Martin Luther King Jr.- not his most famous but u SHOULD READ!!!

Martin Luther King- Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam

Four years after President John F. Kennedy sent the first American troops into Vietnam, Martin Luther King issued his first public statement on the war. Answering press questions after addressing a Howard University audience on 2 March 1965, King asserted that the war in Vietnam was ‘‘accomplishing nothing’’ and called for a negotiated settlement (Schuette, ‘‘King Preaches on Non-Violence’’).
While King was personally opposed to the war, he was concerned that publicly criticizing U.S. foreign policy would damage his relationship with President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had been instrumental in passing civil rights legislation, and who had declared in April 1965 that he was willing to negotiate a diplomatic end to the war in Vietnam. Though he avoided condemning the war outright, at the August 1965 annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) convention King called for a halt to bombing in North Vietnam, urged that the United Nations be empowered to mediate the conflict, and told the crowd that ‘‘What is required is a small first step that may establish a new spirit of mutual confidence … a step capable of breaking the cycle of mistrust, violence and war’’ (King, 12 August 1965). He supported Johnson’s calls for diplomatic negotiations and economic development as the beginnings of such a step. Later that year King framed the issue of war in Vietnam as a moral issue: ‘‘as a minister of the gospel,’’ he said, ‘‘I consider war an evil. I must cry out when I see war escalated at any point’’ (‘‘Opposes Vietnam War’’).

Martin Luther King felt as though the war, was a crutch that the gov't used. It was killing many innocent people. I would like to know:

• What made Mr. King so persistant in speaking up for Americans when, blacks were still being oppressed?

• What was the Gov't saying?

• What do you think?