFORE
INVITE YOU TO JBIN ME IN A MARCH TO.ALABA
MA"S CAPITOL BEGINNING
AT BROUIN'S CHAPEL IN SELMA, SUNDAY, MARCH 21, AT
200
PM.
|
:
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR
C33)
1023A
6
EST
MAR
18
65
For
Release:
The
president
of
the
UAW,
"Appreciate
your
other
Regret
of
your
the
staff
essential
"Every
in
will
help
meet
to
be
join
the
who
and
register
and
vote
"With
you
all
in
good
in
for
the
spirit as
with
also
march.
freedom
and
justice
the
enjoy
view that
the
lead
this
and
every
blessing
historic
P. Reuther"
all
from
with
other
who
needs
believes
citizen
of full
wishes.
ttt tt
in
my
working
and
transportation
the
Reuther,
Alabama.
delegation
UAW
Walter
oeiuhk2:iv
others
prevent
will
a
P.
Jr.:
you and
of
you
by Walter
to Montgomery,
march.
food,
shares
and
King,
organizing
is
loves
man
join
sent
ee
requirements
of
with
to
cee
UAW
to
Luther
Selma
from
MARCH 20, 1965
a telegram
invitation
provide
American
dignity
the
right
nation
of
Martin
responsibilities
to
to
text
to Dr.
participation.
personal
parts
the
march
freedom
historic
the
is
cheaae ae
~
IMMEDIATELY—SATURDAY,
following
Telephone: Area Cove 313, 926-5291
Public Relations Department, Joseph Walsh, Director
8000 East Jeferson Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48214
has
the
citizenship
freedom
march.
WESTE
TE
RA
UNION
RAM
WESTERN UNION
TELEGRAM
TELEGRAM
WESTERN UNION |
—=—=.
WESTERN UNION
|
TELEGRAM
*
129-ZXM
MAR 29 1965
|
VMWUA 154 AB163 A LLH119 LONG PD
FAX ATLANTA GA 29 1223P EST
:
|
WALTER REUTHER, PRES, UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS,
AFL=CIO
|
8000 EAST JEFFERSON AE DET
|
|
A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY ATTENDSSTHE POSITION
OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS.
MOVEMENT AT THIS HOURe WE HAVE, FOR MANY LONG AND WEAJY — .
- HOUJS,
SEARCHED NONVIOLENTLY FOR THE GOOD IN ALABAMA
SOCIETY,
AND IN ALMOST EVERY INSTANCE WE HAVE FOUND EVIL.
IT IS A WELL ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLE OF OUR PHILOSOPHY AND
CONCERN,
THAT. IT IS JUST AS NECESSARY TO REFUSE TO COOPERATE
WITH EVIL AS IT IS TO COOPERATE WITH GOOD. THE ALABAMA
RECORD IS REPLETE WITH BOMBINGS OF CHURCHES AND HOMES, WITH
BEATINGS OFSWOMEN AND CHILDREN, WITH KILLINGS OF INNOCENT
CITIZENS BY ORGANIZED AND UNORGANIZED BODIES AS WEWL AS BY
AGENTS OF THE STATE$ ALL OF WHICH IS UNDERCIRDED BY
MRe GEORGE Ce WALLACE, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE, AS EVIDENCED|
BY HIS STATEMENT THAT HESCANNOT KEEP THE PEACE, AND BY
|
HIS REFUSAW RECEIVE A PETITION CALLING FOR COOPERATION
FROM A GROUP OFSALABAMA CITIZENS, BOTH NEGRO AND WHITE.
I AM THEJEFORE IMPELLED TO THE POSITION OF CALLING FOR
A NATIONAL AFD INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT AND EMBARGO OF THE ST
ATE
OF ALABAMA UNTIL SUKH TIMESAS A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE IS APPA
RENT
BY THE ADMISSION TO THE VOTER REGISTRATION BOOKS OF AT
LEASZ 50 0/0 OFSTHESNEGRO CITIZENS OF VOTING AGE IN
THE STATE OF ALABAMA. I HOPE YOU WILL FIND IT POSSIBLE TO
EFDORSE THIS POSITION
|
ous
:
‘en
LUTHER KING JR
127P EST
MAR
29.
65
“DEMETER (DET) 3RD, ONE ON.
a
ee
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:
|
UPRSS
NINTH WORLD IN BRIEF
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UNIT
FROM
LATE NEWS
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:
|
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BE
MAY
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"WH
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COU
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BIL
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ENFORCEMENT OF THE 1964 CIV
DS.
FUN
L
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FED
:
SOM
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LOS
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IN ALABAM
OR
LAB
AND
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UTI
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INS
~ STAGE TWO CALLS FOR PRIVATE
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MEN
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| UNIONS TO EXAMINE THEIR INV
ITY
TAL
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RAC
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"TO
THEIR FUNDS ARE NOT BEING USED
IN ALABAMA.®
H
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MEN
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GOV
L
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FED
THE
THE SECOND STAGE ALSO REQUESTS
NOW
S
AR
LL
DO
TAX
L
ERA
FED
AW
HDR
WIT
“THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT, TO
“DEPOSITED IN ALABAMA BANKS.
ER
SUM
CON
IC
CIF
SPE
OF
T
COT
BOY
"A
UP
STAGE THREE WOULD SET
RD
BOA
FFSTA
A
BY
ED
ECT
SEL
LLY
EFU
CAR
BE
L
PRODUCTS WHICH WIL
.*
COMMITTEE
KING SAID
‘
THIS
PLAN
“WILL
MOVE
FROM
STAGE
TO
STAGE
IN EVENT
‘WE
D:
DE
AD
HE
*
S.
ES
TL
UI
FR
ES
OV
PR
THAT THE PRECEDING STAGES
E
AG
ST
,
ON
TI
AC
ER
NG
RO
ST
TO
VE
MO
TO
BUT
E
IV
AT
RN
TE
WILL HAVE NO AL
."
SE
ON
SP
he
H
IT
FA
OD
GO
A
TH
WI
T
ME
“BY STAGE, IF OUR EFFORTS DO NOT
KING
ATLANTA
gi
IN
S
EK
WE
O
TW
IN
TH
WI
ET
ME
LL
WI
D
SAID A COMMITTEE BOAR
.
CT
FE
EF
TO
IN
T
PU
Be
e
e
e
O
TW
E
AG
ST
IF
DE
CI
DE
TO
-
ODA DagtiA IVELE TAYLOR SAYS-THE CHANCES|
MAY
HaRRY
598
H. WACHTEL
MADISON
NEW
YORK,
AVENUE
N.Y.10022
May
Mr. Walter Reuther
8000 East Jefferson
Detroit,
Michigan
Dear
Reuther:
Mr.
9 1967
5,
1967
Street
At the suggestion of Dr. King, I am enclosing an
autographed copy of the speeches and statements of
Dr. King and other distinguished Americans on the subThis publication should
ject of the war in Vietnam.
help make clear what Dr. King has said as opposed to
what others say he said.
I
should
like
to
have
your
comments.
We have a large number of copies of this publication;
If you wish, we
100,000 copies have been prepared.
could forward to you,or to whomever you designate, a
good supply for distribution.
cerely
Enclosure
cc:
Dr.
Martin
Luther
King,
Jr.
yours,
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING,JR.
DR. JOHNC.BENNETT DR.HENRY STEELE COMMAGER RABBI ABRAHAM HESCHEL
7
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ur
Ch
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Riv
at
and
s
le
ge
The addresses of Dr. King in Los An
Los
the
e
us
ca
be
t
jec
sub
the
on
d
re
ve
li
de
has
he
ny
have been selected from among ma
on
ted
lic
inf
has
war
m
na
et
Vi
the
h
ic
wh
s
tie
ual
Angeles address concerns the many cas
the
in
g,
Kin
Dr.
by
ort
eff
an
ts
lec
ref
s
res
add
America, whereas the Riverside Church
es
ari
ers
adv
our
are
o
wh
se
tho
of
s
eye
the
h
ug
ro
th
war
spirit of nonviolence, to see this
.
es
hi
op
os
il
ph
ir
the
th
wi
nt
me
ee
gr
sa
di
despite his
tes
Pro
of
e
te
it
mm
co
al
ion
nat
a
is
m
na
et
Vi
t
ou
Ab
d
ne
Clergy and Laymen Concer
5.
196
er
mb
ce
De
in
ed
rm
fo
was
h
ic
wh
en
ym
tant, Catholic and Jewish clergy and la
nt
me
rn
ve
Go
our
e
rol
the
to
on
ti
si
po
op
in
is
bas
hoc
ad
an
We have come together on
y.
tor
his
m
na
et
Vi
ent
rec
in
t,
en
em
lv
vo
in
ry
ita
has played, particularly in its mil
in
us
for
me
co
has
me
ti
at
Th
.
al
ay
tr
be
is
e
nc
le
si
We feel that a time comes when
not
e
ic
vo
we
,
es
gu
go
na
sy
d
an
es
ch
ur
ch
an
relation to Vietnam. As members of Americ
ng
lo
d
an
rs
fea
d
se
es
pr
ex
un
the
te
la
cu
ti
ar
only our own convictions, but seek also to
ings of millions of Americans.
s
fes
con
We
.
cry
out
our
s
pt
om
pr
and
ay
tod
us
nts
Our share of responsibility hau
our
to
e
anc
egi
all
r
Ou
ce.
voi
r
are
cle
h
wit
and
that we should have spoken out sooner
s.
ion
nat
all
r
ove
n
ig
re
ve
so
is
o
wh
d
Go
the
to
e
nation is held under a higher allegianc
h
wit
ile
onc
rec
to
ult
fic
dif
re
mo
icy
pol
’s
ion
nat
our
to
e
anc
Each day we find allegi
allegiance to our God.
that
e
iev
bel
we
But
.
ble
ila
ava
are
s
wer
ans
y
eas
no
that
ess
ren
We speak in full awa
issues must be. pressed and questions forced, if new answers are to be forthcoming.
For the old answers no longer satisfy us.
ee
Americans.
pita
distinguished
:
Sashatings S5ent a S ont
of otner
i
wn Se 925
COME
King, Jr. and
PS
yh Pe
oe
phe co as ali PRE
Foo $ a
2 %?
Bis JARS
of Dr. Martin
Luther
:
oh iota
coa
as
Jr.
g,
Kin
er
th
Lu
tin
Mar
Dr.
.
Rev
the
On the occasion of the naming of
the
of
t
jec
sub
the
in
st
ere
int
ad
re
sp
de
wi
of
e
us
ca
Chairman of this Committee, and be
ts
en
em
at
st
and
s
se
es
dr
ad
l
era
sev
ted
rin
rep
e
hav
we
e
vic
war in Vietnam, as a public ser
a foreword for the significant volume which con-
tains the four eloquent addresses delivered at the
Riverside Church mass meeting sponsored by the
committee of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About
:
,
Vietnam.
My illness prevented me from attending the meeting, but | am deeply persuaded by its concern about
our bloody, costly and essentially futile involvement
in a civil war in Vietnam. Some of our citizens regard our involvement as an expression of our sense
of responsibility, but we are among those who regard it as an example of the “illusion of American
omnipotence.”
We are quite
the only source
have expressed
ists. It is difficult
sO
many
certain that the
of discontent. All
dissidence and so
to make criticism
emotions
patriotic
are
churches are not
university centers
have the journalof a war in which
involved.
But
we
livered.
We quite appreciate that some of the civil rights
leaders have disassociated themselves from Dr. King’s
opposition to the Vietnam war, in part because of
fear that the civil rights movement itself will be confused by this opposition view. Dr. King knows this
to be a hazard. But after all he is one of the great
religious leaders of our time and he has a right to
speak on any issue which concerns mankind. These
two causes are interrelated not by reason of Dr.
King’s championing of them. Both causes must be
pursued. Let us simply say that Dr. King has the right
and a duty, as both a religious and civil rights leader,
to express his concern in these days about such a
major human problem as the Vietnam war.
The second concern is about Dr. King’s position
on nonviolent resistance to evil. Many of the journals and the public have confused his position with
absolute pacifism, which they reject. | think, as a
rather dedicated anti-pacifist, that Dr. King’s conception of the nonviolent resistance to evil is a real contribution to our civil, moral and political life.
We hope therefore that this volume will have
a wide reading among thoughtful persons of our
churches, of our schools, and of the entire land.
Api
11, 1967
«=
Reinhold
Niebuhr
3
ROT
nary, and Dr. Abraham Heschel, Professor of Ethics,
of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. But
| must say a word about Dr. King’s opening remarks
because they have been the subject of controversy
and misunderstanding ever since they were de-
TO
think it must be done; and we hope the churches
now will make a common cause of this undertaking.
| will not write of the four memorable addresses
made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Prof. Henry
Steele Commager, of Amherst College, Dr. John C.
Bennett, President of the Union Theological Semi-
OEE
DR. REINHOLD
NIEBUHR
in being asked to write
ain nh
a foreword by
| am happy and honored
An address by
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Nation Institute
Los Angeles, California
February
oe
pars
Py
a.
f
a
:
f
pe
Se
S
x ;
‘es
“~.,°%-6
iene id } ornare
ae
F
ee
.
A
a
ahs
5
eel
2
See
Ca
5
.
5
ee
~
A
‘NY
.
.
.
chil-
dren; so many Vietnamese children have been mutilated
and incinerated by napalm and by bombs. A war in which
in which
American
soldiers
die
in mounting numbers is a war that mutilates the conscience. These casualties are enough to cause all men to
rise up with righteous indignation and oppose the very
nature
of this war.
But the physical casualties of the war in Vietnam are
not alone the catastrophies. The casualties of principles
and values are equally disastrous and injurious. Indeed,
self
are
y
the
e
aus
bec
l
mfu
har
e
mor
y
tel
ima
ult
are
they
,
ed
al
he
t
no
are
e
pl
ci
in
pr
of
es
ti
al
su
ca
the
If
perpetuating.
the physical casualties will continue to mount.
One
of the first casualties
of the war
rs
nese
r
“
ad
e.:
%
°
a
3
ge
«
a
.
7
¥
i
of
in Vietnam
was
the Charter of the United Nations. In taking armed action
against the Vietcong and North Vietnam, the United States
oe
=
4
gs
ranged. Most tragic of all is the casualty list among
are incinerated,
2
,
ee
Se
“
ree
oe
A
.
ba
a
ly
ht
ig
hr
rt
fo
d
an
ly
id
nd
ca
u
yo
to
| would like to speak
m.
Na
et
Vi
in
t
en
em
lv
vo
in
t
en
es
pr
r
this afternoon about ou
in
r
Wa
e
th
of
es
ti
al
su
Ca
he
‘T
t,
ec
bj
| have chosen as a su
al
ic
ys
ph
h
is
ar
tm
gh
ni
e
th
of
e
ar
Vietnam.” We are all aw
r
ei
th
of
all
in
s
om
ro
ng
vi
li
r
ou
in
em
th
casualties. We see
t
ou
ab
ad
re
we
d
an
s,
en
re
sc
on
si
vi
le
tragic dimensions on te
ac
r
pe
pa
ws
ne
y
il
da
in
s
de
ri
s
bu
them on our subway and
y
tr
un
co
n
ia
As
l
al
sm
a
of
ds
el
fi
ce
ri
e
counts. We see th
fie
gr
e
se
we
:
im
wh
at
ed
rn
bu
d
an
being trampled at will
ms
ar
r
ei
th
in
ed
ch
ut
cl
es
bi
ba
ng
yi
cr
th
wi
s
stricken mother
we
;
es
am
fl
to
in
h
rt
fo
t
rs
bu
ts
hu
le
tt
li
r
as they watch thei
th
wi
d
te
in
pa
g
in
be
le
tt
ba
of
s
ey
ll
va
see the fields and
os
pr
t
lef
es
di
bo
en
ok
br
e
th
e
se
we
d;
oo
bl
s
humankind’
nt
se
g
in
be
n
me
g
un
yo
e
se
we
;
ds
el
fi
s
es
tl
un
trate in co
de
ly
al
nt
me
d
d
an
pe
ap
ic
y
nd
ll
ha
ca
si
hy
—p
en
-m
home half
children
«
0
ee,
Py
oS
e,
¥
6
oe
ay
e
3
Q
ra
eee
a)
‘i
i
oe
ie
B
teleret
1,
ra
:
.
=e
I:
te Pa
re
see
a
aay .
gaa
a)
mt
c
or
e
,
es
id
ov
pr
h
ic
wh
r
te
ar
ch
s
on
ti
Na
ed
it
Un
e
th
clearly violated
in Chapter I, Article II (4)
All members shall refrain
in
their
international
t
ns
ai
ag
e
rc
fo
of
e
us
or
at
re
th
e
th
relations from
ce
en
nd
pe
de
in
l
ca
ti
li
po
or
y
it
gr
te
in
l
ia
or
it
rr
te
the
nt
te
is
ns
co
in
er
nn
ma
r
he
ot
y
an
in
or
e
at
st
y
an
of
s.
on
ti
Na
ed
it
Un
e
th
of
es
os
rp
pu
the
th
wi
and in Chapter VII, (39)
stexi
e
th
e
in
rm
te
de
ll
sha
l
ci
un
Co
ty
ri
cu
Se
e
Th
ence of any threat to the peace, breach of the
rec
ke
ma
ll
sha
d
an
,
on
si
es
gr
ag
of
act
peace, or
ommendations or shall decide what measures
erint
e
or
st
re
or
in
ta
in
ma
to
..
n.
ke
ta
shall be
national peace and security.
It is very obvious that our government blatantly violated
its obligation under the charter of the United Nations to
submit to the Security Council its charge of aggression
ed
nch
lau
lly
era
lat
uni
we
d
tea
Ins
m.
tna
Vie
th
Nor
t
ins
aga
erund
e
hav
we
s
ces
pro
the
In
.
soil
an
Asi
on
war
t
-ou
an all
its
sed
cau
and
s
ion
Nat
ted
Uni
the
of
e
os
rp
pu
the
d
ne
mi
effectiveness to atrophy. We have also placed our nation
in the position of being morally and politically isolated.
Even the long standing allies of our nation have adamantly
refused to join our government in this ugly war. As Americans and lovers of Democracy we should carefully ponder
tus
sta
al
mor
ing
lin
dec
’s
ion
nat
our
of
es
nc
ue
eq
ns
co
the
in the world.
The second casualty of the war in Vietnam is the principle of self-determination. By entering a war that is little
more than a domestic civil war, America has ended up supporting a new form of colonialism covered up by certain
niceties of complexity. Whether we realize it or not our
participation
in the war in Vietnam
is an ominous
expres-
:
ra
pa
r
ou
d,
se
es
pr
op
e
th
r
fo
hy
sion of our lack of sympat
d
an
he
ac
e
th
l
fee
to
e
ur
il
fa
r
ou
,
sm
noid anti-Communi
nco
to
s
es
gn
in
ll
wi
r
ou
s
al
ve
re
It
anguish of the have nots.
tinue participating
in neo-colonialist adventures.
r
wa
is
th
of
y
or
st
hi
d
an
nd
ou
er
ck
bu
A brief look at the
e
Th
.
cy
li
po
r
ou
of
ss
ne
li
ug
e
th
y
it
ar
cl
al
ut
reveals with br
in
ce
en
nd
pe
de
in
n
ow
ir
the
ed
im
la
oc
pr
Vietnamese people
,
on
ti
pa
cu
oc
se
ne
pa
Ja
d
an
ch
en
Fr
ed
in
1945 after a comb
re
we
ey
Th
a.
in
Ch
in
on
ti
lu
vo
re
t
is
un
mm
Co
the
re
and befo
ey
th
gh
ou
th
en
Ev
.
nh
Mi
i
Ch
Ho
wn
no
-k
ll
we
w
no
led by the
in
ce
en
nd
pe
de
In
of
n
io
at
ar
cl
De
an
ic
quoted the Amer
e
iz
gn
co
re
to
d
se
fu
re
we
m,
do
ee
fr
of
nt
me
cu
do
n
their ow
reits
in
ce
an
Fr
t
or
pp
su
to
d
de
ci
de
we
them. Instead,
on
si
ci
de
ic
ag
tr
at
th
th
Wi
.
ny
lo
co
er
rm
conquest of her fo
er
et
-d
lf
se
g
in
ek
se
nt
me
rn
ve
go
y
ar
on
ti
lu
vo
re
a
we rejected
t
no
d
he
is
bl
ta
es
en
be
d
ha
t
tha
nt
me
rn
ve
go
a
mination, and
)
ve
lo
t
ea
gr
no
ve
ha
se
me
na
et
Vi
the
by China (for whom
mCo
me
so
ed
ud
cl
in
t
tha
es
rc
fo
us
no
ge
di
in
y
rl
but by clea
munists.
of
le
op
pe
the
ed
ni
de
we
45
19
g
in
ow
ll
fo
For nine years
we
s
ar
ye
ne
ni
For
.
ce
en
nd
pe
de
in
to
ht
rig
the
Vietnam
to
ort
eff
ve
ti
or
ab
ir
the
in
ch
en
Fr
the
d
te
or
pp
financially su
re
we
we
r
wa
the
of
d
en
the
re
fo
Be
m.
na
et
Vi
e
iz
on
re-col
the
re
fo
be
en
Ev
ts.
cos
r
wa
ch
en
Fr
the
of
%
meeting 80
to
n
ga
be
ey
th
u,
Ph
n
Bie
en
Di
at
ed
at
fe
French were de
enWe
.
not
did
we
but
,
on
ti
ac
ss
le
ck
re
despair of their
psu
ry
ta
li
mi
d
an
l
ia
nc
na
fi
ge
hu
r
ou
th
wi
em
th
couraged
l.
wil
the
t
los
d
ha
ey
th
er
aft
en
ev
r
wa
the
ue
in
plies to cont
d
he
ac
re
s
wa
r
wa
e
th
of
nt
me
le
tt
se
ed
at
ti
go
ne
a
When
t
ns
ai
ag
ne
do
s
wa
it
,
rd
co
Ac
va
ne
in 1954, through the Ge
ge
ta
bo
sa
to
d
ul
co
we
at
th
all
g
in
do
our will. After
to
d
se
fu
re
y
all
fin
we
,
rd
co
Ac
va
ne
Ge
the
the planning for
;
sign it.
