- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s opposition to the war in Vietnam, 1985
- Creator:
- Darby, Henry E.
- Date of Original:
- 1985-07-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
dissertations - Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- The primary intent of this research is to investigate and describe the involvement of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s opposition to the war in Vietnam and the critical responses that followed. King's speaking out against the Vietnam conflict was not spontaneous; he deliberated two years before doing so. As early as 1965, he made mention of the war but because of criticisms from senior officials in the Civil Rights Movement, he postponed his efforts to join in "peace-rallies" and "teach-ins." On April 4, 1967, one year before he was assassinated, he gave his "Beyond Vietnam" speech that outlined his position on the war. Criticisms were many and severe, ranging from some of his closest associates of the Johnson Administration; but King maintained his posture of opposing the war. As a matter of fact, on February 4, 1968, two months before his death, he emphatically declared, "We're criminals in that war!" A brief review of the United States' participation in the war and of King's philosophy will help to illuminate King's opposition. The research has not found any published books that deal directly with King's involvement in the Vietnam crisis. However new information is added to the subject-matter through interviews and. with correspondence from King's contemporaries. General works on King which reflect on aspects of the research are: My Life With Martin Luther King, Jr. by Coretta Scott King, King: A Biography by David L. Lewis, Let the Trumpet Sound by Stephen Oates and The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. by David Garrow. The research points out that King's involvement in Vietnam was based on moral, religious, and philosophical convictions that the war was "a senseless, unjust and evil war." The research also proposes that King was prophetic in that he voiced opposition to the war which later would become a popular view. The bulk of research information came from King's speeches and writings, personal papers, major newspapers and magazines, scholarly journals, books and oral interviews with King's associates and contemporaries, such as Hosea Williams, George Weaver, Floyd McKissick, C.T. Vivian and Tom Offen- burger. Some of the primary sources used are King's Trumpet of Conscience, Strength to Love, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, "Beyond Vietnam" (speech), "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam" (speech). The gathering of information was carried out in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the Woodruff libraries of Atlanta University and Emory University, and the public library.
Degree type: thesis
Degree name: Master of Arts (MA)
Department: Department of History
Advisor: Rowley, Margaret N. - Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1985_darby_henry_e.pdf
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
