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When King broke the silence on Vietnam
From the article:
AMERICAN SCHOOLCHILDREN know that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in the power of Christian love to redeem a world filled with hatred. But far fewer know his radical critique of American capitalism and war..
Martin Luther King's speech at Riverside Church in Harlem on April 4, 1967, explodes these myths and forces us to accept the fact that the most prominent and celebrated Black person in U.S. history is someone who challenged capitalism, nationalism, militarism and America's arrogant belief in its inherent righteousness.
The Riverside address, which has come to be known as the "Beyond Vietnam" speech, was also a challenge to the prevailing liberal consensus that civil rights activists had to, at all costs, preserve a "coalition" with the Democratic Party and President Lyndon Johnson...........
King described his ministry as a calling that stretches beyond national allegiances. About the Christians who counseled silence, he replied: "Could it be that they do not know that the Good News was meant for all men--for communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for Black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative?"
Jesus, he reminded his listeners, was the one who loved his enemies "so fully that he died for them. What then can I say to the Vietcong or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister of this one? Can I threaten them with death or must I not share with them my life?"
Martin Luther King's speech at Riverside Church in Harlem on April 4, 1967, explodes these myths and forces us to accept the fact that the most prominent and celebrated Black person in U.S. history is someone who challenged capitalism, nationalism, militarism and America's arrogant belief in its inherent righteousness.
The Riverside address, which has come to be known as the "Beyond Vietnam" speech, was also a challenge to the prevailing liberal consensus that civil rights activists had to, at all costs, preserve a "coalition" with the Democratic Party and President Lyndon Johnson...........
King described his ministry as a calling that stretches beyond national allegiances. About the Christians who counseled silence, he replied: "Could it be that they do not know that the Good News was meant for all men--for communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for Black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative?"
Jesus, he reminded his listeners, was the one who loved his enemies "so fully that he died for them. What then can I say to the Vietcong or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister of this one? Can I threaten them with death or must I not share with them my life?"
To read more:
http://socialistworker.org/2017/04/04/when-king-broke-the-silence-on-Vietnam
Reverend King was number 3 on my Progressive people of faith series, but his progressive message bears repetition.
8 replies
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You win the internets today!
