Who Is Martin Luther King's Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence?

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“Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. at the Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967. Inside the church, a meeting of concerned clergy and laity was being held. The nature of his speech focused on the war in Vietnam. The clergy’s response to King’s words were that peace and civil rights did not mix. To King, these words were a “tragic misunderstanding of the world” (Spence). King stressed that he was not there to push an agenda, he was there on behalf of his fellow Americans. Concerning the significance of getting involved in the Vietnam War, King itemized seven major reasons to bring the war to an end based on moral visions. Although at the time, Kings speech was controversial and many Americans disagreed with his point of view, his speech was necessary. Necessary to open the eyes of the American people so that the hypocrisy within the American government would be exposed, that people would see the breakdown of humanity within their own country, and the effect the United States’ actions would have on not only themselves, but the world.…show more content…
Dr. King had an effect on people that very few had, he uses the technique of “Aristoliean Rhetoric,” a device which helps him achieve his goals. “A Time to Break Silence” is as compelling as his “I Have a Dream” speech, but in 1967, people did not respond as passionately as they had to his previous speeches. Dr. King was out right opposing the American government’s decision to enter the Vietnam
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    the Vietnam War were very important to people at the time, opinions clashed between people setting up a lot of controversy about the two topics. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr addresses both of these topics in his speech “From Beyond Vietnam a Time to Break Silence”. Although the main topic he addresses isn’t the Civil Rights Movement, each time he does mention it in the speech, he advances the cause of African Americans. Martin Luther King stresses the fact that blacks are fighting in the Vietnam War

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