:
psu
We
.
em
Di
im
Dh
o
Ng
l
tal
ins
ed
lp
he
Soon after this we
his
d
an
rd
co
Ac
va
ne
Ge
e
th
of
al
ay
tr
ported him in his be
d
he
tc
wa
We
s.
on
ti
ec
el
56
19
ed
is
om
refusal to have the pr
rpe
dy
oo
bl
d
an
ss
le
th
ru
in
d
ge
ga
en
he
as
al
with approv
en
Wh
.
es
rc
fo
on
ti
si
po
op
all
of
on
ti
secu
Diem’s infamous
rbe
Li
al
on
ti
Na
e
Th
of
n
io
at
rm
fo
the
to
actions finally led
g
in
ev
li
be
to
in
d
pe
du
s
wa
ic
bl
pu
an
ic
er
ation Front, the Am
om
fr
s
et
pp
pu
by
d
ge
wa
g
in
be
s
wa
n
that the civil rebellio
lp
he
s
an
ic
er
Am
,
or
rr
ho
n
‘I
e:
ot
wr
Hanoi. As Douglas Pike
se
me
na
et
Vi
of
ic
br
fa
e
th
t.
ar
ap
ar
te
em
Di
lessly watched
er
ev
d
ha
ts
is
un
mm
Co
e
th
an
th
y
society more effectivel
his
of
t
ac
t
en
ci
fi
ef
st
mo
e
th
s
wa
It
it.
do
been able to
entire
career.”
ry
ta
li
mi
d
te
or
pp
su
ly
ve
ti
ac
ve
ha
we
h
at
de
Since Diem’s
—
en
Wh
m.
do
ee
fr
for
ng
ti
gh
fi
of
me
na
the
in
dictatorships all
6
the
at
fe
de
t
no
d
ul
co
s
me
gi
re
e
es
th
t
tha
t
en
it became evid
g
in
ll
ca
,
es
rc
fo
r
ou
se
ea
cr
in
ly
di
ea
st
to
n
ga
Vietcong, we be
.
rs
ie
ld
so
ng
ti
gh
fi
an
th
er
th
ra
”
rs
se
vi
ad
y
ar
it
il
“m
em
th
Today
we
are fighting
an
all-out war—undeclared
by
en
em
ic
rv
se
an
ic
er
Am
0
00
0,
50
er
ov
l
wel
Congress. We have
an
ic
er
Am
y.
tr
un
co
y
pp
ha
un
d
an
d
te
gh
ni
be
t
fighting in tha
ory
rit
ter
the
g
in
mb
bo
are
s
ie
tr
un
co
r
he
ot
in
d
se
ba
planes
of their neighbor.
on
ti
na
r
ou
t
tha
is
all
of
y
ed
ag
tr
d
an
y
on
ir
st
te
ea
The gr
the
of
rit
spi
y
ar
on
ti
lu
vo
re
the
of
ch
mu
so
ted
tia
ini
h
ic
wh
modern
world, is now cast in the mold
of being an arch
Onialism.
t
ea
Gr
e
th
is
m
na
et
Vi
in
r
wa
e
th
of
ty
al
su
A third ca
r
ou
th
wi
c
vo
ha
ed
ay
pl
s
ha
r
wa
ed
us
nf
Society. This co
e
th
to
s
on
ti
ta
es
ot
pr
le
eb
fe
e
it
sp
De
domestic destinies.
ot
sh
en
be
ve
ha
y
et
ci
So
t
ea
Gr
e
th
of
es
is
om
pr
e
contrary, th
s
thi
of
t
ui
rs
pu
e
Th
m.
na
et
Vi
of
d
el
fi
le
down on the batt
,
ms
ra
og
pr
e
ar
lf
we
ic
st
me
do
ed
ow
rr
widened war has na
st
ie
av
he
e
th
ar
be
o,
gr
Ne
d
an
e
it
wh
,
or
po
e
making th
burdens
both at the front and at home.
ted
tia
ini
ly
us
io
ut
ca
is
m
ra
og
pr
ty
er
ov
-p
ti
an
While the
ed
nd
pe
ex
lly
era
lib
are
ns
lio
bil
,
ed
is
rv
pe
su
y
sl
ou
and zeal
mis
ed
al
ve
re
ly
ent
rec
e
Th
.
war
ed
er
id
ns
co
lfor this il
of
ns
lio
bil
ten
to
s
nt
ou
am
et
dg
bu
war
estimate of the
e
fiv
an
th
re
mo
is
e
on
al
r
ro
er
is
Th
.
ar
ye
dollars for a single
.
ms
ra
og
pr
ty
er
ov
-p
ti
an
to
d
te
it
mm
co
nt
ou
am
the
times
we
es
ur
nt
ve
ad
n
ig
re
fo
in
ek
se
to
s
es
of
pr
we
ty
The securi
m
Na
t
Vie
in
s
mb
bo
e
Th
.
ies
cit
ng
yi
ca
de
r
ou
will lose in
s
tie
ili
sib
pos
d
an
s
pe
ho
the
y
ro
st
de
ey
th
:
explode at home
:
a.
ic
er
Am
nt
ce
de
for a
~
es
rc
fo
d
me
ar
e
th
ve
ga
d
an
s
nt
me
st
If we reversed inve
if
en
iv
rg
fo
be
d
ul
co
ls
ra
ne
ge
e
th
,
the antipoverty budget
n
ba
ur
y,
rt
ve
Po
t.
us
sg
di
in
d
el
fi
le
tt
ba
e
th
they walked off
.
en
wh
d
re
no
ig
e
ar
y
ll
ra
ne
ge
ss
re
og
pr
problems and social
n.
io
ss
se
ob
al
on
ti
na
a
me
co
be
r
wa
of
ns
gu
e
th
y
em
en
ch
ea
for
00
,0
22
$3
d
en
sp
we
t
tha
It is estimated
y
rt
ve
po
on
r
wa
d
le
al
-c
so
e
th
in
d
we kill, while we spen
e
fi
si
as
cl
on
rs
pe
ch
ea
for
00
3.
$5
t
ou
ab
ly
on
in America
O
es
ri
la
sa
for
es
go
s
ar
ll
do
53
t
tha
as “poor.”” And much of
|
r
wa
the
d
te
la
ca
es
ve
ha
We
.
or
po
t
no
are
people who
y
rt
ve
po
t
ns
ai
ag
sh
mi
ir
sk
e
th
ed
at
al
sc
-e
de
Vietnam and
.
We
es
liv
at
wh
e
at
pl
em
nt
co
to
n
io
at
in
ag
im
It challenges the
g.
lin
kil
e
as
ce
to
re
we
we
if
m
or
sf
an
tr
d
ul
co
d
rl
wo
r
ou
t
tha
e
bl
ta
fu
re
ir
is
it
y
or
st
hi
in
nt
At this mome
when some national governments, for reasons of economic
and diplomatic interest do not condemn us, their people
in surprising measure have made clear they do not share
the official policy.
Another casualty of the war in Vietnam is the humility
of our nation. Through rugged determination, scientific
and technological progress and dazzling achievements,
America has become the richest and most powerful nation
in the world. But honesty impels me to admit that our
power has often made us arrogant. We fee/ that our money
can do anything. We arrogantly feel that we have everything to teach other nations and nothing to learn from
them. We often arrogantly feel that we have some divine,
messianic mission to police the whole world. We are arrogant in not allowing young nations to go through the
same growing pains, turbulence and revolution that characterized
our history. We
are arrogant
in our contention
that we have some sacred mission to protect people from
totalitarian rule, while we make little use of our power to
end the evils of South Africa and Rhodesia, and while we
are in fact supporting dictatorships with guns and money
under the guise of fighting Communism.
We are arrogant in professing to be concerned about
the freedom of foreign nations while not setting our own
house in order. Many of our Senators and Congressmen
vote joyously to appropriate billions of dollars for war in
Vietnam, and these same Senators and Congressmen vote
loudly against a Fair Housing Bill to make it possible for
a Negro veteran of Vietnam to purchase a decent home.
We arm Negro soldiers to kill on foreign battlefields, but
offer little protection for their relatives from beatings and
killings in our own south. We are willing to make the
Negro 100% of a citizen in warfare, but reduce him to
50% of a citizen on American soil. Of all the good things
in life the Negro has approximately one half those of
whites, of the bad he has twice that of whites. Thus, half
of all Negroes live in substandard housing and Negroes
have half the income of whites. When we turn to the
negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share.
There are twice as many unemployed. The infant mortality rate is double that of whites. There are twice as
many Negroes in combat in Vietnam at the beginning of
1967 and twice as many Negro soldiers died in action
(20.6%) in proportion to their numbers in the population
as whites.
All of this reveals that our nation has not yet used its
vast resources of power to end the long night of poverty,
racism
and
man’s
inhumanity
to
man.
Enlarged
power
means enlarged peril if there is not concomitant growth
of the soul. Constructive power is the right use of strength.
Our arrogance can be our doom. It can bring the curtain
down on our national drama. Ultimately a great nation is
a compassionate nation. We are challenged in these turbulent days to use our power to speed up the day when
“every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places plain.”
|
A fifth casualty of the war in Vietnam is the principle of
dissent. An ugly repressive sentiment to silence peaceseekers depicts advocates of immediate negotiation and
persons who call for a cessation of bombings in the north
as quasi-traitors, fools and venal enemies of our soldiers
and institutions. When those who stand for peace are so
vilified it is time to consider where we are going and
whether free speech has not become one of the major
casualties of the war.
Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds
that American tradition forbids criticism of our government when the nation is at war. More than a century ago
when
we were
in a declared
state of war with Mexico,
a
first term congressman by the name of Abraham Lincoln
stood in the halls of Congress and fearlessly and scathingly
denounced that war. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had not
heard of this tradition or he was not inclined to respect it.
Nor had Thoreau and Emerson and many other philosophers who shaped our democratic traditions.
A sixth casualty of the war in Vietnam is the prospect of
mankind’s survival. This war has created the climate for
greater armament and further expansion of destructive
nuclear power.
One of the most persistent ambiguities that we face is
that everybody talks about peace as a goal. However, it
does not take sharpest-eyed sophistication to discern that
while everybody talks about peace, peace has become
practically nobody’s business among the power-wielders.
Many men cry peace! peace! but they refuse to do the
things that make for peace.
The large power blocs of the world talk passionately of
pursuing peace while burgeoning defense budgets bulge,
enlarging already awesome armies, and devising even
more devastating weapons. Call the roll of those who sing
the glad tidings cf peace and one’s ears will be surprised
by the responding sounds. The heads of all of the nations
7
lie tel eae ite eatin
en teeatianneiinme
pro
s
ite
exc
icy
pol
war
Our
l.
frai
lly
ica
het
pat
is
ge
sti
pre
nounced contempt and aversion virtually everywhere. Even
s
r
e
n
i
m
r
e
t
e
d
y
n
i
t
s
e
d
e
s
e
h
t
t
e
y
e
c
a
e
p
r
fo
s
ll
‘ssue clarion ca
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
n
of
d
n
a
g
i
r
b
a
d
n
a
d
n
a
b
a
y
b
come accompanied
choristers,
each
bearing
unsheathed
swords
rather
than
olive branches.
g
n
i
k
l
a
t
s
n
o
i
t
a
n
of
s
r
e
d
a
e
l
e
h
t
y
a
d
is
th
in
e
So when | se
n
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h
W
.
e
s
u
a
p
l
u
f
t
h
g
i
r
f
e
k
a
t
|
,
r
a
w
r
fo
g
n
i
r
a
p
e
r
p
peace while
a
y
l
l
a
c
i
s
a
b
is
t
a
h
w
in
g
n
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n
e
v
r
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t
n
i
y
a
d
o
t
y
r
t
| see our coun
e
s
e
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
of
s
d
n
a
s
u
o
h
t
of
s
d
e
r
d
n
u
h
g
n
i
y
o
r
t
s
e
civil war, d
s
s
e
l
t
n
u
o
c
in
s
e
i
d
o
b
n
e
k
o
r
b
g
n
i
v
a
e
l
,
m
l
a
p
a
n
children with
d
n
a
y
l
l
a
t
n
e
m
,
d
e
t
a
l
i
t
u
m
,
n
e
m
f
l
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h
e
m
o
h
g
fields and sendin
r
u
o
of
s
s
e
n
g
n
i
l
l
i
w
n
u
t
n
a
r
t
i
c
l
a
c
e
r
e
h
t
e
e
s
|
n
e
h
w
physically;
tse
d
e
t
a
i
t
o
g
e
n
a
r
fo
e
r
e
h
p
s
o
m
t
a
e
h
t
e
t
a
e
r
c
government to
e
h
t
in
s
g
n
i
b
m
o
b
g
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i
t
l
a
h
y
b
t
c
i
l
f
n
o
c
l
u
f
w
a
tlement of this
is
th
l
al
d
n
a
—
g
n
o
c
t
e
i
V
e
h
t
h
t
i
w
lk
ta
to
g
n
i
e
e
r
g
north and a
r
fo
e
l
b
m
e
r
t
I
—
e
c
a
e
p
of
l
a
o
g
e
h
t
g
n
i
u
s
r
u
p
in the name of
t
h
g
i
n
e
h
t
of
l
l
a
c
e
r
e
r
i
d
m
o
r
f
y
l
n
o
t
o
n
so
o
d
|
our world.
m
o
r
f
o
s
l
a
t
u
b
,
y
a
d
r
e
t
s
e
y
of
s
r
a
w
e
h
t
in
d
e
mares wreak
e
v
i
t
c
u
r
t
s
e
d
r
a
e
l
c
u
n
e
l
b
i
s
s
o
p
s
’
y
a
d
o
t
of
n
o
i
t
a
dreadful realiz
.
s
t
c
e
p
s
o
r
p
e
l
b
a
n
m
a
d
e
r
o
m
n
e
v
e
s
’
w
o
r
r
o
m
o
ness, and t
s
r
a
w
at
th
y
l
d
u
o
l
s
rt
se
as
it
at
th
in
c
i
t
e
h
p
o
r
p
is
The past
e
n
O
.
s
w
o
r
r
o
m
o
t
l
u
f
e
c
a
e
p
t
u
o
g
n
i
v
r
a
c
r
fo
s
l
e
s
i
are poor ch
s
i
d
a
y
l
e
r
e
m
t
o
n
is
e
c
a
e
p
at
th
e
se
to
e
m
o
c
day we must
at
ve
ri
ar
e
w
h
c
i
h
w
by
s
n
a
e
m
a
t
u
b
,
k
e
e
s
e
w
at
tant goal th
l
u
f
e
c
a
e
p
h
g
u
o
r
h
t
s
d
n
e
l
u
f
e
c
a
e
p
e
u
s
r
u
p
t
s
u
m
that goal. We
r
a
w
y
l
d
a
e
d
at
y
a
l
p
e
w
t
s
u
m
r
e
g
n
o
l
h
c
u
means. How m
m
u
n
n
u
e
th
of
s
a
e
l
p
e
v
i
t
n
i
a
l
p
e
th
d
e
e
h
e
w
e
r
games befo
?
s
r
a
w
t
s
a
p
of
d
e
m
i
a
m
d
n
bered dead a
n
a
M
‘
‘
,
n
o
i
s
a
c
c
o
e
n
o
n
o
d
i
a
s
y
d
e
n
n
e
K
F.
n
h
o
J
President
to
d
n
e
n
a
t
u
p
ll
wi
r
a
w
or
r
a
w
to
d
n
e
an
t
u
kind must p
t
a
h
t
us
ll
te
d
l
u
o
h
s
e
c
n
e
i
r
e
p
x
e
of
n
r
o
b
m
o
d
s
i
mankind.” W
war
is obsolete.
There
may
have
been
a time
when
wah
d
n
a
d
a
e
r
p
s
e
h
t
g
n
i
t
n
e
v
e
r
p
y
b
d
o
o
g
e
v
i
t
served as a nega
d
o
m
of
r
e
w
o
p
e
v
i
t
c
u
r
t
s
e
d
e
h
t
t
u
b
,
e
c
r
o
f
il
ev
growth of an
y
a
m
r
a
w
t
a
h
t
y
t
i
l
i
b
i
s
s
o
p
e
h
t
n
e
v
e
s
e
t
a
n
i
m
i
l
ern weapons e
h
t
r
o
w
is
fe
li
t
a
h
t
e
m
u
s
s
a
e
w
If
.
d
o
o
g
e
v
i
serve as a negat
t
s
u
m
e
w
n
e
h
t
,
e
v
i
v
r
u
s
to
t
h
g
i
r
a
s
a
h
n
a
m
t
a
h
t
living and
e
l
t
r
u
h
s
e
l
c
i
h
e
v
n
e
h
w
y
a
d
a
In
.
r
a
w
to
e
v
i
t
a
n
r
e
find an alt
e
v
r
a
c
s
e
l
i
s
s
i
m
c
i
t
s
i
l
l
a
b
d
e
d
i
u
g
d
n
a
e
c
a
p
s
r
through oute
n
a
c
n
o
i
t
a
n
o
n
,
e
r
e
h
p
s
o
t
a
r
t
s
e
th
h
g
u
o
r
h
t
h
t
a
e
d
of
highways
le
tt
li
e
v
a
e
l
ll
wi
r
a
w
d
e
t
i
m
i
l
d
e
l
l
a
c
o
s
A
.
r
a
w
in
y
r
o
t
claim vic
l
a
c
i
t
i
l
o
p
,
g
n
i
r
e
f
f
u
s
n
a
m
u
h
of
y
c
a
g
e
l
s
u
o
t
i
m
a
l
a
c
a
more than
d
o
G
—
r
a
w
d
l
r
o
w
A
.
t
n
e
m
n
o
i
s
u
l
l
i
s
i
d
l
a
u
t
i
r
i
p
s
turmoil, and
ste
e
t
u
m
a
as
s
e
h
s
a
g
n
i
r
e
d
l
u
o
m
s
y
l
n
o
e
v
a
e
l
torbid!—will
to
y
l
b
a
r
o
x
e
n
i
d
le
y
ll
fo
e
s
o
h
w
e
c
a
r
n
a
m
u
h
timony of a
n
u
t
ir
fl
to
s
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
n
a
m
n
r
e
d
o
m
if
So
.
ultimate death
t
a
t
i
b
a
h
y
l
h
t
r
a
e
s
hi
m
r
o
f
s
n
a
r
t
ll
wi
he
,
r
a
w
h
t
i
w
y
l
hesitating
d
n
i
m
e
th
n
e
v
e
as
h
c
u
into an inferno s
imagine.
8
of Dante could
not
e
b
m
a
i
r
t
e
i
V
in
r
a
w
e
h
t
e
s
o
p
p
o
|
t
a
h
t
y
l
l
a
n
Let me say fi
r
e
g
n
a
in
t
o
n
it
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
t
u
o
k
a
e
p
s
|
.
