tadhg.com
tadhg.com
 

MLK on Vietnam

16:45 Sun 06 Apr 2008
[, , , , ]

Just over forty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against the Vietnam War. In doing so, he made clear the connection between war and economic exploitation, and exposed the hypocrisy of those who applauded his nonviolent stance on civil rights demonstrations while also applauding violence against the Vietnamese.

Since his death, MLK has been sanctified by the mainstream, and also defanged—you hear about his peaceful quest for racial equality, but not about his struggle against what he called the three evils of racism, militarism, and economic exploitation.

It’s a powerful speech, and one I’d read about but never listened to until recently. And, of course, it’s all extremely relevant to current events, not much seeming to have changed in the intervening four decades:

Leave a Reply