Nick Rizzi
ENGW 1101
Professor Young
Essay 2
4/24/15
The Relevance of A Time to Break Silence
Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,
continues to be relevant in today’s world. Though some of the major racial issues
have been, for the most part, resolved, there are still arguments and
statements that he made in this speech that relate to our world today and the
issues that we face. King discusses governmental hypocrisy, innocent civilians
dying due to endless wars that they want nothing to do with, and the voiceless
being given a voice. All of these points can be directly applied to some of the
bigger problems that we face in our world today. Unfortunately, nothing has
changed in regards to these issues in the almost fifty years since King made
this powerful speech.
The whole basis of King’s speech
resolves around giving the voiceless a voice. He states, “At this point I should make it clear that while I
have tried to give a voice to the voiceless in Vietnam and to understand the
arguments of those who are called ‘enemy’”(King). This can be applied to dozens
of modern day issues. Whether it is people living in poverty, those who want
our country to stop fighting pointless never-ending wars in the Middle East, and
even those fighting in the movement for gay rights. All of these groups have
powerful arguments, but lack that one powerful voice that brings them the
recognition that they have earned and rightfully deserved. King was that
powerful voice for the Vietnam War. All of the pleas and wishes of the people
against the war, as well as the innocent Vietnamese citizens losing their homes
were brought forth due to Martin Luther King Jr. All of these wars and civil
rights issues that are relevant today need that one voice. Until then, some of
these issues may not ever get solved completely.
Another point that King alludes to
in his speech is hypocrisy by the American government. The government punishes
those who act out in violence when, at the same time, they are doing the same
thing in all of the wars that they go out at fight. King had always told the
people fighting for the Civil Rights movement not to act out in violence. He
states, “But they ask -- and rightly so
-- what about Vietnam?”(King) Here the people were questioning why they could
not act out in violence if the government was doing the exact same thing
thousands of miles away. This point is also still relevant today. In recent
history, there have been a lot of issues in racial profiling and shootings that
have come out as a direct result. Some examples include the Trayvon Martin case
as well as the Ferguson shootings. Also, when the American government has an
issue with another country, they go out, bomb them and start a war against them
that can last years. When people of our country have an issue with our
government, they are told to keep quiet until the government can decide what to
do. The American people are punished for lashing out in violence, but their
superiors are doing the exact same thing to the people and countries that they
disagree with. In the end, the people
have no power, and the American government is taking advantage of their people.
Another important issue that King
brings up is innocent civilians becoming casualties of war. There are always
groups of people who never wanted anything to do with war who end up dying.
They lose their lives because their country was fighting against a cause that they
did not believe in. In regards to the Vietnam War and the innocent Vietnamese
people, King states, “I think of them, too, because it is clear to me that
there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know
them and hear their broken cries” (King). Here, King goes back to the fact that
voiceless people need a voice. These people were begging for both sides of the
war to stop. They did not want any more innocent people to lose their homes,
lives and families. This is still relevant in the wars that we are fighting
today. Not everyone in the Middle East is a member of ISIS, and some American
people still fail to understand that. In reality, most of the Middle Eastern
people are innocent and think that ISIS is a terrible, disgusting organization
just as we do. It is important that our government and our people recognize
this. These people should not have to lose their lives because of a
disagreement between us, and a terrorist organization that operates near their
homes.
While our country has improved
tremendously since King’s Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, a lot of his points are still relevant
in our society today. A lot of his major points reflect some of the bigger
problems the American people and government are still struggling to deal with
today. Hopefully our country can recognize these issues, and di their best in
trying to finally resolve them.
Nick Rizzi
ENGW 1101
Professor Young
Essay 2
4/3/15
Works Cited
King, Dr. Martin Luther Jr., Beyond Vietnam: A Time to
Break Silence. Clergy
and Layman Concerned About Vietnam. Riverside
Church, New York City. 4 April 1967.Lecture