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
cause | love
l
al
e
v
o
b
a
d
n
a
,
t
r
a
e
h
y
m
in
w
o
r
r
o
s
d
n
a
but with anxiety
d
n
a
t
s
y
r
t
n
u
o
c
d
e
v
o
l
e
b
r
u
o
e
e
s
to
e
r
i
s
e
d
e
t
a
with a passion
is
th
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
t
u
o
k
a
e
p
s
|
.
d
l
r
o
w
e
h
t
of
e
l
p
m
as the moral exa
n
a
c
e
r
e
h
T
.
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
h
t
i
w
d
e
t
n
i
o
p
p
a
s
i
d
m
a
|
war because
.
e
v
o
l
t
a
e
r
g
o
n
is
e
r
e
h
t
e
r
e
h
w
t
n
e
m
t
n
i
o
p
p
a
be no great dis
d
n
a
y
l
e
v
i
t
i
s
o
p
l
a
e
d
to
e
r
u
l
i
a
f
r
u
o
h
t
i
w
d
e
t
n
| am disappoi
a
m
e
m
e
r
t
x
e
,
m
s
i
c
a
r
of
s
il
ev
e
l
p
i
r
t
e
h
t
forthrightly with
a
n
w
o
d
g
n
i
v
o
m
y
l
t
n
e
s
e
r
p
e
ar
e
W
.
m
s
i
r
a
t
i
l
i
m
terialism and
.
r
e
t
s
a
s
i
d
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
n
to
d
a
e
l
n
a
c
t
a
h
t
d
a
o
r
d
n
e
d
dea
n
o
p
u
ll
ca
to
e
c
n
e
i
c
s
n
o
c
of
e
l
p
o
e
p
l
al
r
fo
e
m
lt is ti
d
n
a
d
o
o
h
r
e
h
t
o
r
b
of
e
m
o
h
ue
tr
r
e
h
to
n
r
u
t
America to re
peaceful
pursuits. We
cannot
remain
n
o
i
t
a
n
r
u
o
as
t
n
e
l
i
s
.
s
r
a
w
s
s
e
l
e
s
n
e
s
d
n
a
l
e
u
r
c
t
s
o
m
s
’
y
r
o
t
s
i
h
of
e
n
engages in o
e
g
a
r
u
o
c
n
e
t
s
u
m
e
w
l
ai
av
tr
n
a
m
u
h
of
s
y
a
d
During these
of
r
e
d
n
u
h
t
e
th
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
m
e
h
t
d
e
e
n
e
W
.
s
r
e
t
n
e
creative diss
n
a
h
t
r
e
g
n
o
r
t
s
d
n
u
o
s
y
l
n
o
e
th
e
b
ll
wi
s
e
c
i
o
v
their fearless
.
a
i
r
e
t
s
y
h
r
a
w
of
r
u
o
m
a
l
c
e
th
d
n
a
s
b
m
o
b
the blasts of
y
l
e
v
i
t
c
e
f
f
e
as
e
z
i
n
a
g
r
o
t
s
u
m
e
c
a
e
p
e
v
o
l
o
h
w
us
Those of
r
a
w
of
a
d
n
a
g
a
p
o
r
p
e
th
d
a
e
r
p
s
y
e
h
t
As
.
s
k
w
a
h
as the war
m
o
c
t
s
u
m
e
W
.
e
c
a
e
p
of
a
d
n
a
g
a
p
o
r
p
e
th
d
a
e
r
p
s
we must
e
c
a
e
p
e
th
h
t
i
w
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
ts
gh
ri
l
vi
ci
e
th
of
r
o
v
r
bine the fe
l
ti
un
,
h
c
a
e
r
p
d
n
a
h
c
a
e
t
,
e
t
a
r
t
s
n
o
m
e
d
t
s
u
m
e
W
movement.
t
s
u
m
e
W
.
n
e
k
a
h
s
e
ar
n
o
i
t
a
n
r
u
o
of
s
n
o
i
t
a
d
n
u
o
f
y
the ver
r
e
h
g
i
h
a
to
ve
lo
e
w
at
th
n
o
i
t
a
n
is
th
ft
li
to
y
l
g
n
i
s
a
e
work unc
e
l
b
o
n
e
r
o
m
a
to
,
n
o
i
s
s
a
p
m
o
c
of
u
a
e
t
a
l
p
w
e
n
destiny, to a
expression of humane-ness.
n
o
c
to
is
t
s
e
n
o
h
be
o
T
.
t
s
e
n
o
h
be
to
d
ie
tr
| have
e
t
a
m
i
t
l
u
e
th
at
th
e
z
i
l
a
e
r
to
is
t
s
e
n
o
h
be
o
T
h.
ut
front the tr
f
o
s
t
n
e
m
o
m
in
s
d
n
a
t
s
he
e
r
e
h
w
t
o
n
is
n
a
m
measure of a
convenience
and
moments
of
comfort,
but
where
he
n
o
c
of
s
t
n
e
m
o
m
d
n
a
e
g
n
e
l
l
a
h
c
of
s
t
n
e
m
o
m
stands in
h
ut
tr
e
th
t
n
e
i
n
e
v
n
o
c
n
i
d
n
a
t
n
a
s
a
e
l
p
n
u
r
e
v
e
troversy. How
to
e
ar
e
w
if
it
e
c
a
f
d
n
a
e
s
o
p
x
e
t
s
u
m
e
w
e
v
e
i
l
e
b
|
may be,
.
fe
li
n
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
of
y
t
i
l
achieve a better qua
,
n
a
i
r
o
t
s
i
h
n
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
d
e
h
s
i
u
g
n
i
t
s
i
d
e
th
y,
da
r
e
h
t
o
Just the
a
e
c
i
t
s
u
J
“
:
e
e
t
t
i
m
m
o
C
e
t
a
n
e
S
a
ld
to
,
r
e
g
a
m
m
o
C
e
Henry Steel
Holmes
used
n
o
s
s
e
l
t
rs
fi
e
th
at
th
y
to sa
e
w
.
.
.
d
o
G
t
o
n
s
a
w
learn was that he
a judge
had to
do tend perhaps x
u
r
c
to
in
s
r
a
w
r
u
o
m
r
o
f
s
n
a
r
t
to
,
s
n
o
i
t
a
n
r
e
h
t
o
n
more tha
-.
in
,
st
ca
is
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
in
t
n
e
m
e
v
l
o
v
n
i
t
n
e
r
r
u
c
r
u
sades... o
l
a
r
o
m
a
to
in
,
y
l
g
n
i
s
a
cre
e
w
at
th
g
n
i
l
e
e
f
y
m
is
t
mold... I
,
l
a
r
o
m
or
l
a
u
t
c
e
l
l
e
t
n
i
,
l
a
i
r
e
t
a
m
,
s
e
c
r
u
o
s
e
r
e
th
e
do not hav
d
n
a
r
e
w
o
p
n
a
e
p
o
r
u
E
a
,
r
e
w
o
p
n
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
an
e
to be at onc
an Asian power.”
_
©
|
| agree with Mr. Commager. And | would
there is, however, another kind of power that
and should be. It is a moral power, a power
the service of peace and human beings, not
suggest that
America can
harnessed to
an inhumane
power unleashed against defenseless people. All the world
knows
that America
is a great
military
power.
We
need
not be diligent in seeking to prove it. We must now show
the world our moral power.
We still have a choice today: nonviolent co-existence or
violent co-annihilation. History will record the choice we
made. It is still not too late to make the proper choice. If
we decide to become
a moral power we will be able to
transform the jangling discords of this world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. If we make the wise decision
we will be able to transform our pending cosmic elegy into
a creative psalm of peace. This will be a glorious day.-In
reaching it we can fulfill the noblest of American dreams.
Addresses given at Riverside Church
Sponsored
by: CLERGY
AND
LAYMEN
| come to this magnificent house of worship tonight
because my conscience leaves me no other choice. | join
you in this meeting because | am in deepest agreement
with the aims and work of the organization which has
brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned About
Vietnam. The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and | found myself
in full accord when | read its opening lines: “A time
comes when silence is betrayal.’ That time has come for
us in relation to Vietnam.
:
The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even
when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not
easily assume the task of opposing their government's
policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human
spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy
of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in
the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand
seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this
dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty: but we must move on.
Some of us who have already begun to break the silence
of the night have found that the calling to speak is often
a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak
with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited
vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well,
for surely this is the first time in our nation’s history that
a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen
to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism
to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the
mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace
10
Meeting,
New York City, Tuesday April 4, 1967
CONCERNED
ABOUT
its movements
well and pray that our own
VIETNAM
inner being.
may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need —
of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close i
around us.
Over the past two years, as | have moved to break the
betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burn-©
ings of my own heart, as | have called for radical depar- a
tures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have —
questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart”
of their concerns this query has often loomed large and
loud: Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? Why
are you joining the voices of dissent? Peace and civi
rights don’t mix, they say. Aren’t you hurting the cause
of your people, they ask? And when | hear them, though
| often understand the sources of their concern, | am
nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean
that the inquirers have not really known me, my commit
ment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest tha!
they do not know the world in which they live.
&
In the light of such tragic misunderstanding, | deem it
of signal importance to try to state clearly, and | trust
concisely, why ! believe that the path from Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church —the church in Montgomery, Alabama™
e clearly to this sanc;
— leads
where | began my pastorat
3
tuary tonight.
| come
plea to my
Hanoi or
dressed to
to this platform tonight to make a passionate :
beloved nation. This speech is not addressed to
to the National Liberation Front. It is not adx
China or to Russia.
Nor is it an attempt to overlook the ambiguity of the
total situation and the need for a collective solutiont
=
ke
ma
to
t
mp
te
at
an
it
is
r
he
it
Ne
m.
na
et
Vi
of
the tragedy
ns
go
ra
pa
t
on
Fr
on
ti
ra
be
Li
al
on
ti
Na
the
or
North Vietnam
a
in
ay
pl
n
ca
ey
th
e
rol
the
ok
lo
er
ov
to
of virtue, nor
successful
resolution
problem.
of the
they
While
both
od
go
the
of
us
io
ic
sp
su
be
to
on
as
re
e
bl
ia
if
st
ju
may have
nt
ue
oq
el
ve
gi
y
or
st
hi
d
an
e
lif
,
es
at
St
faith of the United
ed
lv
so
re
r
ve
ne
are
s
ct
li
nf
co
t
tha
testimony to the fact
s.
de
si
th
bo
on
ke
ta
d
an
ve
gi
without trustful
d
an
i
no
Ha
th
wi
k
ea
sp
to
t
no
sh
wi
|
r,
Tonight, howeve
,
me
th
wi
o,
wh
s
an
ic
er
Am
ow
ll
fe
the NLF, but rather to my
at
th
ct
li
nf
co
a
ng
di
en
in
ty
li
bi
si
on
sp
re
bear the greatest
.
ts
en
in
nt
co
th
bo
on
e
ic
pr
y
av
he
a
d
te
has exac
sur
not
is
it
e
os
pp
su
|
de,
tra
by
er
ch
ea
pr
Since | am a
m
na
et
Vi
ng
gi
in
br
for
s
on
as
re
l
ra
ve
se
ve
ha
|
t
tha
prising
into the field of my moral vision. There is at the outset
the
n
ee
tw
be
on
ti
ec
nn
co
ile
fac
st
mo
al
d
an
s
ou
vi
ob
y
a ver
en
be
ve
ha
,
rs
he
ot
d
an
I,
le
gg
ru
st
the
d
an
m
na
et
Vi
war in
waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining
l
rea
a
s
wa
e
er
th
if
as
ed
em
se
It
.
le
gg
ru
st
t
tha
in
moment
promise of hope for the poor—both black and white—
through the Poverty Program. There were experiments,
hopes, new beginnings. Then came the build-up in Vietd
te
ra
ce
is
ev
d
an
en
ok
br
m
ra
og
pr
the
d
he
tc
wa
|
d
an
m
na
as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone
mad on war, and | 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 demoniacal destructive suction tube. So | was increasingly compelled to see
the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.
Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place
when it became clear to me that the war was doing far
the
in
ce
en
ri
pe
ex
my
of
out
s
ow
gr
it
for
s,
awarenes
ly
al
ci
pe
es
s—
ar
ye
e
re
th
t
las
the
er
ov
h
rt
no
the
ghettos of
des
the
g
on
am
ed
lk
wa
ve
ha
|
As
.
rs
me
rm
su
e
the last thre
em
th
d
tol
ve
ha
|
n
me
g
un
yo
y
gr
an
d
an
ed
ct
je
re
,
te
pera
ir
the
e
lv
so
not
d
ul
wo
les
rif
d
an
s
il
ta
ck
co
v
to
that Molo
as
mp
co
t
es
ep
de
my
em
th
er
off
to
ed
tri
ve
ha
problems. |
ge
an
ch
ial
soc
t
tha
on
ti
ic
nv
co
my
g
in
in
ta
in
ma
e
il
wh
sion
But
.
on
ti
ac
t
en
ol
vi
nno
h
ug
ro
th
ly
ul
gf
in
an
me
comes most
ey
Th
m?
na
et
Vi
t
ou
ab
t
ha
—w
so
y
htl
rig
d
an
d—
ke
as
they
of
s
se
do
e
iv
ss
ma
g
in
us
’t
sn
wa
on
ti
na
n
ow
r
ou
if
asked
s
ge
an
ch
the
t
ou
ab
g
in
br
to
,
ms
le
ob
pr
its
e
lv
so
to
violence
|!
t
tha
ew
kn
|
d
an
,
me
ho
hit
s
on
ti
es
qu
r
ei
Th
.
ed
nt
it wa
of
ce
en
ol
vi
the
t
ns
ai
ag
e
ic
vo
my
se
rai
n
ai
ag
could never
en
ok
sp
st
fir
ng
vi
ha
t
ou
th
wi
s
to
et
gh
the
in
d
se
es
pr
op
the
d
rl
wo
the
in
ce
en
ol
vi
of
or
ey
rv
pu
st
te
ea
gr
the
clearly to
,
ys
bo
e
os
th
of
ke
sa
the
For
.
nt
me
rn
ve
go
n
ow
my
y—
da
to
nhu
the
of
ke
sa
the
for
,
nt
me
rn
ve
go
s
thi
of
ke
for the sa
nca
|
,
ce
en
ol
vi
r
ou
r
de
un
g
in
bl
em
tr
s
nd
sa
ou
th
of
s
ed
dr
not
be
silent.
For those who ask the question, “Aren’t you a Civil
Rights leader?” and thereby mean to exclude me from the
movement for peace, | have this further answer. In 1957
der
Lea
ian
ist
Chr
rn
he
ut
So
the
ed
rm
fo
us
of
up
gro
a
when
ship Conference, we chose as our motto: “To save the
soul of America.’” We were convinced that we could not
inbut
,
ple
peo
ck
bla
for
hts
rig
n
tai
cer
to
ion
vis
our
it
lim
stead affirmed the conviction that America would never
be free or saved from itself unless the descendants of its
slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still
wear.
In a way
to die in extraordinarily
high
Southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we
have been
repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching-Negro
and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together
for a nation that has been unable to seat them together
in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity
burning the huts of a poor village but we realize that they
would never live on the same block in Detroit. | could
not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of
the poor.
~ My
third
reason
moves
to
an
even
deeper
level
of
agreeing with
Langston
Hughes,
O, yes,
| say it plain,
America
never was America to me,
And yet | swear this oath—
propor-
tions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the 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
were
that black bard of Harlem, who had written earlier:
more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It
was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and
we
America will be!
Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who
has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America’s soul becomes
totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam.
It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest
hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who
are yet determined that America will be are led down
the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of
our
land. -
As if the weight of such a commitment to the life and
health of America were not enough, another burden of
responsibility was placed upon me in 1964; and | cannot
forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commis11
their children and ours, for black and for white, for revo-
lutionary and conservative? Have they forgotten that my
ministry is in obedience to the one who loved his enemies
so fully that he died for them? What then can | say to
the Vietcong or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister
of this one? Can | threaten them with death or must |
not share with them my life?
Finally, as | try to delineate for you and for myself the
road that leads from Montgomery to this place | would
have offered all that was most valid if | simply said that
| must be true to my conviction that | share with all men
the calling to be a son of the Living God. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship
and because | believe that the Father is
and brotherhood,
deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless
and outcast children, | come tonight to speak for them.
This | believe to be the privilege and the burden of all
of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and
which go beyond our nation’s self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy,
for no document from human hands can make these
humans any less our brothers.
And as | ponder the madness of Vietnam and search
within myself for ways to understand and respond in
compassion my mind goes constantly to the people of
that peninsula. | speak now not of the soldiers of each
side, not of the junta in Saigon, but simply of the people
who have been living under the curse of war for almost
three continuous decades now. | think of them too because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful
solution there until some attempt is made to know them
and hear their broken cries.
They must see Americans as strange liberators. The Vietnamese people proclaimed their own independence in
1945 -after a combined French and Japanese occupation,
and before the communist revolution in China. They were
led by Ho Chi Minh. Even though they quoted the Ameri12
ee
Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people —
were not “ready” for independence, and we again fell :
victim to the deadly western arrogance that has poisoned .
the international atmosphere for so long. With that tragic_
decision we rejected a revolutionary government seeking —
self-determination, and a government that had been estabby China
not
lished
no |
have
the Vietnamese
(for whom
/
great love) but by clearly indigenous forces that included “
some communists. For the peasants this new government
meant real land reform, one of the most important needs
ae
in their lives.
For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of
Vietnam the right of independence. For nine years we
vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to
re-colonize Vietnam.
ee
Before the end of the war we were meeting 80% of the
French war costs. Even before the French were defeated
at Dien
Bien
to despair of the reckless : re
Phu, they began
encouraged them with our o
r
a
w
e
h
t
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
o
t
s
e
i
l
p
p
u
s
y
r
a
t
i
l
i
m
d
n
a
l
a
i
c
n
a
n
i
f
huge
action, but we did not. We
even after they had lost the will. Soon we would
ing
the
almost
full
attempt
of this tragic
costs
pe
be pay-
at .re- aoe
colonization.
After the French were defeated it looked as if inde-.
pendence and land reform would come again through
the Geneva agreements. But instead there came the United.
States, determined that Ho should not unify the tempo-.
rarily divided nation, and the peasants watched again‘as we supported one of the most vicious modern dictators.
—our
chosen
man,
and cringed as Diem
their
supported
to discuss
watched
Diem.
Premier
The
peasants watched -
ruthlessly routed out all opposition ;
extortionist
re-unification
as all this was
landlords
with
the
presided
and
even
The
peasants
by U.S.
influence
North.
over
refused
and then by increasing numbers of U.S. troops who came
to help quell the insurgency that Diem’s methods ha
aroused. When Diem was overthrown they may have bee!
happy, but the long line of military dictatorships seemed”
to offer no
real change—especially
for land and peace.
The only change
our troop
came
commitments
from
in terms
America
in support
of their need”
as we
:
increased.
of governments
whi
were singularly corrupt, inept and without popular: su
port. All the while the people read our leaflets and °
ceived regular promises of peace and democracy —an<
zi
sion—a commission to work harder than | had ever
worked before for “the brotherhood of man.” This is a
calling that takes me beyond national allegiances, but
even if it were not present | would yet have to live with
the meaning of my commitment to the ministry of Jesus
Christ. To me the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that | sometimes marvel at
those who ask me why | am speaking against the war.
Could it be that they do not know that the good news
was meant for all men—for communist and capitalist, for
|
.
nt
me
cu
do
n
ow
ir
the
in
ce
en
nd
pe
de
In
of
n
io
at
ar
cl
De
can
we
d,
ea
st
In
.
em
th
e
iz
gn
co
re
to
d
se
fu
re
we
m,
of freedo
decided to support France in its re-conquest of her former
colony.
|
land
reform.
Now
they
languish
under
our bombs
consider us—not their fellow Vietnamese—the
and
real enemy.
They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off
the land of their fathers into concentration camps where
minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they
must move or be destroyed by our bombs. So they go—
primarily women and children and the aged.
They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers
roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious
trees. They wander into the hospitals, with at least 20
casualties from American firepower for one Vietconginflicted injury. They wander into the towns and see
thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the
children degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food.
They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers,
soliciting for their mothers.
What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with
the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our
many words concerning land reform? What do they think
as we test out our latest weapons on them, just as the
Germans tested out new medicine and new tortures in
the concentration camps of Europe? Where are the roots
of the independent Vietnam we claim to be building? Is
it among these voiceless ones?
