Half a Century Later, We Are Still a ‘Society Gone Mad on War’

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King was murdered one year to the day after one of his most politically incisive speeches, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.”

In that speech, King criticized American leadership and called for a “radical revolution of values,” claiming that such a revolution was the only way of defeating the “giant triplets” of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism.

While there is much to say about the ongoing prevalence of racism today, and the rampant materialism of American society, the third triplet is one that especially demands highlighting. It’s no accident that while many Americans each year praise King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, far fewer highlight his “Beyond Vietnam” speech.

In that speech, King spoke of the evisceration of social programs designed to help Americans, while millions of dollars were being spent on warfare. He described America as a “society gone mad on war.”

The media responded harshly to this speech. Life magazine called it “demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi.” An editorial in the Apr. 6, 1967 Washington Post said King “has done a grave injury to those who are his natural allies ... and ... an even graver injury to himself.”

The Post continued, “Many who have listened to him with respect will never again accord him the same confidence. He has diminished his usefulness to his cause, to his country and to his people.”

King’s critique of American militarism was characterized as an unpatriotic betrayal of his country, and a betrayal “to his people.”

The Post revealed through its use of the phrase “his people,” an utter failure to understand King’s universalist vision.

In response to critics who asked, “Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? … Aren’t you hurting the cause of your people?” King replied, “… when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live.”

It would seem the Post’s designation, “his people,” was a reference to African Americans. King, however, in this speech forcefully articulated what he had demonstrated throughout his public life: a commitment to the well-being of all people — “his people.”

King asserted, “We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy….”

On Apr. 4, 1968, before being assassinated on the balcony outside his hotel room, King called his mother to give her the title of a new sermon: “Why America May Go to Hell.” While he never delivered that sermon, King warned that “America is going to hell if we don’t use her vast resources to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life.”

In contrast to the claim made by the Washington Post one year earlier, King’s life reveals that we are most useful to our cause, to our country, and to our people when we’re courageous enough to speak truth to power.

Colin Kaepernick, who for two years has been villainized — even by the president of the United States — for starting a movement protesting police violence against unarmed black people, has contributed significantly his cause, country, and people because of his courage to speak truth to power. 

In September 2017, Harvard University’s Institute of Politics (IOP) invited — and then disinvited — Chelsea Manning to serve as a visiting fellow. Manning, a former soldier in the U.S. Army, leaked secret documents showing that the United States had killed far more people in Iraq than the government had admitted publicly, that United States soldiers turned a blind eye to torture, and that the United States covered up the killing of civilians by American soldiers.

American militarism today manifests itself through an increased propensity to use force, leading, in effect, to the normalization of war and inhumane acts of violence.

For nearly two decades, America has been engaged in endless wars against so-called “enemies.” The costs — human, economic, and socio-political — of these wars have far exceeded the cost of virtually all previous wars. King recognized that endless wars aren’t just costly in their own right; they also ensure that America’s “soul becomes totally poisoned.”

This poisoning of the soul creates a callousness toward continuous killing and torture that fuels America’s ongoing embrace of endless wars.

Critiquing American involvement in Vietnam, King said, “A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, ‘This way of settling differences is not just.’

King’s call for non-violent visionary leadership is important for Americans to hear today:

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war…. War is not the answer…. Let us not join those who shout war and, through their misguided passions, urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness.

While the current U.S. president promotes an “America first” strategy that stresses national loyalties over global loyalties and promotes the total annihilation of America’s enemies, King’s revolution of values promotes peace and global human loyalties:

A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is, in reality, a call for an all-embracing — embracing and unconditional love for all mankind …. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation.

In this age of endless war, let us celebrate King by pursuing his radical revolution of values. Anyone claiming to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. without challenging the “giant triplets” — all of them — is doing nothing more than paying lip service to King’s bold and courageous legacy.