. . . A drum major for peace
New York City, 1963
“ I cannot speak about the
great themes o f violence and
nonviolence, o f social change
and hope for the future, without
reflecting on the tremendous
violence o f Vietnam.”
And I would submit to you this morning that what is wrong in the world
today is tha, the nations o f the world are engaged in a bitter, colossal contest for
supremacy. And if something doesn’t happen to stop this trend I ’ m sorely afraid
tha, we won’, be here to talk about Jesus Christ and about Ood and about
brotherhood too many more years. I f somebody doesn’ t bring an end to this
suicidal thrust that we see in the world today, none o f us are going to be around,
because somebody’s going to make the mistake through our senseless
blundering o f dropping a nuclear bomb somewhere, and then another one is
going to drop. And don’t le, anybody foo, you, this can happen within a matter
o f seconds. They have twenty-megaton bombs in Russia right now that can
destroy a city as big as New York in three seconds with everybody wiped away,
and every building. And we can do the same thing to Russia and China.
But this is where we are drifting, and we are drifting there, because nations
arc caught up with the drum major instinct. 1 must be first. I must be supreme.
Our nation must rule the world. And I am sad to say that the nation in which we
live is the supreme culprit. And I ’m going to continue to say it because I love this
country too much to see the d rift that it has taken.
God didn’t call America to do what she’s doing in the world now. God didn’t
call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war (such) as the war in Vietnam.
And we are criminals in that war. We have committed more war crimes almost
than any nation in the world, and I ’m going to continue to say it. And we won’,
stop it because o f our pride, and our arrogance as a nation.
M artin Luther King and Or. Benjamin Spock lead protest march
against tha w ar in V iatn am .
PEOPLE
"Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed
forever—the yearning for freedom eventually
manifests itself."
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Multnomah County
Democratic Central Committee