We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their
land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing
of the nation’s only non-communist revolutionary political
force—the unified Buddhist Church. We have supported
the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. We have corrupted
their women and children and killed their men. What
liberators!
Now there is little left to build on—save bitterness. Soon
the only solid physical foundations remaining will be
found at our military bases and in the concrete of the
concentration camps we call fortified hamlets. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam
on such grounds as these? Could we blame them for such
thoughts? We must speak for them and raise the questions
they cannot
raise. These
too are our
brothers.
Perhaps the more difficult but no less necessary task
is to speak for those who have been designated as our
that
enemies. What of the National Liberation Fro— nt
Strangely anonymous group we call VC or Communists?
What must they think of us in America when they realize
that we
permitted
the
repression
and
cruelty of Diem
which helped to bring them into being as a resistance
group in the south? What do they think of our condoning
the violence which led to their own taking up of arms?
How can they believe in our integrity when now we speak
of “aggression from the North” as if there were nothing
more essential to the war? How can they trust us when
now we charge them with violence after the murderous
reign of Diem, and charge them with violence while we
pour every new weapon of death into their land? Surely
we must understand their feelings even if we do not condone their actions. Surely we must see that the men we
supported pressed them to their violence. Surely we must
see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply
dwarf their greatest acts.
How do they judge us when our officials know that
their membership is less than 25 per cent communist and
yet insist on giving them the blanket name? What must
they be thinking when they know that we are aware of
their control of major sections of Vietnam and yet we
appear ready to allow national elections in which this
highly organized political parallel government will have
no part? They ask how we can speak of free elections
when the Saigon press is censored and controlled by the
military junta. And they are surely right to wonder what
kind of new government we plan to help form without
them—the only party in real touch with the peasants. They
question our political goals and they deny the reality of
a peace settlement
Their questions are
planning to build on
it up with the power
from which they will be excluded.
frighteningly relevant. Is our nation
political myth again and then shore
of new violence?
Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and
non-violence when it helps us to see the enemy’s point
of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of
ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic
weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature,
we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of
the brothers who are called the opposition.
So, too, with Hanoi. In the North, where our bombs
now pummel the land, and our mines endanger the water-
ways, we are met by a deep but understandable mistrust.
To speak for them is to explain this lack of confidence in
western words, and especially their distrust of American
intentions now. In Hanoi are the men who led the nation
to independence against the Japanese and the French, the
men who sought membership in the French commonwealth and were betrayed by the weakness of Paris and
the willfulness of the colonial armies. It was they who led
a second
struggle
against
French
domination
at tremen-
13
d
lan
the
up
e
giv
to
d
de
ua
rs
pe
re
we
en
th
dous costs, and
a
as
el
all
par
th
17
d
an
th
13
the
n
ee
tw
they controlled be
d
he
tc
wa
ey
th
54
19
r
te
Af
.
va
ne
Ge
at
e
temporary measur
us conspire with Diem
to prevent elections which would
ed
it
un
a
er
ov
r
we
po
to
nh
Mi
Chi
Ho
t
gh
have surely brou
in.
aga
ed
ay
tr
be
en
be
d
ha
ey
th
ed
iz
al
re
ey
th
d
an
m,
na
et
Vi
e
es
th
e,
at
ti
go
ne
to
p
lea
not
do
ey
th
y
wh
ask
we
When
the
t
tha
ar
cle
be
st
mu
it
so
Al
.
ed
er
mb
me
re
be
things must
leaders of Hanoi
considered
the presence of American
ini
the
en
be
ve
ha
to
me
gi
re
em
Di
the
of
t
or
pp
su
troops in
ng
ni
er
nc
co
ts
en
em
re
Ag
va
ne
Ge
the
of
ch
ea
br
tial military
n
gi
be
not
did
ey
th
t
tha
us
nd
mi
re
ey
th
d
an
,
ps
oo
tr
n
ig
fore
il
unt
n
me
or
es
li
pp
su
of
er
mb
nu
ge
lar
y
an
in
to send
s.
nd
sa
ou
th
of
s
ten
the
o
int
d
ve
mo
d
ha
American forces
us
tell
to
d
se
fu
re
s
der
lea
our
w
ho
s
er
mb
me
Hanoi re
for
s
re
tu
er
ov
se
me
na
et
Vi
h
rt
No
r
lie
ear
the truth about the
had
y
the
en
wh
d
ste
exi
ne
no
t
tha
d
me
ai
cl
we
peace, how
a
ic
er
Am
as
d
he
tc
wa
has
nh
Mi
Chi
Ho
.
de
ma
clearly been
he
w
no
and
,
ces
for
its
up
lt
bui
and
e
ac
pe
of
en
ok
has sp
of
rs
mo
ru
l
na
io
at
rn
te
in
ng
si
ea
cr
in
the
d
ar
he
has surely
y
onl
s
ap
rh
Pe
th.
Nor
the
of
on
si
va
in
an
for
American plans
rs
hea
he
en
wh
m
hi
e
sav
can
ny
iro
and
r
mo
hu
of
his sense
his
of
ng
ki
ea
sp
d
rl
wo
the
of
ion
nat
ul
the most powerf
or
po
a
on
s
mb
bo
of
s
nd
sa
ou
th
s
op
dr
it
aggression as
.
res
sho
its
om
fr
ay
aw
es
mil
00
8,0
n
tha
re
mo
ion
weak nat
ve
ha
|
e
il
wh
at
th
r
ea
cl
it
ke
ma
ld
ou
sh
|
t
At this poin
eic
vo
e
th
to
e
ic
vo
a
ve
gi
to
s
te
nu
mi
w
fe
tried in these last
e
os
th
of
s
nt
me
gu
ar
e
th
nd
ta
rs
de
un
to
less on Vietnam and
t
ou
ab
d
ne
er
nc
co
ly
ep
de
as
am
|
y,
em
en
ed
ll
“who are ca
to
rs
cu
oc
it
r
Fo
e.
els
ng
hi
yt
an
as
e
er
th
our own troops
is
m
na
et
Vi
in
to
em
th
ng
ti
it
bm
su
are
me that what we
y
an
in
on
es
go
at
th
s
es
oc
pr
g
in
iz
al
not simply the brut
y.
ro
st
de
to
ek
se
d
an
r
he
ot
ch
ea
e
fac
es
mi
ar
war where
ey
th
for
h,
at
de
of
s
es
oc
pr
the
to
sm
ci
ni
cy
We are adding
the
of
ne
no
t
tha
e
er
th
od
ri
pe
t
or
sh
a
must know after
.
ed
lv
vo
in
lly
rea
are
for
ng
ti
gh
fi
be
to
things we claim
has
nt
me
rn
ve
go
ir
the
t
tha
ow
kn
Before long they must
re
mo
the
d
an
,
se
me
na
et
Vi
g
on
am
le
gg
ru
st
a
sent them into
the
of
e
sid
the
on
are
we
t
tha
e
liz
rea
ly
re
su
sophisticated
.
or
po
the
for
l
hel
a
te
ea
cr
we
e
il
wh
re
cu
se
wealthy and the
w.
no
op
st
st
mu
We
e.
as
ce
st
mu
s
es
dn
ma
s
thi
w
Someho
g
in
er
ff
su
e
th
to
r
he
ot
br
d
an
d
Go
of
d
il
ch
a
speak as
g
in
be
is
nd
la
e
os
wh
e
os
th
for
k
ea
sp
|
m.
na
poor of Viet
cul
e
os
wh
d,
ye
ro
st
de
g
in
be
are
s
me
ho
e
os
laid waste, wh
a
ic
er
Am
of
or
po
e
th
for
k
ea
sp
|
d.
te
er
bv
su
ture is being
at
s
pe
ho
d
he
as
sm
of
e
ic
pr
le
ub
do
e
th
ng
who are payi
a
as
k
ea
sp
|
m.
na
et
Vi
in
on
ti
up
rr
co
d
an
home and death
at
st
ha
ag
ds
an
st
it
as
d
rl
wo
e
th
for
d,
rl
wo
e
th
of
citizen
e
th
to
an
ic
er
Am
an
as
k
ea
sp
|
n.
ke
ta
ve
ha
the path we
14
”
war
s
thi
in
e
tiv
tia
ini
at
gre
The
.
ion
nat
n
ow
my
of
leaders
ts
s.
our
be
t
mus
it
p
sto
to
is ours. The initiative
ge
s
der
lea
st
dhi
Bud
at
gre
the
of
e
ag
ss
me
the
This is
ch
‘Ea
ds:
wor
se
the
te
wro
em
th
of
one
ly
ent
Rec
Vietnam.
.
of
rt
hea
the
in
ses
rea
inc
red
hat
the
on,
s
day the war goe
—
an
ri
ta
ni
ma
hu
of
se
tho
of
rts
hea
the
in
and
the Vietnamese
o
int
s
end
fri
ir
the
n
eve
g
cin
for
are
s
an
ic
er
Am
The
instinct.
becoming their enemies.
It is curious that the Americans,
.
ry
ta
li
mi
of
s
tie
ili
sib
pos
the
on
lly
efu
car
so
who calculate
urinc
are
y
the
s
ces
pro
the
in
t
tha
e
liz
rea
not
do
victory,
of
ge
ima
The
.
eat
def
cal
iti
pol
and
l
ica
log
ring deep psycho
e-~
fre
n,
tio
olu
rev
of
e
ag
im
the
be
in
aga
er
nev
l
wil
a
Americ
_
and
ce
len
vio
of
e
ag
im
the
but
y,
ac
cr
mo
de
dom and
militarism.”
d
an
nd
mi
my
in
t
ub
do
no
be
l
wil
e
lf we continue ther
ine
bl
ra
no
ho
no
ve
ha
we
at
th
d
rl
wo
e
th
of
in the mind
~
l
ma
ni
mi
r
ou
at
th
r
ea
cl
me
co
be
l
tentions in Vietnam. It wil
~
d
an
ny
lo
co
an
ic
er
Am
an
as
it
py
cu
expectation is to oc
m
mu
xi
ma
r
ou
at
th
ng
ki
in
th
om
fr
men will not refrain
mb
bo
y
ma
we
at
th
so
r
wa
a
to
in
a
in
hope is to goad Ch
t
ns
ai
ag
r
wa
r
ou
op
st
t
no
do
we
If
s.
her nuclear installation
t
lef
be
l
wil
d
rl
wo
e
th
y
el
at
di
me
the people of Vietnam im
—
ly
ib
rr
ho
me
so
as
s
thi
e
se
to
an
th
with no other alternative
.
ay
pl
to
d
de
ci
de
ve
ha
we
me
ga
clumsy and deadly
we
at
th
a
ic
er
Am
of
ty
ri
tu
ma
a
s
The world now demand
—
t
mi
ad
we
at
th
s
nd
ma
de
It
e.
ev
may not be able to achi
ad
r
ou
of
g
in
nn
gi
be
e
th
om
that we have been wrong fr
venture
in Vietnam,
that we
have
been
detrimental to y
‘ab
the life of the Vietnamese people.
m,
na
et
Vi
in
rs
ro
er
d
an
ns
si
r
In order to atone for ou
is
th
to
lt
ha
a
ng
gi
in
br
in
we should take the initiative
at
th
gs
in
th
te
re
nc
co
ve
fi
t
es
tragic war. | would like to sugg
ng
lo
e
th
n
gi
be
to
y
el
at
di
me
im
do
our government should
a
is
th
om
fr
s
ve
el
rs
ou
g
and difficult process of extricatin
nightmarish conflict:
in North and South Vietnam.
,
h
c
u
s
at
th
e
p
o
h
e
th
in
re
fi
2. Declare a unilateral cease*
n.
io
at
ti
go
ne
r
fo
re
he
sp
mo
at
action will create the
1. End all bombing
s,
nd
ou
gr
le
tt
ba
r
he
ot
t
en
ev
pr
to
3. Take immediate steps
u
dil
bu
ry
ta
li
mi
r
ou
ng
li
ai
rt
in Southeast Asia by cu
in Thailand
and
our interference
in Laos.
ra
be
Li
al
on
ti
Na
e
th
at
th
4. Realistically accept the fact
tion Front has substantial
support
in South Vietnam
ps
oo
tr
n
ig
re
fo
all
e
v
o
m
e
r
5. Set a date that we will
va
ne
Ge
54
19
e
th
th
wi
e
c
n
a
d
r
o
c
c
a
from Vietnam in
Agreement.
Part of our ongoing commitment might well express
itself in an offer to grant asylum to any Vietnamese who
fears for his life under a new regime which included the
Liberation Front. Then we must make what reparations
we can for the damage we have done. We must provide
the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available
in this country if necessary.
Meanwhile we in the churches and synagogues have a
continuing
engage
while
task
we
urge
a disgraceful
itself from
our
government
commitment.
We
to
dis-
must
continue to raise our voices if our nation persists in its
perverse ways in Vietnam. We must be prepared to match
actions with words by seeking out every creative means
of protest possible.
As we
counsel
young
men
concerning
military service
we must clarify for them our nation’s role in Vietnam and
challenge them with the alternative of conscientious objection. | am pleased to say that this is the path now being chosen by more than seventy students at my own
Alma Mater, Morehouse College, and | recommend it to
all who find the American course in Vietnam a dishonorable and unjust one. Moreover | would encourage all
ministers of draft age to give up their ministerial exemptions and seek status as conscientious objectors. These
are the times for real choices and not false ones. We are
at the moment when our lives must be placed on the
line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man
of humane convictions must decide on the protest that
best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.
a popular
crusade
against the war
in Vietnam.
Say we must enter that struggle, but | wish to go on now
to say something even more disturbing. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the
American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we
will find 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 attend-
ing rallies without end unless there is a significant and
Profound change in American life and policy. Such
thoughts
take
us
beyond
Vietnam,
Calling as sons of the living God.
but
not
beyond
our
. In 1957 a sensitive American official overseas said that
IC seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side
Of a world revolution. During the past 10 years we have
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
profits of overseas investment.
| 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 the
shift from a “thing-oriented’” society to a ‘‘person-oriented’”” society. When machines and computers, profit
motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism,
and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of value 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
There is something seductively tempting about stopping
there and sending us all off on what in some circles has
become
seen emerge a pattern of suppression which now has
justified the presence of U.S. military “advisors” in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action
of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American
helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Colombia
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.”
|
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 flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and
superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs re-structuring. A true revolution of
values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of
poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will
look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the
West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and
South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say:
“This is not just.” It will look at our alliance with the
landed gentry of Latin America and say: “This is not just.’”’
The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything
to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not
just.
A
true
revolution
of values
will
lay
hands
on
the
world order and say of war: ‘This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings
Me
with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans
and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into
the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men
home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handi-
capped
and
psychologically deranged,
cannot be recon-
ciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military
revolutions that we initiated. Our only hope today lies in
our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out
into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility
to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful
commitment we shall boldly challenge the status-quo and
unjust mores and thereby speed the day when ‘every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall
low,
and
the crooked
shall
be
made
straight
defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death.
be made
America, the richest and most powerful nation in the
world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values.
There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent
us from re-ordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of
peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There
is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant statusquo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into
a brotherhood.
A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than
sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding
loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the
best in their individual societies.
This
kind
of positive
revolution
defense against Communism.
of values
is our best
War is not the answer. Com-
munism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs
or nuclear weapons. Let us not join those who shout war
and through their misguided passions urge the United
States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations.
These are days wnich demand wise restraint and calm
reasonableness. We must not call everyone a Communist
Or an appeaser who advocates the seating of Red China
in the United Nations and who recognizes that hate and
hysteria are not the final answers to the problem of these
turbulent days. We must not engage in a negative antiCommunism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy,
realizing that our greatest defense against Communism is
to take offensive action in behalf of justice. We must with
positive action seek to remove those conditions of pov-
erty, insecurity and injustice which
which the seed of Communism
are the fertile soil in
grows and develops.
These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men
are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless
and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never
before. “The people who sat in darkness have seen a
great light.” We in the West must support these revolutions.
It is a sad
fact that, because
of comfort,
compla-
cency, a morbid fear of Communism, and our proneness
to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated
so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world
have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries. This has
driven many to feel that only Marxism has the revolutionary spirit. Therefore, Communism
is a judgment against our
failure to make democracy real and follow through on the
@
16
and the rough
places plain.”
This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly
concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in
reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love
for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted
concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the
world as a weak and cowardly force—has now become an
absolute necessity for the survival gf man. When | speak of
love | am not speaking of some sentimental and weak
response. | am speaking of that force which all of the
great religions have seen as the supreme ‘unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the
door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-MoslemChristian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is
beautifully
summed
up
in the first epistle of Saint John:
Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone
that
that
loveth
loveth
is born of God and knoweth God. He
not knoweth not God; for God is love.
oe
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his
love is perfected
in us.
Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of
3
|
f
‘o
d
o
G
e
th
p
i
h
s
r
o
w
to
rd
fo
af
er
ng
lo
no
n
ca
e
W
the day.
=
s
n
of
a
e
c
n.
o
e
h
io
T
at
li
ta
re
r
of
ta
al
e
e
r
th
o
f
e
b
w
Hate or bo
history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate.
;
History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and: indi-
viduals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. AS
t
tha
ce
for
te
ma
ti
ul
the
is
e
ov
‘L
s:
say
e
be
yn
To
ld
no
Ar
makes for the saving choice of life and good against the
damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope
in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to
have the last word.”
We
are now faced with the fact that tomorrow
is toda
.
s
thi
In
.
now
of
y
enc
urg
rce
fie
the
h
wit
ed
nt
We are confro
unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such. a
thing as being too late. Procrastination
is still the thief of
time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and d
of
s
air
aff
the
in
de
“ti
The
ty.
uni
ort
opp
t
los
jected with a
y
cr
y
a
m
e
W
.
bs
eb
it
d;
oo
fl
e
th
at
n
i
a
m
e
r
t
no
es
do
a men’”
me
ti
t
bu
e,
ag
ss
pa
r
he
in
e
s
u
a
p
to
me
ti
r
fo
y
l
e
t
a
r
e
p
s
e
d
out
d
e
h
c
a
e
l
b
e
th
r
e
v
O
.
on
es
sh
ru
d
an
ea
pl
y
er
ev
is deaf to
e
ar
s
on
ti
za
li
vi
Ci
s
u
o
r
e
m
u
n
of
e
du
si
re
d
e
l
b
m
u
j
d
an
bones
o
o
T
“
:
s
d
r
o
w
ic
et
th
pa
written the
late.’ There is an invis-
or
e
nc
la
gi
vi
r
ou
s
d
r
o
c
e
r
ly
ul
hf
it
fa
at
th
fe
li
‘ble book of
n
te
it
wr
g
n
i
v
a
h
d
an
,
es
it
wr
er
ng
fi
g
n
i
v
o
m
e
h
T
‘
t.
ec
our negl
t
n
e
l
o
i
v
n
o
n
y:
da
to
e
c
i
o
h
c
a
e
moves on....” We still hav
.
n
o
i
t
a
l
i
h
i
n
n
a
o
c
t
en
ol
vi
co-existence or
We must move
new
ways
nd
fi
st
mu
e
W
.
on
ti
ac
to
on
past indecisi
to speak
for
peace
in Vietnam
justice
and
s
er
rd
bo
at
th
d
rl
wo
a
—
d
l
r
o
w
g
n
i
p
o
l
e
v
e
d
e
th
t
u
o
h
g
u
o
r
h
t
d
e
g
g
a
r
d
be
ly
re
su
l
al
sh
we
t
ac
on our doors. If we do not
re
me
ti
of
s
or
id
rr
co
l
u
f
e
m
a
h
s
d
an
rk
da
ng
lo
e
th
n
dow
,
n
o
i
s
s
a
p
m
o
c
t
ou
th
wi
r
e
w
o
p
s
served for those who posses
t.
gh
si
t
ou
th
wi
th
ng
re
st
d
an
,
ty
li
might without mora
to
s
ve
el
rs
ou
e
at
ic
ed
-d
re
us
Now let us begin. Now let
w
ne
a
r
fo
le
l
gg
u
ru
f
st
—
i
t
u
a
e
b
rt
the long and bitt—ebu
d,
Go
of
ns
so
e
th
of
g
in
ll
ca
world. This is the
and our
e
th
y
sa
we
l
al
Sh
.
se
on
sp
re
r
ou
r
fo
brothers wait eagerly
o
to
is
le
gg
ru
st
e
th
em
th
ll
te
we
odds are too great? Shall
an
ic
er
Am
of
es
rc
fo
e
th
at
th
be
hard? Will our message
nd
se
we
d
an
n,
me
ll
fu
as
l
va
ri
ar
r
ei
th
life militate against
e,
ag
ss
me
r
he
ot
an
be
e
er
th
ll
wi
Or
our deepest regrets?
of
s,
ng
ni
ar
ye
r
ei
th
th
wi
ty
ri
da
li
_: of longing, of hope, of so
e
Th
?
st
co
e
th
er
ev
at
wh
e,
us
‘commitment to their ca
e
is
rw
he
ot
it
er
ef
pr
t
gh
mi
we
choice is ours, and though
y.
or
st
hi
n
a
m
u
h
of
t
n
e
m
o
m
l
ia
uc
cr
is
we must choose in th
DR. HENRY STEELE COMMAGER
Professor of American History
at Amherst College
d
an
m—
na
et
Vi
in
on
ti
en
rv
te
in
r
ou
t
pu
It is important to
e;
iv
ct
pe
rs
pe
al
ic
or
st
hi
n
—i
ia
As
t
as
he
ut
So
in the whole of
h
nt
ri
by
la
e
th
of
t
ou
y
wa
r
ou
nd
fi
to
e
ar
we
if
important
to
ar
pe
ap
we
h
ic
wh
in
d
an
ed
er
nd
wa
ve
ha
we
h
ic
into wh
s
ve
el
rs
ou
g
in
lv
vo
in
d
oi
av
to
e
ar
we
if
t
an
be lost; import
h
ic
wh
s
he
op
tr
as
at
—c
es
ph
ro
st
ta
ca
er
in other and even larg
would, needless to say, engulf much of the world.
e
th
t
ns
ai
ag
d
ge
wa
we
h
ic
wh
r
wa
s
ou
ri
cu
at
Writing of th
me
so
we
r
wa
a
y,
ur
nt
ce
e
th
of
e
os
cl
e
th
at
ls
be
re
no
pi
li
Fi
how prefer to forget, the poet William Vaughan Moody
).
s’
ne
pi
ip
il
Ph
e
Th
in
en
ll
Fa
r
ie
ld
So
a
o
“T
(It was in his
“1 et him
never dream
that his bullet’s scream
Went wide of its island mark
Home to the heart of his darling land
Where
she stumbled
and sinned
in the dark.”
nmo
is
th
of
n
io
at
nu
te
ex
in
,
id
sa
be
en
Alas, it cannot ev
d
ed
an
bl
um
st
ly
re
me
ve
ha
we
at
m,
th
na
et
Vi
in
r
wa
us
stro
th
wi
r
wa
s
thi
on
up
ed
rk
ba
em
ve
ha
We
.
rk
sinned in the da
our eyes wide open. We know what we are about—or boast
Ad
e
Th
it.
of
d
ou
pr
ly
that we do—and we are apparent
th
wi
r
wa
is
th
t
gh
fi
ly
on
t
no
rs
ministration and its supporte
d
an
it
t
ou
ab
us
eo
ht
ig
-r
lf
se
e
defiant determination, they ar
e
th
ng
ti
gh
fi
e
ar
we
at
th
d
rl
wo
s
ou
ul
ed
cr
in
an
to
im
la
proc
epr
e
ar
we
t,
ye
e
s
r
o
W
e.
battle of freedom and of peac
e
ar
we
t,
uc
nd
co
r
ou
nd
fe
de
d
pared not only to justify an
ke
ma
to
d
an
it,
ze
li
ra
ne
ge
prepared to rationalize it and
of
dy
bo
s
u
o
n
i
m
o
re
mo
it a central part of a larger and
mco
e
th
r
fo
s
se
cu
ex
nd
fi
to
ed
principles. Some of us, inclin
me
so
as
r
wa
e
th
rd
ga
re
,
plexities facing the administration
ed
de
in
ve
ha
we
h
ic
wh
to
in
g
how an aberration, somethin
r
fo
g
n
i
h
t
e
m
o
s
,
so
do
to
g
n
i
n
blundered without quite mea
on
ti
la
ca
es
e
th
e
us
ca
be
e
bl
which no one is really responsi
.
at
th
t
no
is
it
t
Bu
e.
bl
ti
ep
rc
pe
im
has been unplanned and
rbe
li
de
e
it
qu
e
W
.
se
cu
ex
y
We have used even that sorr
ec
el
r
fo
g
in
ll
ca
ts
en
em
re
ately sabotaged the Geneva ag
el
ll
ra
pa
th
17
e
th
at
th
g
in
id
ov
pr
tions in South Vietnam and
t
pu
ly
te
ra
be
li
de
e
it
qu
e
W
.
ne
was but a temporary military li
as
st
ju
d,
ul
co
we
as
ng
lo
up Diem and maintained him as
r
ie
em
Pr
re
du
en
d
an
in
ta
in
ma
we deliberately put up and
.
es
ci
li
po
n
w
o
r
ou
es
at
di
pu
re
Ky, endure him even when he
ad
d
me
or
sf
an
tr
r,
wa
e
th
up
d
pe
ep
We quite deliberately st
e
m
o
s
om
fr
rs
ie
ld
so
e
th
d
visors into soldiers, increase
ten
on
up
s
id
ra
g
n
i
b
m
o
b
ed
ch
un
thousand to a half a million, la
t
ns
ai
ag
II
r
a
W
d
l
r
o
W
in
at
the north on ascale as great as th
Germany
or Japan.
t
no
is
th
of
all
d
ie
if
st
ju
ly
And we have quite deliberate
hac
re
rfa
of
nd
ou
gr
on
t
bu
y
it
ss
ce
on ground of military ne
h
ic
wh
is
th
is
It
s.
ou
in
om
st
mo
is
ing policy. It is this which
to
on
ti
ra
st
ni
mi
ad
e
th
de
ua
rs
‘s—unless we can somehow pe
gs
in
th
of
w
o
d
a
h
s
e
th
is
h
change its course—it is this whic
to
come.
d
an
l
ca
ti
li
po
of
dy
bo
a
of
t
The war itself is a produc
ob
l
ca
gi
lo
ho
yc
ps
d
an
l
ra
mo
historical miscalculations, of
m
s
i
n
u
m
m
o
C
th
wi
n
io
ss
se
ob
an
of
t
sessions. It is the produc
ts
is
un
mm
co
e
th
as
st
ju
cy
ra
pi
ns
co
_we call it communist
at
th
ng
hi
et
om
—s
es
ci
ra
pi
ns
co
st
li
used to talk about capita
ssy
c
i
m
o
n
o
c
e
or
l
ca
ti
li
po
l
va
ri
is, therefore, not merely a
t
no
is
at
th
g
in
th
me
So
.
il
ev
l
ra
tem, but an ineradicable mo
me
so
l:
sa
er
iv
un
d
an
t
en
an
rm
local and temporary, but pe
rn
ve
go
of
s
rm
fo
r
he
ot
all
ke
li
c—
ni
thing that is not orga
d
an
ic
th
li
no
mo
t
bu
,
ge
an
ch
to
t
ec
bj
ment, and therefore su
unchanging.
The
war
is a product
series of miscalculations:
of a gigantic
miscalculation,
that the world,
after 1945
or
was
pre
e
on
s,
oc
bl
t
ea
gr
o
tw
to
in
d
de
vi
and would remain di
o
h
w
—
e
w
at
th
d
an
,
ss
ne
rk
da
r
he
ot
e
resenting light and th
d
le
tt
ba
d
an
n
o
d
d
e
g
a
m
r
A
at
d
oo
st
t—
represented the ligh
:
on
ti
la
cu
al
sc
mi
t
ea
gr
nd
co
se
a
ed
lv
vo
for the Lord. This in
+
eee
Be
ie
Fe
2
Ee
Hi
+ gost
?
-
:
,
5
It is the product of an almost demonic delusion that
of
t
res
the
p
kee
and
set
to
on
up
led
cal
y
onl
we were not
the world straight, but that we had the material, intellectual, and
moral
resources
to do this.
It is a product of grave miscalculations that because
it
use
ld
cou
and
er
pow
had
we
er
pow
ld
wor
a
e
wer
we
everywhere in the world, and that nations and peoples
everywhere would recognize the validity of our claims and
our pretentions.
Out of this melancholy body of obsessions and miscalculations have come those notions, now so familiar, that
we—not the United Nations—are the peace-keeping instrunay
n,
upo
led
cal
are
we
t
Tha
ld.
wor
ern
mod
the
ment of
required, to resist what we consider ‘‘communist aggression” everywhere on the globe: that we have, therefore, a
vital interest everywhere—not only in South East Asia, but
everywhere in Asia, and that we are somehow in a position
to impose our will, our ideas, our principles, on that vast
and
s,
ple
peo
ent
fer
dif
en
doz
a
of
ent
tin
con
ent
bul
tur
and
with a population of half the globe.
Once accept these assumptions—assumptions
and our
paranoid in their sweep and vastne— ss
Vietnam takes on a kind of nightmare logic. Once
these assumptions and we have entered upon a new
almost
war in
accept
era in
d
te
it
mm
co
y
abl
iev
etr
irr
are
we
ch
whi
in
era
n
y—a
tor
his
our
to be an Asian power as well as an Atlantic power. Once
accept these assumptions and—given American power and
is
ld
wor
the
of
t
res
the
but
we,
y
onl
ot
recklessness—n
launched upon uncharted and perilous ways.
le
sib
pon
res
are
we
t
tha
ple
nci
pri
the
ept
acc
you
as
For
ist
res
to
ed
uir
req
are
we
t
tha
ld,
wor
the
of
t
for the res
th
nor
a
y
onl
not
are
we
t
tha
,
re
he
yw
er
ev
communism
an
but
er,
pow
re
he
sp
mi
he
n
ter
wes
a
and
r
we
po
ic
ant
Atl
l,
wel
as
r
we
po
n
ica
Afr
an
ly
ab
um
es
pr
and
r
we
po
Asian
e
far
war
and
t
en
em
lv
vo
in
of
age
g
lon
a
n
upo
er
ent
l
wil
we
ss
ine
bus
the
m
fro
d
in
nk
ma
of
e
ol
wh
the
ct
tra
dis
l
wil
which
all
m
fro
us
on
up
re
gla
ch
whi
ms
le
ob
pr
se
tho
of solving
18
which
sides, and
holocaust.
may
all
end
by
problems
a nuclear
All of this has the dimensions of a Greek tragedy. For we
do in fact have the resources not to impose our will on
all mankind, but to help mankind towards peace and prosperity and progress. Our power is not primarily military:
it is material, it is technological, it is scientific, it is intellectual: it might be moral.
What we have here is a gigantic failure of sympathy and
of imagination, one which forces the peoples of other conder
lea
ld
wor
to
ls
tia
den
cre
a’s
ric
Ame
on
sti
que
to
s
ent
tin
ship. We witness today the greatest revolution in five
centuries—the greatest since the Renaissance and Reformation and the Age of Discovery and the shift in the center
of gravity from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. That is
the upsurge of two-thirds of the peoples of the globe
towards independence and prosperity—the convulsive efone
in
e
iev
ach
to
en
wom
and
men
of
ons
lli
-bi
two
of
fort
or two generations what the European peoples achieved
over a period of four or five centuries.
The vast populations of Asia, Africa, Latin America—
or
s,
ple
peo
n
ter
wes
the
r
be
um
tn
ou
y
atl
gre
o
wh
s
ple
peo
of
on
ati
jug
sub
the
off
ng
wi
ro
th
e
ar
s—
le
op
pe
an
pe
ro
Eu
the
taloi
exp
off
ng
wi
ro
th
sm,
ali
oni
col
off
ng
wi
ro
th
,
centuries
opof
ty
ali
equ
and
tus
sta
of
ty
ali
equ
for
g
in
or
tion, clam
h
ic
wh
in
r
pte
cha
t
tha
is
w
no
ten
got
for
but
portunity. All
se
the
to
aid
an
ic
er
Am
of
r
pte
cha
e
th
e—
id
pr
h
suc
k
too
we
the
on
ned
tur
are
s
eye
our
e
aus
bec
ten
got
for
peoples;
of
es
cri
the
to
d
ne
tu
at
are
s
ear
all
m,
na
et
Vi
spectacle in
s
nd
mi
all
y;
tr
un
co
ed
tur
tor
t
tha
om
fr
up
ng
mi
co
h
is
gu
an
|
the
ing
ert
ass
s
rd
wa
to
e
tur
ges
w
ne
s
thi
preoccupied with
s
le
op
pe
the
te
na
mi
do
to
n
ma
an
pe
ro
Eu
n,
er
st
we
of
right
|
of Asia.
We
teen
have
years
achieved
been
and
involved
now
in Vietnam
at war for over three.
for over
What
have
thir-
we
in this time?
,
ed
st
ou
d
an
t
en
em
re
Ag
va
ne
Ge
the
up
n
tor
1. We have
as it were, the signatories of that agreement.
alof
em
st
sy
our
d
ye
ro
st
de
or
d
ge
ma
da
ve
ha
2. We
liances—SEATO, NATO,
and CENTO.
3. We have seriously impaired the United Nations.
:
asand
ies
all
our
of
t
or
pp
su
the
ted
fei
for
e
hav
We
4.
—
s
ve
el
rs
ou
d
fin
and
e
ob
gl
the
ut
ho
ug
ro
th
es
iat
soc
now with no friends except puppet states—Thailand,
Taiwan, South Korea.
—
d
an
,
ia
ss
Ru
th
wi
e
nt
te
de
the
d
ge
ra
ou
sc
di
ve
ha
5. We
seriously prolonged the cold war.
6. We
have exacerbated
the hatreds between
nents and, worse still, between
races.
iis
conti-
an
Ne
sew
ho
me
so
had
y
tor
his
or
ce
en
id
ov
Pr
or
d,
Lor
the
t
tha
e
sav
to
and
ng
tli
bat
the
do
to
ple
peo
an
ic
er
Am
lected the
mankind from ruin.
na
Chi
ut
abo
on
ati
cul
cal
mis
ic
ant
gig
a
of
t
duc
pro
It is the
and about Asia, probably the largest and most fateful misng
ia
Ch
t
tha
ion
not
the
y:
tor
his
c
ati
lom
dip
in
on
ati
cul
cal
Kai Shek represented the true China, that the communists
did not represent China, and were not really here to stay,
n
tai
Bri
if
as
was
it
d:
ize
ogn
rec
e
be
or
ef
er
th
not
d
nee
and
and France had gone on recognizing the Confederacy as
nty
twe
tes
Sta
ted
Uni
the
of
nt
me
rn
ve
go
e
mat
iti
leg
the
years after Appomattox!
‘
t.
es
ot
pr
in
t
ou
y
cr
d
ul
wo
s
de
si
all
on
t.
ou
y
cr
d
ul
wo
es
ch
ur
ch
r
ou
in
stones
on
ti
ac
re
of
es
rc
fo
e
th
ed
en
th
ng
re
st
y
tl
7. We have grea
g
on
am
ed
tr
ha
d
an
ce
en
ol
vi
d
te
ci
ex
in America, and
:
our own people.
d
an
y
sl
ou
ri
se
y,
et
ci
So
t
ea
Gr
e
th
3. We have frustrated
ng
ki
ma
d
an
ss
re
og
pr
its
ng
pi
op
st
perhaps fatally
s
im
ct
vi
e
th
to
all
e
ov
ab
d
an
le
op
pe
n
ow
clear to our
e
th
e
ac
pl
we
at
th
r
de
or
al
ri
st
du
in
d
an
of our social
r
ei
th
e
ov
ab
far
ry
ta
li
mi
e
th
of
s
nd
ma
insatiable de
own needs.
al
ri
st
du
in
at
th
ed
en
th
ng
re
st
y
el
ns
me
9. We have im
er
ow
nh
se
Ei
t
en
id
es
Pr
h
ic
wh
t
ns
ai
ag
x
le
military comp
solemnly warned
us.
|
d
an
y,
et
ci
so
an
ic
er
Am
of
ch
mu
ed
10. We have poison
in,
al
ri
te
ma
,
es
gi
er
en
r
ou
f
of
n
aw
dr
politics, and
.
ex
rt
vo
le
ng
si
is
th
to
in
l,
ra
mo
d
an
,
al
tellectu
ng
yi
ro
st
de
of
s
es
oc
pr
in
e
ar
d
an
d
ye
11. We have destro
Vietnam, North and South.
r
ea
cl
nu
a
of
k
ris
e
th
to
d
rl
wo
e
th
d
se
12. We have expo
rwa
r
ea
cl
nu
to
ng
ki
in
th
n
ow
r
ou
d
war and attune
fare.
y
sa
d
ul
co
es
lm
Ho
e
ic
st
Ju
t
ea
gr
e
th
o
ag
Two generations
d
ee
fr
d
an
n
io
Un
e
th
d
ve
sa
at
th
on
of the Civil War generati
th
wi
d
he
uc
to
re
we
ts
ar
He
r
ou
h
ut
yo
r
ou
the slave, that “in
d
an
nd
ou
of
pr
a
is
e
lif
at
th
n
ar
le
to
fire. It was given us
e
th
es
ey
n
ow
r
ou
th
wi
en
se
passionate thing. We have
snowy heights of honor... .”
y
ow
sn
e
th
h
ac
re
n
ca
on
ti
ra
ne
ge
r
It is not certain that ou
rou
it
rm
pe
we
if
em
th
h
ac
re
t
no
ll
wi
We
r.
no
ho
heights of
de
d
an
es
ti
li
bi
si
on
sp
re
r
ou
om
fr
ed
ct
ra
selves to be dist
r.
we
po
of
on
ti
ta
mp
te
e
th
by
ns
io
it
ad
tr
r
ou
flected from
n
aw
dr
be
to
s
ve
el
rs
ou
w
lo
al
we
if
em
th
We will not reach
y
sf
ti
sa
to
r
de
or
in
s,
ce
ra
of
r
wa
a
,
ts
en
in
into a war of cont
em
th
h
ac
re
y
ma
We
.
ss
ne
us
eo
ht
ig
-r
lf
se
of
s
on
ti
our own no
g
in
th
no
at
th
nd
mi
in
er
ev
ep
ke
we
if
em
th
on
and dwell up
so becomes a great people as magnanimity.
DR. JOHN C. BENNETT
President
Union Theological Seminary
New York City
the
of
con
sci
enc
the
e
to
spe
ak
can
There is no one who
|
King
.
Lut
her
Mar
tin
as
pow
erf
as
ull
y
American people
wha
t
of
evil
mon
str
ous
the
see
hope that he will make us
we are doing in Vietnam.
mCo
r
so
es
of
Pr
an
th
re
mo
s
ow
kn
o
wh
e
on
There is no
t
ou
ab
s,
on
ti
ep
ec
-d
lf
se
an
ic
er
Am
of
mager about the history
rs
he
ot
to
s
ar
pe
ap
it
as
do
we
at
wh
ng
ei
se
in
y
ult
fic
dif
our
at
wh
ow
kn
d
an
ht
rig
are
we
t
tha
e
nc
ra
su
as
r
ou
because of
is good for other nations.
ed
pp
ri
st
es
ci
li
po
r
ou
d
an
s
ve
If we could see oursel
of
le
op
pe
r
ou
,
em
th
nd
ou
rr
su
w
no
at
the official illusions th
Indeed
the very
ier
Am
g
un
yo
e
ic
if
cr
sa
we
e
us
ca
be
They would cry out
n
io
ct
ru
st
de
al
ut
br
r
ou
of
e
us
ca
cans in an unjust war and be
r
Ou
m.
na
et
Vi
h
ut
So
d
an
h
rt
No
of helpless people in
nte
in
od
go
th
wi
on
ti
en
rv
te
in
leaders may have begun our
of
m
u
t
n
e
m
o
m
e
th
by
g
on
al
d
ie
rr
tions but now they are ca
is
pr
e
ar
us
r
fo
s
on
si
ci
de
ke
ma
o
wh
our power. The men
it
g
in
tt
mi
ad
of
d
ea
st
in
d
an
es
ak
oners of their past mist
to
us
t
gh
ou
br
s
ha
at
th
r
we
po
me
sa
e
they use more of th
e
ic
if
cr
sa
e
th
se
ea
cr
in
ey
th
d
an
n
io
at
our present woeful situ
r
uh
eb
Ni
ld
ho
in
Re
ly
nt
ce
Re
.
of Americans and Vietnamese
t
mi
ad
ot
nn
ca
nt
me
rn
ve
go
a
at
th
said in this connection
that it is wrong.
e
th
k
as
ll
wi
we
at
th
e
ic
pr
e
th
Is there any end to
us
mo
or
en
r
ou
e
us
we
as
y
pa
to
m
na
et
people of South Vi
in
d
or
sw
d
an
re
fi
th
wi
em
th
on
up
power to force our will
?
on
ig
Sa
in
nt
me
rn
ve
go
ve
ti
the name of an unrepresenta
on
t
ic
fl
in
we
at
th
gs
on
wr
l
ue
cr
e
th
| am impressed by
ty
li
ti
fu
e
th
by
d
se
es
pr
im
so
al
this helpless people but | am
nt
me
rn
ve
go
r
ou
w
o
N
.
all
it
of
ty
li
as well as the immora
.”
on
ti
lu
so
y
ar
it
il
‘m
a
ed
ll
ca
is
at
seems to be pressing for wh
opr
ll
wi
s
es
cc
su
ry
ta
li
mi
at
th
nd
fi
to
We are most likely
duce moral and political failure.
ar
nn
Gu
an
th
y
dl
vi
vi
re
mo
is
th
No one has expressed
an
ic
er
Am
e
Th
,
ok
bo
e
os
wh
Myrdal, the Swedish scholar
r
ou
s
ve
lo
d
an
s
nd
ta
rs
de
un
he
w
ho
ll
we
Dilemma, shows so
country. He said recently:
of
ty
ri
jo
ma
a
be
en
ev
y
da
to
t
gh
“There mi
r
wa
m
na
et
Vi
e
th
ng
ti
la
ca
es
of
r
vo
fa
Americans in
at
th
e
se
t
n’
do
ey
Th
.
th
wi
er
ov
it
in order to get
or
po
ry
ve
a
d
ye
ro
st
de
d
an
n
ru
er
ov
having then
n.
gi
be
d
ul
wo
s
an
ic
er
Am
r
fo
ll
he
al
country, the re
t
ns
ai
ag
r
wa
at
en
be
y
ad
re
al
ng
vi
A people ha
ll
wi
y
ur
nt
ce
a
of
r
te
ar
qu
a
r
fo
on
ti
foreign domina
g
in
tt
ge
r
fo
t
es
qu
r
ei
th
in
d
An
.
it
not quietly subm
msy
e
th
ve
ha
d
ul
wo
ey
th
s
er
ud
rid of the intr
pathy of the whole world.”
al
on
ti
Na
e
th
of
d
ar
Bo
l
ra
ne
Ge
e
th
o
ag
More than a year
a
in
g
in
th
me
sa
e
th
ch
mu
d
se
es
pr
Council of Churches ex
s:
rd
wo
e
es
th
in
es
ch
ur
ch
an
ic
er
Am
e
th
to
e
messag
unilateral
tory there
hatred of
ated each
are seen
cvi
e
bl
va
ei
nc
co
no
m,
na
et
Vi
in
policy
d
an
st
ru
st
di
e
th
r
fo
te
sa
en
mp
co
can
rne
ge
g
in
be
is
at
th
es
at
St
ed
it
Un
the
we
e
us
ca
be
d
rl
wo
e
th
ut
ho
ug
ro
th
day
as a predominantly
our overwhelming
and more Asians.”
white
nation
using
military strength to kill more
These words are more obviously
were when they were first written.
true
now
than
they
19
a
|
|
i
|
|
|
|
the articulate communities
in our nation, in the academic
world, among the clergy, among writers and artists, among
journalists. There is a surprising number of critics of the
war among politicians. | keep wondering: when will other
professions, business men, college presidents break their
silence? They live in view of the same human realities.
If the war continues much longer we shall have the
greatest conflict between the churches and our government that we have ever had in time of war.
One
from a
but the
bodies
tatives
of the most telling criticisms of our policy has come
group of student leaders, not persons on the fringe,
presidents, originally 100, now 200, of the student
of our leading colleges and universities, represenof the generation that is being sent to fight.
In addition to raising questions about the presuppositions of policy these student leaders said the following:
“A great many of those faced with the prospect
of military duty find it hard to square performance of that duty with concepts of personal integrity and conscience. ... Unless this conflict can
be eased, the United States will find some of her
most loyal and courageous young people choos-
ing to go to jail rather than to bear their coun-
try’s arms.”
It is an unheard of thing for such words to come from
the responsible student leaders in our country in time of
war.
In these gravest matters of life and death how large a
minority does it take to raise doubts in the minds of those
who make policy? When will that small group of men who
decide the fate of so many listen? When will they reconsider decisions that commit a country divided in mind
and conscience to the escalation of this unjust and futile
war? When will their own consciences stop them from
drafting American sons to kill and die?
RABBI ABRAHAM HESCHEL
Professor of Ethics and Mysticism
Jewish Theological Seminary
New York City
To repeat the words of Dr. Bennett: “There is
who can speak to the conscience of the American
as powerfully as Martin Luther King.” Our gratitude
is deep. It is a source of comfort and Strength to
his leadership in the cause of justice and peace.
This
Men
20
war
is a supreme
all over the world
example
detest
it. To
of extreme
men
and
no one
people
to him
witness
absurdity.
women
all
over the United States it is a source of dismay, while thoes
who participate in it are plagued by the awareness of being
involved in a bitter Sisyphean battle. We are rolling up a
hill a huge stone, which is constantly rolled back. What's
the use of running, if you’re on the wrong road?
|
We have thrown ourselves into this war because of
self-
indoctrination,
nurtured
on
stereotypes.
The
longer we
stay in Vietnam the more we lose morally. The higher the
escalation, the more difficult to disengage. Its sheer foll
and futility are only surpassed by its immorality. It is a war
that cannot be waged according to minimum standards 0 i
civilized warfare. It is a war the aims of which are both.
confused and questionable.
The state requires that the citizen risks his life for it. The.
acceptance of sacrifice is one of our essential duties. But.
it is also the duty of the citizen who after careful study
becomes convinced that a war his country is involved in
is both morally wrong and politically absurd to do his ut-
most to stop it.
Except anguish and love of America we have no other
feelings. Our thoughts on Vietnam are sores destroying our
trust, ruining our most cherished commitments with burns
of shame. We.-are pierced to the core with pain, and it is
our duty as citizens to say “no” to the subversiveness of our
government, which is ruining the values we cherish, the
American promise to say “no” to a policy which moves
rat
It is often suggested that only a small minority on the
fringe of American society shares the views expressed here
tonight. On the contrary these views or views similar to
them are commonly held in most of what we might call
es
from folly to madness.
422%
The blood we shed in Vietnam makes a mockery of all
our proclamations, dedications, celebrations.
:
Has our conscience become a fossil? Is all mercy gone?
If mercy, the mother of humility, is still alive as a demand, —
how can we say “yes” to our bringing agony to that tor- 3
mented country?
It is a war we can never win. For, indeed, our superior
weapons may well destroy the cities and the hamlets, the oe
fighting forces and the villagers who support them. How- —
ever, what will our army have left behind? Tombs, tears,’
havoc, acrimony, and vast incentives to hatred and rage...
We are here because our own integrity as human beings
is decaying in the agony and merciless killing done in our.
name.
In a free society, some
are guilty, and
all are re-
sponsible. We are here to call upon the government of the.
United States as well as North Vietnam
to stand still and.
to consider: no victory is worth the price of the terror
which all parties commit in Vietnam, North and South. -
Remember, the blood of the innocent cries for ever.
ae
be
to
e
as
ce
l
wil
ty
ni
ma
hu
,
cry
‘to
Should that blood stop
an
G
N
I
P
E
E
K
N
I
,
N
E
M
K
C
A
L
B
Y
B
Y
L
L
A
I
C
E
P
S
E
T
A
H
W
?
E
C
N
E
L
O
I
V
N
O
N
F
O
Y
H
P
O
S
O
L
I
PH
?
Y
C
I
L
O
P
A
H
C
U
S
PLICATIONS OF
WITH YOUR
ARE THE IM-
DR. KING:
,
t
f
a
r
d
e
h
t
to
e
v
i
t
a
n
r
e
t
l
a
e
h
t
of
n
e
m
g
n
u
just to advise yo
is
th
k
n
i
h
t
|
.
r
o
t
c
e
j
b
o
s
u
o
i
t
n
e
i
c
s
n
o
c
as
e
v
r
e
s
which is to
a
n
e
h
t
of
e
c
n
e
i
c
s
n
o
c
e
h
t
e
s
u
o
r
a
to
l
a
e
d
t
a
e
will do a gr
is
r
a
w
e
h
t
if
y
l
n
i
a
t
r
e
c
d
n
a
,
n
o
i
t
a
u
t
i
s
e
l
o
h
tion on this w
s
e
c
e
n
y
l
e
t
u
l
o
s
b
a
e
b
ll
wi
is
th
k
n
i
h
t
|
d
e
t
continually escala
t
h
g
u
a
c
y
l
n
o
t
o
n
e
ar
e
w
t
a
h
t
t
u
o
t
n
i
o
p
o
s
l
a
sary. | must
,
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
in
g
n
o
r
w
e
ar
e
w
el
fe
|
e
r
e
h
w
n
o
up in a situati
n
o
i
t
c
e
r
i
d
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
n
r
u
o
in
s
e
g
n
a
h
c
e
m
o
s
t
o
n
but if there are
s
r
a
W
e
r
o
m
l
a
r
e
v
e
s
in
e
b
to
g
n
i
o
g
e
r
a
and character, we
n
i
t
a
L
in
s
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
l
a
i
t
n
e
t
o
p
y
n
a
m
e
r
like this. There a
e
h
t
d
n
A
.
a
i
s
A
in
s
e
c
a
l
p
r
e
h
t
o
in
d
n
a
,
a
c
i
r
America, in Af
ll
wi
s
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
n
e
g
r
e
h
t
o
d
n
a
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
n
e
g
r
u
o
young men of
d
e
m
r
a
o
t
n
i
g
n
i
o
g
of
m
e
l
b
o
r
p
is
th
t
n
continually confro
y
r
a
n
o
i
t
u
l
o
v
e
r
r
e
t
n
u
o
c
e
h
t
as
g
n
i
v
r
e
s
y
l
service that is real
force
of the world.
| think
somewhere
this has
to stop,
n
e
m
g
n
u
o
y
y
n
a
m
d
e
s
i
v
d
a
.
y
d
a
e
r
l
a
e
v
a
h
|
y
and that is wh
.
s
r
o
t
c
e
j
b
o
s
u
o
i
t
n
e
i
c
s
n
o
c
as
e
v
r
e
s
to
h
t
i
w
d
that | have talke
t
'
n
o
w
t
a
h
t
g
n
i
h
t
e
m
o
s
is
it
,
n
o
o
g
to
e
u
n
i
t
n
And if things co
as
,
y
a
w
y
n
a
it
a
d
ll
wi
y
n
a
m
t
u
b
,
d
e
s
only have to be advi
e
v
a
h
s
t
n
e
d
u
t
s
e
g
e
l
l
o
c
:
h
c
e
e
p
s
s
'
t
t
e
n
n
e
B
was quoted in Dr.
t
n
a
h
c
n
e
s
i
d
of
d
n
i
k
e
h
t
h
t
i
w
g
n
i
d
n
o
p
s
already started re
y
a
s
to
y
n
a
m
s
e
s
u
a
c
t
a
h
t
y
a
m
s
i
d
of
ment and the kind
oat
y
e
h
t
e
r
o
f
e
b
is
th
ke
li
s
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
it
if
il
ja
to
o
that they will g
e
w
t
a
h
t
n
o
i
t
c
i
v
n
o
c
y
m
is
It
.
r
a
w
t
s
u
j
n
u
will fight in an
s
i
h
t
to
d
n
e
n
a
g
n
i
r
b
to
r
e
w
o
p
r
u
o
in
must do everything
tragic conflict.
>». The
next
question
is
also
addressed
to
Dr.
King.
T
N
E
D
I
S
E
R
P
E
C
I
V
T
N
E
M
M
O
C
E
S
A
E
L
P
WOULD YOU
E
B
D
L
U
O
W
IT
T
A
H
T
N
O
I
T
I
S
O
P
S
’
HUBERT HUMPHREY
G
N
I
B
M
O
B
R
U
O
E
Z
I
C
I
T
I
R
C
O
H
W
E
L
P
O
E
P
BETTER FOR
.
R
O
R
R
E
T
G
N
O
C
T
E
I
V
D
A
E
T
S
N
I
N
M
E
D
N
O
C
TO
ON
DR. KING:
|
.
e
c
n
e
l
o
i
v
to
d
e
s
o
p
p
o
m
a
|
t
a
h
t
t
rs
fi
y
Well, let me sa
e
s
e
h
t
r
e
v
o
w
o
n
h
g
u
o
n
e
n
e
t
f
o
t
a
h
t
d
i
think that | have sa
n
o
y
h
p
o
s
o
l
i
h
p
y
m
w
o
n
k
e
l
p
o
e
p
t
a
h
t
last twelve years so
r
e
t
t
a
m
e
l
o
h
w
s
i
h
t
n
o
t
s
i
f
i
c
a
p
a
e
b
to
n
e
p
p
a
h
|
.
t
n
i
o
p
t
a
h
t
r
e
d
n
u
|
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
t
s
i
f
i
c
a
p
s
u
o
e
t
h
g
i
r
f
l
e
s
of war; | am not a
o
d
|
t
u
b
,
t
s
i
f
i
c
a
p
n
o
n
e
h
t
of
a
m
m
e
l
i
stand the moral d
r
e
g
n
o
l
o
n
n
a
c
r
a
w
e
r
e
h
w
e
g
a
t
s
a
d
e
h
think we have reac
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
d
e
v
r
e
s
e
v
a
h
y
a
m
it
t
a
h
t
d
o
o
g
serve as a negative
e
h
t
of
e
s
u
a
c
e
B
.
r
e
l
t
i
H
e
k
i
l
e
c
r
o
f
k
c
i
s
d
n
a
il
ev
y
l
l
a
c
i
g
a
r
t
a
,
e
r
a
f
r
a
w
r
a
e
l
c
u
n
of
s
n
o
p
a
e
w
of
s
s
e
n
e
v
i
potential destruct
e
s
i
v
d
a
d
l
u
o
w
|
.
r
a
w
to
e
v
i
t
a
n
r
e
t
l
a
e
m
o
we have to find s
.
g
n
o
c
t
e
i
V
e
h
t
g
n
i
d
u
l
c
n
i
—
e
v
i
t
a
n
r
e
t
l
a
s
i
h
everybody to seek t
m
a
|
t
a
h
t
n
o
i
s
s
e
r
p
m
i
e
h
t
y
d
o
b
y
n
a
| don’t want to give
e
r
p
d
l
u
o
w
|
.
y
d
o
b
y
n
a
r
o
f
y
a
w
t
s
e
b
e
h
t
is
saying that this
faced so long.
But
| do think,
as | tried
to say in my
talk, that there
n
o
c
be
t
s
u
m
at
th
e
n
o
d
e
v
a
h
e
w
at
th
are many things
k
n
i
h
t
|
d
n
a
,
e
v
a
h
e
w
at
th
t
h
g
i
m
e
th
of
demned with all
21
eee
Teg eee
SS NS
ee SSD
eS
Se
NR
sorry, but | have to disagree with our Vice President, and
| must say very strongly that we who took the initiative in
this war had ought to continue the initiative by stopping
the bombings in the North and in the South.
DR. COMMAGER
| want
A
ET
that there are some things that the Vietcong can say, if
we only listen to them, to explain why they are acting as
they are acting. | think, as | said earlier, that we initiated
this. After all, the Vietcong only came into being during
the period when Diem was reigning, at a time when Diem
was resorting to oppressive and ruthless methods of deal- |
ing with his opposition. | think it is necessary for. us to
honestly say this. The Vietcong, as many have tried to say
all along, did not represent forces coming from the North,
but represented forces from the South—which certainly
gained support as time went on from the North—but they
were basically forces right there in the South seeking to
overthrow a government that had proved to be unjust
and committed to evil ends. This is why many of us say
that this is basically a civil war, and the United States
should not have been there in the beginning. So | am very
merely
to add
a word,
because
this particular
OSS
OS
ES
ST
LL
ene
EE
point, ladies and gentlemen, is raised all the time. President Johnson has raised it so it should be taken seriously.
It is one of these arguments that comes up throughout
history. As Dr. King well knows, the favorite argument of
the slave owners in the South was a Tu quoque argument:
they said, ‘‘What are you people talking about slavery for?
How about your industrial workers? How about your
sins?” Those guilty and aware of their guilt are always
asking the rest of us to look somewhere else. We are saying, “Don’t look at us—look at the Vietcong.” But our
morals are our affair. The Vietcong morals are their affair.
Even if they are as guilty as Mr. Johnson and Mr. Humphrey
think they are, that would not excuse a Christian people
—a humane people—for their guilt in this matter. We ought
not model our moral conduct on that of an Asiatic people
or a foreign people or an enemy. It makes no difference
how they conduct war. We do not conduct war or conduct diplomacy or conduct anything else on the lowest
level that some other nation sets for us. We must square
our conduct with our own morality. Not with the Vietcong.
3. There is a question addressed to Professor Commager.
THERE
IS WIDESPREAD
MENT’S
POSSIBLE
IT AND
22
CLAIM
FOR
MUST
ACCEPTANCE
THAT
WE
HAVE
PEACE,
BUT
HANOI
BE PUNISHED
OF OUR
EVERYTHING
DONE
DOES
ENOUGH
GOVERN-
TO
NOT
WANT
ACCEPT
IT.
WHAT ARE THE FACTS AS SEEN
AUTHORITY SUCH AS YOURSELF?
DR. COMMAGER:
Even
if | knew
BY
AN
OBJECTIVE
all the facts, | couldn’t tell them
in two.
or three minutes. This is a very large and complex story. —
On
the
surface
it is quite
preposterous
to suppose
that
Hanoi does not want peace. Do you suppose that they oa
welcome a bombing heavier than that which we poured. ~
on Japan and Germany? Is it to be supposed that they welcome the intrusion of a great Western power after fight-.
ing for ten years to get rid of France? They have made a>
number of overtures of one kind or another for negotiations. None of them have been found satisfactory to the
administration because they do not carry that element of.
reciprocity that our government
requires. Our government
requires reciprocity not on any fair standards whatsoever.
They say first, “If we stop bombing you must stop everything else.” And they charge that when we have stopped
the bombing, their infiltration (that is part of the corruption of language that is going on; we “land soldiers’
but they “infiltrate,” we “fight” but they ‘carry on terrorist tactics’) goes right on. Our infiltration goes right on
too, on a ten-fold larger scale than that of the North
Vietnamese. What would we say if we were told to stop
supplying our troops while negotiations went on? Now, of
course the first thing to do is to stop the bombing. Then
we can square off and see what other reciprocity may be
called for. And | suspect some might.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the initiative for
peace, as Dr. King said, must come from us. The initiative
for war came from us. The initiative of power comes from
us. We
can afford to make
any gestures. They can’t.
There is one other thing, and | confess, ladies and gen-
tlemen,
that | am
astonished
at the lack of imagination
on the part of people high in power. They expect Hanoi
to come to the peace table under a rain of bombs. What
would we have said had Churchill ceased supplying troops
in
the
Mediterranean
and
Africa
while
the
Nazis
were
—
bombing London? What would we have said had George
Washington agreed to negotiate with the British while the — 3
British occupied New York? He didn’t agree; he refused—
to talk to them.
while
bombs
Churchill
were
refused to deal
raining down
on
with the Nazis a
Britain.
No
proud,
self-respecting people is going to come to the peace table
while it is being bombed. And it is extraordinary that any-_
one with American traditions and experience should expect this and should require it. This is to require an act of
subjugation. It is to require an act of humiliation that we
have no right to impose on any other people.
H
S
I
W
E
J
A
AS
l.
he
sc
He
i
bb
Ra
to
d
e
s
s
e
r
d
d
a
n
o
i
t
s
e
u
q
A
4.
LEADER,
HOW
CAN
KING’S ANALOGY
THE
THE
POSSIBLY
YOU
BETWEEN
JEWISH PEOPLE AND
VIETNAMESE PEOPLE
AGREE
WITH
THE NAZI TREATMENT
THE PRESENT TREATMENT
?
S
E
T
A
T
S
D
E
T
I
N
U
E
H
T
BY
DR.
OF
OF
RABBI HESCHEL:
He
.
y
g
o
l
a
n
a
an
ch
su
e
d
a
m
ng
| am not aware that Dr. Ki
ap
h
c
i
h
w
,
s
p
m
a
c
n
o
i
t
a
r
t
n
e
c
n
o
c
to
e
c
n
e
r
e
f
e
r
ly
on
made
an
ch
su
up
d
e
r
u
j
n
o
c
er
en
st
li
parently in the mind of this
es
at
St
d
e
t
i
n
U
e
t
a
u
q
e
t
no
s
e
o
d
ng
Ki
.
Dr
y
nl
ai
rt
Ce
.
y
g
o
anal
,
ry
ra
nt
co
e
th
n
O
.
e
m
i
g
e
r
er
tl
Hi
e
th
of
e
os
th
th
wi
policies
s
hi
l
al
r
fo
,
t
a
h
t
ng
yi
sa
by
ne
li
p
ar
sh
a
en
ev
w
e
r
d
ng
Ki
.
Dr
e
th
of
e
v
o
r
p
p
a
to
y
ad
re
s
a
w
he
or
,
be
d
l
u
o
w
he
,
sm
pacifi
war against Hitler.
s
r
e
w
s
n
A
d
n
a
s
n
o
i
t
s
e
Supplemental Qu
.
l
e
h
c
s
e
H
i
b
b
a
R
d
n
a
r
e
g
Q. To Drs. Bennett, Comma
’s
ng
Ki
r.
“D
ed
tl
ti
en
l
ia
or
it
ed
The New York Times in an
s
hi
r
te
af
ys
da
o
w
t
,
67
19
7,
l
ri
Ap
d
e
r
a
e
p
p
a
h
c
i
h
w
”
r,
Erro
’s
ng
Ki
.
Dr
r
ro
er
as
d
te
ci
,
h
c
r
u
h
C
e
d
i
s
r
e
v
i
R
e
th
at
s
s
e
r
d
d
a
ly
on
t
no
d
e
p
p
o
t
s
be
d
l
u
o
h
s
r
a
w
‘
e
th
at
th
”
t
n
e
m
u
g
r
“a
t
bu
s
d
n
e
g
n
o
r
w
e
th
r
fo
d
e
g
a
w
r
a
w
le
ti
fu
a
is
it
e
s
u
beca
y
r
t
n
u
o
c
is
th
in
s
s
e
r
g
o
r
p
al
ci
so
also because it is a barrier to
st
ju
r
ei
th
g
n
i
v
e
i
h
c
a
m
o
r
f
s
e
o
r
g
e
N
s
t
n
e
v
e
r
p
e
r
o
f
e
r
e
h
t
and
is
‘‘
is
th
at
th
ms
ai
cl
l
ia
or
it
ed
e
h
T
.”
fe
li
n
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
in
place
d
an
ct
in
st
di
e
ar
at
th
s
m
e
l
a fusing of two public prob
kin
“L
at
th
d
an
”
;
h
t
o
b
to
ce
vi
er
ss
di
“a
is
it
at
th
”
;
e
t
a
r
a
sep
lu
so
to
t
no
ad
le
ll
wi
s
m
e
l
b
o
r
p
x
e
l
p
m
o
c
,
rd
ha
e
es
ing th
”
n.
io
us
nf
co
er
ep
de
to
t
bu
tions
e
id
rs
ve
Ri
at
ng
Ki
.
Dr
th
wi
m
r
o
f
t
a
l
p
e
th
ed
ar
sh
o
h
w
e
A: W
we
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
g
n
i
t
n
e
m
m
o
c
y
Church on April 5th are jointl
d
an
t
n
e
m
e
t
a
t
s
d
n
u
o
f
o
r
p
’s
ng
Ki
.
Dr
d
u
a
l
p
p
a
d
an
e
r
i
adm
.
ng
Ki
.
Dr
th
wi
e
li
t
no
es
do
it
believe that if there be error
at
th
s
u
o
i
v
b
o
is
it
e
ev
li
be
We
y
l
t
n
e
d
n
e
p
e
d
n
i
”
ed
us
“f
en
have be
t
u
o
h
g
u
o
r
h
T
.
ng
Ki
r.
—D
of
sistance
of
rt
pa
y
an
s
t
i
m
m
o
c
on
ti
na
a
er
ev
these two “problems”
of—and without the asmodern history, whenits resources to militar-
In
.
a
m
m
e
l
i
d
is
th
s
t
n
o
r
f
n
o
c
y
t
i
s
s
e
c
e
n
of
it
r
a
w
‘sm or
”
.
r
e
t
t
u
b
s
u
s
r
e
v
s
n
u
g
‘
as
to
d
e
r
r
e
f
e
r
n
e
e
b
s
ha
it
,
s
n
a
slog
re
s
it
of
e
r
o
m
d
n
a
e
r
o
m
g
n
i
t
t
i
m
m
o
c
by
n
o
i
This nat
sources
to the Vietnam
war
places
ever
increasing
pres-
’
s
k
n
i
l
‘
y
l
b
a
c
i
r
t
x
e
n
i
s
i
h
T
.
s
m
a
r
g
o
r
p
c
i
t
s
e
m
o
d
s
it
sures upon
”
.
s
m
e
l
b
o
r
p
c
i
l
b
u
p
o
w
t
“
e
th
r
fo
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
in
t
n
e
m
e
v
l
o
v
n
i
r
ou
at
th
e
v
e
i
l
e
b
We firmly
s
ha
s,
ar
ye
e
e
r
h
t
r
e
v
o
r
fo
lf
se
it
r
a
w
e
th
in
d
n
a
13 years,
y
ll
ta
fa
s
p
a
h
r
e
p
d
n
a
y
t
e
i
c
o
S
t
a
e
r
G
e
th
d
e
t
a
t
s
u
r
seriously f
e
l
p
o
e
p
n
w
o
r
u
o
to
r
ea
cl
e
d
a
m
s
ha
It
.
s
s
e
r
g
o
r
p
s
it
stopped
at
th
r
e
d
r
o
l
a
i
r
t
s
u
d
n
i
d
n
a
al
ci
so
r
ou
of
s
m
i
t
c
i
v
and to the
,
ry
ta
l'
mi
e
th
of
s
d
n
a
m
e
d
e
l
b
a
i
t
a
s
n
i
e
th
to
ty
ri
io
pr
we give
s
d
e
e
n
e
m
i
r
p
e
h
t
—
g
n
i
k
o
o
l
r
e
v
o
ly
re
ti
en
t
no
f
i
—
g
n
i
subordinat
.
s
d
e
e
n
n
a
m
u
h
e
th
.
.
.
at home
n
o
C
n
e
m
y
a
L
d
n
a
y
g
r
e
l
C
of
e
e
t
t
i
m
m
o
C
e
v
i
t
u
The Exec
,
t
n
e
m
e
t
a
t
s
7
6
9
1
y
r
a
u
r
b
e
F
r
ei
th
in
,
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
t
u
o
b
A
d
cerne
Said:
/
oPr
.
m
a
n
t
e
i
V
in
g
n
i
d
n
e
f
e
d
goals we Claim to be
al
re
s
p
u
o
r
g
y
t
i
r
o
n
i
m
of
s
grams to help member
if
d
e
z
i
d
r
a
p
o
e
j
e
ar
y
t
i
n
g
i
d
ize their own human
is
m
s
i
t
o
i
r
t
a
p
of
e
p
y
t
s
u
o
not destroyed. A spuri
de
n
e
p
o
e
th
d
n
a
t
n
e
s
s
i
challenging the right of d
l
a
c
i
g
o
l
o
h
c
y
s
p
d
n
a
l
a
i
c
bate of public issues. Finan
ea
cr
g
n
i
y
o
r
t
s
e
d
Is
r
a
w
preoccupation with the
,
e
s
a
e
s
i
d
e
m
o
c
r
e
v
o
,
y
t
tive plans to alleviate pover
t
al
ex
d
n
a
s
m
u
l
s
ty
ci
extend education, replace
s
e
i
t
i
n
u
t
r
o
p
p
o
st
lo
r
e
v
o
human dignity. We grieve
”
.
d
e
m
i
a
l
c
e
r
be
r
e
v
e
n
that may
or
t
ea
gr
a
;
es
iv
at
rn
te
al
ly
on
e
th
t
no
e
ar
e
es
th
y,
Finall
s
d
e
e
n
It
.
er
tt
bu
d
an
s
n
u
g
an
th
e
r
o
m
s
d
e
e
n
y
et
ci
so
d
goo
to
n
o
i
t
c
e
j
b
o
l
ta
fa
A
.
it
ir
sp
e
th
of
d
an
d
n
i
m
e
th
of
gs
thin
of
es
rc
fo
l
a
r
o
m
d
an
al
tu
ec
ll
te
in
s
ct
ra
st
di
it
at
th
is
r
a
w
this
n
e
h
W
.
n
o
i
t
c
u
r
t
s
n
o
c
of
s
sk
ta
nt
ge
ur
e
th
m
o
r
f
on
ti
the na
e
er
th
r
a
w
of
t
c
u
d
n
o
c
e
th
on
d
e
t
a
r
t
n
e
c
n
o
c
e
ar
s
e
i
g
r
e
n
e
l
al
a
m
,
s
m
e
l
b
o
r
p
t
ea
gr
e
th
r
fo
ft
le
s
e
i
g
r
e
n
e
e
t
a
u
q
e
d
a
n
i
e
ar
m
o
r
f
us
n
o
p
u
e
ar
gl
h
c
i
h
w
l,
ra
mo
d
an
al
tu
ec
ll
te
in
,
al
teri
every corner of the horizon.
in
s
b
m
o
b
he
“T
:
id
sa
he
n
e
h
Dr. King was not in error w
d
an
m
a
e
r
d
e
th
y
ro
st
de
ey
Vietnam explode at home; th
possibility for a decent America.”
a
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING,JR.
APPEARING IN
NEW YORK TIMES
wr
TR
ry
—
or
eens
ae
L 2. 196
Q. Dr. King, in recent days you have become increasingly outspoken against the war in Vietnam. Why the increased opposition at this particular time?
A. Well, | would say there are at least three reasons
why | felt compelled to take a stronger stand against the
war in Vietnam. First, | feel this war is playing havoc with
our domestic destinies. As long as the war in Vietnam goes
on, the more difficult it will be to implement the programs
that will deal with the economic and social problems
that Negro people confront in our country and poor people generally.
So in a real sense, the Great Society has been shot down
on the battlefields of Vietnam. | feel it is necessary to take
a stand against it or at least arouse the conscience of the
nation against it so that at least we can move more and
more toward a negotiated settlement of that terrible
conflict.
There is another reason why | feel compelled at
time to take a stand against the war and that is that
constant escalation of the war in Vietnam can lead
grand war with China and to a kind of full world war
could mean the annihilation of the human race.
And
survival
| think those of us who are concerned about the
of mankind,
those of us who
mankind should survive
because it is more than
It is a conflict that in a
and makes possible, at
bility of, the destruction
feel and
know
that
must take a stand against this war
just a local conflict on Asian soil.
real sense affects the whole world
least brings into being the possiof all mankind, so because of my
concern for mankind and
the need to take a stand.
24
this
the
to a
that
the survival
of mankind,
| feel
es
°°
The other reason is | have preached nonviolence in the
movement in our country, and | think it is very consistent
for me to follow a nonviolent approach in international
affairs. It would be very inconsistent for me to teach and
preach nonviolence in this situation and then applaud violence when thousands and thousands of people, both
adults and children, are being maimed and mutilated and
many killed in this war, so that | still feel and live by the
principle, “Thou shalt not kill.”
And it is out of this moral commitment to dignity and
the worth of human personality that | feel it is necessary
to stand up against the war in Vietnam.
Rights Drive Migration
Q. In 1965, there was an influx of civil rights workers,
mostly those identified with the more radical groups such
as the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, into
the peace movement. At that time I believe you condemned the war but kept your organizations and energies
pretty well channeled in the civil rights movement.
Recently, one of your assistants, the Rev. James Bevel,
moved full time into the peace movement and is now
organizing a protest in New
York April 15 in which he
will participate. Do you foresee a mass
civil rights to the peace movement?
migration
from
A. No. | don’t think there will be a mass migration from
the civil rights movement if by that you mean leaving civil
rights. | think more and more of them will
volved in both kinds of programatic action.
become
in-
There are many Negroes who now feel the two problems, the two issues, are inextricably bound together and —
u
o
y
e,
ic
st
ju
t
u
o
h
t
i
w
m
o
d
e
e
r
f
e
v
a
h
ly
al
re
t
n’
ca
u
that yo
e
ic
st
ju
e
v
a
h
t
n’
ca
u
o
y
d
n
a
e,
ic
st
ju
t
u
o
h
t
i
w
e
c
a
e
p
e
can’t hav
rte
in
e
th
of
n
o
i
t
a
z
i
l
a
e
r
a
of
e
r
o
m
is
it
so
,
e
c
a
e
p
t
u
o
with
ck
ta
at
to
d
e
e
n
e
th
d
n
a
m
s
i
r
a
t
i
l
i
m
d
n
a
m
s
i
c
a
r
of
-elatedness
.
e
n
o
g
n
i
v
a
e
l
n
a
h
t
r
e
h
t
a
r
both problems
t
bu
s,
ea
ar
h
t
o
b
in
k
r
o
w
to
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
ll
wi
e
w
y
l
n
Certai
at
th
,
e
e
r
g
a
to
d
e
k
l
a
t
e
v
a
h
|
at
th
s
r
e
h
t
o
y
n
a
m
| feel, and
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
ts
gh
ri
l
vi
ci
e
th
in
e
m
i
t
g
n
i
k
r
a
m
y
l
e
r
e
m
e
we ar
at
th
is
ct
fa
e
h
T
r.
wa
e
th
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
d
n
a
t
s
a
ke
ta
t
no
-f we do
y
r
a
t
e
n
o
m
a
m
o
r
f
d
n
a
y
l
l
a
c
i
n
h
c
e
t
ue
tr
be
y
while it ma
a
is
it
,
er
tt
bu
d
n
a
s
n
u
g
e
v
a
h
n
ca
u
o
y
at
th
point of view
l
l
i
w
y
e
n
o
m
r
u
o
y
e
r
e
h
t
is
t
r
a
e
h
r
u
o
y
e
r
e
h
w
at
th
tact of life
in
r
a
w
at
th
in
is
n
o
i
t
a
r
t
s
i
n
i
m
d
A
e
th
of
t
r
a
e
h
go, and the
Vietnam.
at
th
as
g
n
o
l
As
.
r
a
w
at
th
in
is
s
s
e
r
g
n
o
C
e
th
of
The heart
at
th
el
fe
|
d
n
a
,
go
ll
wi
y
e
n
o
m
e
th
e
r
e
h
w
is
is true, that
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
n
r
u
o
of
n
o
i
t
a
t
n
e
i
t
o
e
r
l
a
c
i
d
a
r
a
of
d
e
e
n
we are in
e
w
e
r
e
h
w
t
n
i
o
p
e
th
to
us
g
n
i
p
e
e
k
is
r
a
w
s
i
h
T
priorities.
.
s
g
n
i
h
t
g
n
i
r
e
d
r
o
e
r
ly
al
re
aren’t
l
u
f
e
c
a
e
p
e
t
i
p
s
e
d
s
n
e
s
r
o
w
d
n
a
s
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
r
Q. If the wa
k
n
i
h
t
u
o
y
o
d
,
y
r
t
n
u
o
c
is
th
in
it
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
demonstrations
e
c
n
e
i
d
e
b
o
s
i
d
l
vi
ci
in
e
g
a
g
n
e
d
l
u
o
h
s
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
the peace
e
m
o
s
h
t
i
w
d
e
s
u
s
a
h
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
s
t
h
g
i
r
l
vi
ci
e
h
t
d
n
i
of the k
success in the past?
it
y
sa
t
’
n
d
l
u
o
w
|
t
Bu
r.
fa
at
th
e
n
o
g
t
ye
t
no
e
v
a
h
|
A.
e
th
r
e
v
o
s
t
n
e
m
p
o
l
e
v
e
d
on
s
d
n
e
p
e
d
It
.
y
r
a
s
s
e
c
e
n
won't be
ke
ta
t
s
u
m
es
at
St
d
e
t
i
n
U
e
th
ke
li
el
fe
|
.
s
h
t
n
o
m
w
e
f
next
e
r
e
h
p
s
o
m
t
a
an
te
ea
cr
to
,
ve
ti
ia
it
in
e
th
n
a
e
m
|
s,
ep
st
t
rs
the fi
an
th
l
u
f
r
e
w
o
p
e
r
o
m
h
c
u
m
so
e
ar
e
W
.
s
n
o
i
t
a
i
t
o
for neg
Vietnam.
d
e
e
n
t
’
n
o
d
e
w
d
n
a
r
e
w
o
p
ry
ta
li
mi
t
s
e
t
a
e
r
g
e
th
e
ar
We
ll
we
y
l
b
r
e
p
u
s
e
ar
e
w
k
in
th
|
.
r
e
w
o
p
ry
ta
li
mi
r
ou
e
to prov
te
ea
cr
d
n
a
is
th
in
ve
ti
ia
it
in
e
th
ke
ta
to
d
e
p
p
i
u
q
e
placed,
d
n
a
s
g
n
i
b
m
o
b
g
n
i
s
a
e
c
by
s
n
o
i
t
a
i
t
o
g
e
n
r
fo
e
r
e
h
the atmosp
n
o
i
t
a
n
r
u
o
if
w
o
N
.
g
n
i
o
d
e
ar
e
w
gs
in
th
r
e
h
t
o
e
th
of
some
y
n
a
e
se
t
’
n
o
d
e
w
if
d
n
a
r
a
w
e
th
g
n
i
t
a
l
a
c
s
e
on
insists
i
d
e
b
o
s
i
d
l
vi
ci
in
e
g
a
g
n
e
to
y
r
a
s
s
e
c
e
n
be
y
a
m
it
changes
d
an
n
o
i
t
a
n
e
th
of
e
c
n
e
i
c
s
n
o
c
e
th
e
s
u
o
r
a
r
e
h
t
r
u
ence to f
.
y
r
t
n
u
o
c
r
ou
g
n
i
t
r
u
h
is
is
make it clear we feel th
m
a
|
y
h
w
n
o
s
a
e
r
c
si
ba
r
e
h
t
o
n
a
is
is
th
y
sa
t
h
g
i
m
|
And
|
.
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
ve
lo
|
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
is
It
.
d
e
n
r
e
c
n
o
c
d
n
a
‘nvolved
e
p
o
h
d
l
u
o
w
|
.
n
g
i
a
p
m
a
c
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
te
ha
a
in
d
e
g
a
g
n
e
t
no
m
a
e
th
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
up
g
n
i
d
n
a
t
s
y
r
t
n
u
o
c
is
th
of
e
l
p
o
e
p
that the
a
c
i
r
e
m
A
ve
lo
ey
th
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
it
t
s
n
i
a
g
a
up
g
n
i
d
n
a
war are st
d
n
a
t
s
ly
al
re
n
o
i
t
a
n
t
ea
gr
r
ou
e
se
to
t
n
a
w
ey
th
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
and
.
d
l
r
o
w
e
th
of
e
l
p
m
a
x
up as the moral e
The
fact
is we
have
alienated
ourselves
from
so
much
ois
y
ll
ca
ti
li
po
d
an
y
ll
ra
mo
e
of the world and have becom
as
lated
the
result
of
our
involvement
in
the
war
in
Vietnam.
Peace
Demonstrations
d
l
u
o
h
s
ch
su
as
s
n
o
i
t
a
z
i
n
a
g
r
o
ts
gh
ri
l
vi
ci
k
in
th
u
yo
o
D
Q.
?
s
n
o
i
t
a
r
t
s
n
o
m
e
d
e
c
a
e
p
in
join
l
vi
ci
e
th
in
s
al
du
vi
di
in
at
th
y
sa
y
nl
ai
rt
ce
d
l
u
o
w
|
A.
|
.
s
n
o
i
t
a
r
t
s
n
o
m
e
d
e
c
a
e
p
in
in
jo
d
l
u
o
h
s
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
rights
y
m
of
e
s
u
a
c
e
b
t
in
po
is
th
at
have to make a distinction
e
m
o
c
e
b
to
n
o
i
s
i
c
e
d
a
e
d
a
m
|
is
at
th
d
an
,
t
n
e
m
e
v
l
o
v
n
i
n
w
o
is
o
h
w
e
n
o
as
,
n
a
m
y
g
r
e
l
c
a
as
,
al
du
vi
di
in
an
as
d
e
v
l
‘nvo
e.
ac
pe
t
u
o
b
a
d
e
n
r
e
c
n
o
c
greatly
ly
ve
ti
ac
e
m
o
c
e
b
t
ye
t
no
s
ha
n
o
i
t
a
z
i
n
a
g
r
o
an
as
C.
L.
S.C.
di
in
y
n
a
m
e
ar
e
r
e
h
T
.
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
e
c
a
e
p
e
th
in
d
e
v
invol
y
l
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
z
i
n
a
g
r
o
t
bu
,
d
e
v
l
o
v
n
i
e
ar
o
h
w
C.
L.
C.
S.
in
s
al
du
vi
e
d
a
m
e
v
a
h
|
s
n
o
i
s
i
c
e
d
e
th
l
al
in
e
m
d
e
k
c
a
b
s
ha
C.
L.
S.C.
e
c
a
e
p
a
g
n
i
m
o
c
e
b
t
u
o
h
t
i
w
n
ke
ta
e
v
a
h
|
ds
an
st
e
th
l
and al
organization.
t
bu
,
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
to
ve
ha
ll
wi
it
y
a
w
e
th
be
y
a
m
is
th
Now
y
l
e
r
u
p
in
g
n
i
g
a
g
n
e
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
ll
wi
s
n
o
i
t
a
z
i
n
a
g
r
o
ts
gh
ri
l
vi
ci
on
s
n
o
s
r
e
p
r
fo
n
e
p
o
y
a
w
e
th
g
in
av
le
,
es
ti
vi
ti
ac
ts
gh
ri
l
vi
ci
e
th
d
an
u,
yo
e
v
a
h
t
a
h
w
d
an
,
s
d
r
a
o
b
on
s
n
o
s
r
e
p
d
an
staffs
e.
at
ip
ic
rt
pa
to
ee
fr
el
fe
s,
al
membership can, as individu
s
rm
te
in
d
te
mi
li
e
ar
e
w
y
| do feel that organizationall
is
th
d
an
,
do
n
ca
e
w
t
a
h
w
in
es
gi
er
en
d
an
s
ce
ur
so
of re
r
ou
ve
gi
to
e
u
n
i
t
n
o
c
to
ve
ha
ll
wi
y
l
b
a
b
o
r
p
we
s
mean
e
th
h
g
u
o
r
h
t
es
ti
vi
ti
ac
ts
gh
ri
l
vi
ci
to
k
r
o
w
d
an
me
ti
prime
nco
ll
wi
al
du
vi
di
in
an
as
|
t
civil rights organizations. Bu
e
th
t
ns
ai
ag
d
an
e
c
a
e
p
of
e
su
is
e
th
on
up
d
an
st
to
e
tinu
war
in
Vietnam.
e
m
o
s
r
fo
y
a
w
a
n
e
e
b
ve
ha
u
yo
Q. Dr. King, | understand
go
to
e
r
e
h
w
g
n
i
t
a
l
p
m
e
t
n
o
c
time writing a new book and
e
th
e
r
e
h
w
on
s
n
o
i
s
u
l
c
n
o
c
y
an
h
ac
re
u
yo
d
Di
.
re
he
om
fr
?
d
e
d
a
e
h
is
t
n
e
m
e
v
o
m
ts
civil righ
be
ll
wi
h
ic
wh
s
on
si
lu
nc
A. Well, | reached several co
in
e
at
st
to
d
ie
tr
|
gs
in
th
e
th
stated in the book. One of
d
e
k
r
o
w
we
e
d
a
c
e
d
a
an
th
e
the first chapter is that for mor
gse
l
ga
le
of
n
io
at
li
mi
hu
d
mainly to remove the stigma an
is
th
in
s
ie
or
ct
vi
t
an
ic
if
gn
si
regation. We have made some
ng
ki
ta
in
ed
in
jo
,
es
it
wh
,
area. Many people in the nation
o.
gr
Ne
e
th
of
n
io
at
li
mi
hu
of
a stand against this kind
e
th
at
th
ct
fa
e
th
is
w
o
n
But what we are faced with
r
fo
le
gg
ru
st
a
t
in
po
is
th
at
is
ly
al
tu
ac
d
an
be
st
mu
le
gg
ru
st
s
ar
ye
12
or
10
st
la
e
th
er
ov
le
gg
genuine equality. The stru
ot
d
ri
t
ge
to
le
gg
ru
st
a
y,
nc
has been a struggle for dece
25
eww
eae
Zz
ee,
ee
ae tn
Ce
an, in ad he TT
ie chee ie alee cee det koe
ke
ae
ee
eS ee
extremist behavior towards Negroes, and | think we are
moving into a period which is much more difficult because
it is dealing with hard economic problems which will cost
the nation something to solve.
It did not cost the nation anything to integrate lunch
counters or public accommodations. It did not cost the
nation anything to guarantee the right to vote. The problem is now in order—to end the long night of poverty and
economic insecurity—it would mean billions of dollars. In
order to end slums it would mean billions of dollars. In
order to get rid of bad education, education devoid of
poverty, it means lifting the educational level of the whole
public school system, which would mean billions of
dollars.
_
This, | feel, is much more difficult than the period we
have gone through. There will be more resistance because
it means the privileged groups will have to give up some
of their billions. And | think the so-called white backlash
is expressed right here.
It is a reaction to the demands that are presently being
made by Negraes now demanding genuine equality, and
not just integration of the lunch counters but an adequate
wage; not just integration of the classrooms,
but a decent
sanitary house in which to live. It is much easier to integrate a restaurant than it is to demand an annual income.
| think the growing debate is recognition of this difficulty.
The next conclusion | reached is that the great need in
the Negro community and the civil rights movements is
to organize the Negro community for the amassirg of real
political and economic power. The question now is not
merely developing programs because we have put many
programs on paper.
What is needed now is the undergirding power to bring
about enough pressure so that these programs can become a reality, that they can become concretized in our
everyday lives; not only under the legislative process but
under all the processes necessary to make them real. This
just means the hard job of organizing tenants, organizing
welfare recipients, organizing the unemployed and the
underemployed.
It is for this reason that | am recommending to the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference that we begin
to train more field organizers so that we can really go out
and organize these people and thereby move into the
area of political action. | think the Negro can improve his
economic resources much more if these resources. are
pooled, and | intend to do much more in this area so that
we can make an economic thrust.
26
Q. Dr. King, you have been called to the White House
on many occasions to confer with the President about
civil rights matters. Has your opposition to the war altered
your relations in any way with President Johnson?
A. Not
as far as | am
concerned.
| go to the White
House when he invites me. | have followed a policy of
being very honest with the President when he has con-
sulted me about civil rights.
| have
made
it very clear to him
stand against the war in Vietnam.
why
| have
taken
| had a long talk with
a
him on the telephone not too many months ago about
this and made it clear to him | would be standing up
against it even more. | am not centering this on President
Johnson. | think there is collective guilt.
Civil Rights Bills
Four Presidents participated in some way leading us to
the war in Vietnam. So | am not going to put it all on
President
Johnson.
What
| am
concerned
about
now
is
that we end this nightmarish war and free our souls. |
think that our souls are so terribly scarred now that as
long as we are involved they get scarred more.
| will continue to be concened, and if the President in-
vites me to the White House on civil rights | will respond
to it.
Q. What about the President’s civil rights bills now before Congress? Are they relevant to today’s problems?
A. They
are all relevant to today’s
problems,
but they
are not adequate. One aspect of the inadequacy
failure to call for immediacy.
is the
The housing problem, | believe, is one of the greatest
problems facing our nation. There is ano more dangerous
trend than the constant growth of predominantly Negro
central cities ringed by white suburbs. | think this is only
inviting social disaster.
|
| don’t see any answer to it but an open housing law
that is vigorously enforced. The Administration’s bill does
not call this year for a housing bill that is immediately
enforcible. It would take three years to become nationally
and universally applicable.
| don’t think that is recognition of the urgency, and.
there is so much urgency about it that the more we stall
on it the more the ghetto intensifies, the more the frustra~, ag
tions
of the
adequate
mentation.
ghetto
because
will
intensify,
so
| don’t
think
it does not call for immediate
it is
imple:
eee
=
s
The legislation on the administration of justice is neces-
sary and
relevant
because
we
know
that in the South,
Negroes and white civil rights workers are still being murdered and- brutalized at whim, and trampled over at wil
and a lot of this happens because they think they can get
by with it, because they feel they are aided and abetted
by the law enforcement agencies in those particular areas.
Q. What in your opinion is the current state of race
relations in this country? Have there been gains? Do you
still have hope?
A. We have certainly made some gains. The greatest
gain is that we have brought the issue out into the open
so that nobody can say there isn’t a race problem.
For years, many people deluded themselves and argued
that the Negro was satisfied, that conditions were good.
But now everybody knows that things aren’t right and the
Negro is not satisfied. We have exposed the injustices and
brought the evils out in the open. This is probably the
greatest achievement.
The other is a psychological achievement and manv
people overlook this, and that is the new sense of dignity,
the new sense of manhood within the Negro himself. And
| think this is probably the greatest victory, that the Negro
has a new sense of dignity, a new sense of destiny, a new
sense of self-respect as the result of the struggle over the
last few years.
Also, we have made very significant legislative strides.
The Civil Rights Bill of 1964 represented progress; the
Voting Rights Bill of 1965 represented real progress. The
problem is that these particular gains are legislative vic-
tories that did very little to rectify conditions facing millions of Negroes in the teeming ghettos of the North.
They rectified wrongs and evils in the South, but did
very little to penetrate the lower depths of Negro deprivation in the North. Consequently, we do see worse slums
today in many parts. The schools in the North are more
segregated today than they were in 1954. And, as | said
earlier, the Negroes’ economic problem is at many points
worse today because of Negro unemployment and growing gulfs between white and Negro income.
Now this tells us that we still have a long way to go.
But I’m not one to lose faith in the future or lose hope
because
| think the minute you do that you defeat the
force that makes a revolution powerful. A revolution can-
not survive
on
despair.
It always
must
Move
on
a wave
of rising expectations and the feeling that you can win.
The minute you begin to feel that you can’t win, you
begin to adopt a no-win policy and to develop a nihilistic
approach. | refuse to engage in that kind of hopelessness.
| still believe that we have in this country forces of
goodwill that can be mobilized and ‘hat can direct the
condition of conscience that will finally bring about the
day when racism is no longer at the center of our society.
z/,
p, Martin Luther King
Comments on NAACP
on Apri12l, 1967
JERR EER
ad
°
| have
lived
and
worked
Ld
a
P
Ay
—
| PPR
A
Nitoes
in ghettoes
ee
-
Hien
A
throughout
a
takes
Negro
communities.
me
into
dozens
My
direct
of Northern
personal
and
the
Southern
experience
with
Negroes in all walks of life convinces me that there is
deep and widespread disenchantment with the war in
Vietnam; first, because they are against war itself, and
secondly, because they feel it has caused a significant and
alarming diminishing of concern and attention to civil
rights progress. | have held these views myself for a long
time but | have spoken more frequently in the recent
period because Negroes in so many circles have explicitly
urged me to articulate their concern and frustration. They
feel civil rights is well on its way to becoming a neglected
and forgotten issue long before it is even partially solved.
Recently, a myth about my views on Vietnam has confused these clear issues. The myth credits me with advocating the fusion of the civil rights and peace movements
and | am criticized for authoring such a “serious tactical
mistake.”
| am saddened that the Board of Directors of the
NAACP, a fellow civil rights organization, would join in
the perpetuation of the myth about my views. They have
challenged and repudiated a non-existent proposition.
S.C.L.C. and I have expressed our views on the war and
drawn attention to its damaging effects on civil rights programs, a fact we believe to be incontrovertible and therefore mandatory to express in the interest of the struggle
for equality.
| challenge the NAACP and other critics of my position
to take a forthright stand on the rightness or wrongness
nS
Piet la SORE
i
RE 80 or Oy 1
ee
Teh
ae
me OEP
s—
| hold no such view. Only a few weeks ago in a formal
public resolution, my organization, S.C.L.C., and | explicitly declared that we have no intention of diverting or
diminishing in any respect our activities in civil rights, and
we outlined extensive programs for the immediate future
in the South as well as in Chicago.
28
5
ek
ss
"e
s
eee
Sa
Sd
.
ries
-
nation, and | travel tens of thousands of miles each month
which
“g
@e-
of this war, rather than going off creating a non-existent
issue.
We do not believe in any merger or fusion of movements, but we equally believe that no one’ can pretend
that the existence of the war is not profoundly affecting
the destiny of civil rights progress. We believe that despite
the war our efforts can produce results and our strength
is fully committed to that end. But it would be misleading
and shallow to suggest that the role of the war is not
hampering it substantially and can be ignored as a facior.
Loud and raucous voices have already been raised in
Congress and elsewhere suggesting that the nation cannot afford to finance a war against poverty and inequality
On an expanding scale and a shooting war at the same
time. It is perfectly clear the nation has the resources to
do both, but those who oppose civil rights and favor a
war policy have seized the opportunity to pose a false
issue to the public. This should not be ignored by civil
rights organizations. The basic elements in common between the peace movement and the civil rights movement
are human elements.
| am a clergyman as well as a civil rights leader and
the moral roots of our war policy are not unimportant to
me. | do not believe that our nation can be a moral leader
of justice, equality, and democracy if it is trapped in the
role of self-appointed world policeman. Throughout my
career in the civil rights movement | have been concerned
about justice for all people. For instance, | strongly teel
that we must end not merely poverty among Negroes but
poverty among white people. Likewise, | have always insisted on justice for all the world over, because justice is
indivisible and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere. | will not stand idly by when | see an unjust
war taking place and fail to take a siand against it. | will
continue
to express
my
opposition
to this wrong
policy
without in any way diminishing my activity in civil rights,
just as millions of Negro and White people are doing day
in and day out.
SiC
MERAY
ERIE
rs to the Editor
-
CY
C
ra
Printed in
SG
SE SLE
RP
ded
Dr. King’s Place in Civil-Rights Tradition
To the Editor:
Dr. Martin Luther King’s argument that the war in Vietnam has precluded meaningful attempts to cope with
poverty and discrimination at home may or may not be
correct. His conclusion that, as a civil-rights leader, he
must therefore oppose that war may or may not be wise.
But the implication made by many of his critics that, as a
civil-rights leader, Dr. King departs radically from precedent in speaking out against American foreign policy, cannot bear historical examination.
*
Y
BEI
ia
sale OOPS
edge, attacked for speaking out on foreign-policy issues
while serving with the association, nor was it suggested
that their positions somehow hurt the cause of civil rights.
Neither Storey nor Villard, it is true, involved the association in their foreign-policy statements: Villard spoke
from his position as editor of The Nation, Storey as a
private citizen.
But it has also been forgotten that the precedent of a
civil-rights organization, as an organization, criticizing
American foreign policy, was set not by Stokely Carmichael
and the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee,
let alone by Dr. King, but by the N.A.A.C.P. through its
secretary,
James
Weldon
Johnson,
in connec-
The fact is, though some seem to have forgotten it, that
many of the initial leaders of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People were men wha devoted much of their public careers openly to attacking
American foreign policy. The first president of the associa-
in Haiti and the intertion with the American occupation
vention in Vietnam may be different in intent, but surely
they are equally “foreign policy’’— as distinguished from
“civil-rights’’— issues.
of the
Whatever the merits of Dr. King’s position, in short, he
stands in a solid historical tradition when, as a civil-rights
leader, he speaks out against American foreign policy.
tion, Moorfield Storey, assumed that office already known
as a persistent critic of the American
Philippines.
acquisition
While serving as president between 1910 and 1929,
Storey continued his anti-imperialism, publicly condemning American interventions in the Dominican Republic, in
Haiti, and in Nicaragua.
No Criticism of Leaders
Oswald Garrison Villard, the first treasurer of the association, was one of the staunchest critics of the Treaty of
Versailles and remained an opponent of ‘foreign entangle-
ments”
throughout
Negro American
his life. Though
was even
more
the situation
of the
perilous then than now,
neither Storey nor Villard was, to the best of my knowl-
executive
. WILLIAM B. HIXON, JR.
Instructor in History, Michigan State University
East Lansing,Michigan, April 10, 1967
Dr. King’s Peace Stand Supported
To the Editor:
By commenting
as it did
in the editorial
“Dr.
King’s
Error’ (April 7) The Times has, in my estimation, committed an error it will want later to rectify and done an
unfortunate disservice to a great American and a great
Christian.
29
Perhaps you allowed Dr. King’s harsh charges (‘recklessly comparing American military methods to those of
the Nazis”) to distract you from the main thrust of his
action. The objection, however, to his “fusing of two public problems that are quite distinct and separate” has an
odd ring to it, coming as it does from a newspaper which
has always stressed integrity and the indivisibility of freedom.
Great Society programs
in Washington
point.
is but one case in
The Times says Dr. King has every right and obligation
to explore the ethical implications of the war “as an individual,” yet it is only “as an individual” that he has spoken
out. He has not committed the Southern Christian Leader-
ship
Conference
as an organization
to participate
in any
action. Moreover, his reasons for speaking out go far beyond his feeling that ‘the two issues are inextricably bound
together” and his insight into “the interrelatedness of
racism and militarism.” It is because as he says, “I love
America
and want -to see our great nation really stand
up as the moral example of the world.”
It is because he wants ‘to arouse the conscience of the
nation...so that at least we can move more and more
toward a negotiated settlement of that terrible conflict...
and it is out of this moral commitment to dignity and the
worth of human personality that | feel it is necessary to
stand up against the war in Vietnam.”
30
JOHN P. C. MATTHEWS
Princeton, N.J., April 8, 1967
Civil Rights and War
To the Editor:
| disagree with your editorial (April 7) which declared
that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s linking of the civil rights
struggle and the war in Vietnam is an error which will lead
to deeper confusion.
Our mistreatment of Negroes and our lawlessness in
Vietnam are both manifestations of the same self-deceptive
kinds of thinking. And they require similar solutions.
For three hundred years white Americans have abused
Negroes, scorned them for the characteristics which resulted from the abuse, accused them of aggression when
they protested and used the protest as an excuse for further
oppression.
For
thirteen
years
the
United
States
Government
has
been trying to impose its domination on South Vietnam,
increasing the fury of its attack after each failure and blam-
ing the aggression
on its Communist
opponents.
Close Cooperation
Fundamental changes will have to be made: Our children must be raised with a horror instead of a delight in
raw violence, and with much more respect for laws and
for other people’s feelings. Adults and children must learn
to do without the dangerous comfort of blaming their own
hostility on others. More people and more leaders who
recognize injustice must find the courage to speak out
against it.
| believe that the civil rights and peace movements
should cooperate closely in their educational and organization work. Their common aim is to save the world—
literally—by fostering the brotherhood of man. In the long
run their greatest gains will come, | think, from patient
political organization beginning at the grass roots, within
or Outside the existing parties.
BENJAMIN
SPOCK
Cleveland, April 10, 1967
The
writer is co-chairman
a Sane Nuclear Policy.
of the National
Committee
for
ee einen
The fact that our then new Secretary of Health, Education
and Welfare had to spend several weeks of his valuable
time in Saigon last spring getting to know the problems
of that country when he should have been concentrating
on getting to know the vast problems of H.E.W. and the
Are we, as a nation, so lacking in self- confidence, courage and faith that we, in all our might, cannot bring ourselves to launch such a crucial initiative?
etn
Speaks as Individual
rightly Dr. King insists “the United States must
first steps, | mean the initiative, to create an atfor negotiation... .”
Se
The two issues are fused in Dr. King because he is a
man of peace who said on April 2: “It would be very inconsistent of me to teach and preach non-violence...
and then applaud violence when thousands of thousands
of people, both adults and children, are being maimed and
mutilated and many killed in this war.’’
The reason Dr. King says ‘the Great Society has been
shot down on the battlefields of Vietnam” is not because
he contests your assertion that “the nation could afford
to make more funds available to combat poverty even
while the war in Vietnam continues.” It is rather because
he knows that Congress will not make more funds available so long as this war continues. Dr. King uses the old
Biblical saying: ‘‘where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also,’’ and maintains that the heart of Congress
and of the Administration is in this war.
Quite
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President, Union Theological Seminary
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Father John McKenzie
Professor, Divinity School
Universigrel Chigese
Mr. Philip Scharper
Vice-President, Sheed & Ward, Inc.
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