Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King's "Beyond Vietnam: a Time to Break Silence"

Secretary of State John Kerry once said “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was important to Americans back home because it tested the citizen’s right to free speech, effected future foreign policy, and created many issues for returning veterans.

“Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence” is an article written by Martin Luther King Jr himself. King is effectively able to convey his point about his topic by using rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos, pathos.

Martin Luther King was firmly against the war in Vietnam. He successfully and eloquently pointed out many of the injustices and hypocrisies of the war. First the war disproportionately affects the poor by drawing away government resources that would otherwise benefit the poor. Second, the draft pulled mainly from poor communities as those more affluent could avoid the draft through college deferments or other means. As a result, poor communities suffer more as young men die. “We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem”. (MLK- A Time to Break Silence Par 5) Third, that the American use of violence to solve its problems was both immoral and also destined to fail and incompatible with American values of self determination. Fourth, by supporting anti-communist despots we undermine our message of peace and prosperity. “...as we increased our troop commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept, and without popular support. All the while the people read our leaflets and received the regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform. Now they languish under our bombs and

The growing perceived ineffectiveness and illegitimacy of America’s role in Vietnam was the product of what was viewed as little more than an anti-communist crusade in which neither logistical concerns nor the nationalist motivations of a people who had yearned for sovereignty over centuries carried significant weight. Less and less Americans were willing to bankroll, much less have their sons paying “any price” or bearing “any burden” for what was becoming a quagmire. Bodybag after bodybag was being filled with American boys on a daily basis, not to mention that every dollar of damage incurred by the Communist enemy in Hanoi cost the United States ten dollars , helping to quickly bring an end to an era of unprecedented American prosperity.

King's response to the unjustness of America's participation in the Vietnam is first capitalized by the claim that the importance of winning and paying for the war, was far more important to the Government during this time than any other discriminations, protests, or acts of unjustness that should have been paid a close eye to. King begins by proclaiming that through all of the work put into the efforts of equality, have disintegrated through the precedence of the the War. Through the usage of metaphors and extreme diction, King was able to set the tone of outrage and disappointment he sees within the current events. By saying that the Vietnam War was a "demonic destructive suction tube" in terms of how much attention and money was put into it, King effectively encourages the audience to take into consideration the mangled society and the drainage of the funds.

“If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read ‘Vietnam’.” Today I invoke the late Martin Luther King Jr’s words with full knowledge of the gravity they carry. My fellow Americans, the Vietnam war is undeniably the greatest moral catastrophe to have ever plagued our beloved nation; it has done nothing but divide us domestically and humiliate us internationally. As a result, for the sake of America’s conscience and dignity, the National Mobilisation Committee implores the Democratic Party to immediately de-escalate or even withdraw America’s military presence in South Vietnam. Yet I understand that the onus is upon me to prove that the National Mobilisation Committee’s path of peace is superior to President Johnson’s path of war. Consequently, I will rebut President Johnson’s attempts to defend the war. Furthermore, it has come to my attention that my pacifism has shaken my fellow protestors’ faith in my ability to bring about positive change. As a result, I will also use this speech to argue in favour of nonviolent protest, as it is the only way for those in power to hear our voices.

The Vietnam War was, and still is highly controversial. Whether or not the United States should have entered the war is still up for debate. However, when considering the war’s impact, it seems quite clear that the nation shouldn’t have. 1967 was a time when many Americans were heavily divided not just over America’s involvement and action in Vietnam but also about their values and morals. It was in this year that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech “Beyond Vietnam” in which he provides exceptional reasoning for ending the war, and a call to action for Americans to fix not only the damages of war in Vietnam, but also in their own country. After reading his speech, it is very clear why the United States should have stayed out of

SMU Perkin’s School of Theology church history professor James Lee observed that religious leaders who endorse war are very rare. He said Christians usually see war as an unjust move and something that must be

King saw the was able to see the Vietnam War for what it really was, an oppressive form of imperialism. he American military was destroying Vietnam land, and disenfranchising its people. Over 2 million acres of forest was destroyed. Agent Orange was the major cause of this, it left serious ecological and human impact on Vietnamese people's lives. Today there are still many children in Vietnam growing up with various diseases and disabilities affected by the chemicals. King came to view U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia as little more than imperialism. Additionally, he believed that the Vietnam War diverted money and attention from domestic programs created to aid the black poor. King said, “the war was doing far more than devastating the

He spoke about watching the war play out on T.V. and witnessing people die. When he walked the streets he saw ”desperate, angry, and rejected young men.” He used his own Christian Leadership conference as anti-war persuasion. By using personal experiences as evidence Martin L. King Jr. effectively

In an attempt to persuade his audience with his speech, Martin Luther King Jr states that bringing the Vietnam war into his “field of moral vision” should come as no surprise, as he is a preacher by calling. Using this statement in the beginning of his speech demonstrates his devotion to the cause of ethicality within the american people. Bringing the topic of vietnam to the people of NYC (the place of speech) would hopefully influence others views on the subject. He uses an emotional approach to the speech by mentioning how suctioning the men, skills, and money out of this country is detrimental, knowing the war-obsessed America would not put their energy or funds into aiding and rehabilitating the less fortunate. This leads King to announce that he believes war attacks poor communities.

Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. Instead, we decided to support France in its re-conquest of her former colony.” (Dr King Jr,)

In the speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, by Rev. Martin Luther King, the world is experiencing symptoms of violence, poverty, and injustice. An example of this would be the Vietnam war. These symptoms however, all trace back to a larger disease. This disease comes from the American people and their values. These values are causing the suffering of the rest of the world, for the nations that are in revolutions against injustices, and communism. The reason, due to this disease, the united states has a history of being on the wrong side of revolutions, having not only been on the wrong side, but have taken violent action against these revolutions. As king quoted from John F. Kennedy, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible

In 1954, Northern and Southern Vietnam entered a war that led to the death of nearly 3 million people including civilians, Vietnamese troops, and ally soldiers. Though the number of lives lost during the war is atrocious, so are some of the other lasting effects of the “poor man’s fight”. Throughout this essay, I will explain my opinion regarding what I believe were the costs and the benefits of U.S interaction in the war in Vietnam.

“The War in Vietnam, Potter argued that day, was a sign of the failure in Democracy. It represented not the will of the people but the interest of an interlocking financial, technocratic and military elite— “The System”. (Farber) Tensions were rising in Vietnam, the spread of communism In south east Asia had begun to heighten the level of uncertainty among the United States Government. “President Johnson told the American people that Vietnam was the newest front in global war against Communist aggression that Americans had been fighting since the defeat of Germany and Japan in World War II”. (Farber) President Johnson, selling that the United States is fighting for the freedom and Independence for the South Vietnamese people in his speech on Vietnam. Claiming that “Vietnam is also the scene of a powerful aggression that is spurred by an appetite for conquest.” (Johnson) But is that the reason why President Johnson wants to rally the American people to invest, and to stop the spread of Communism? For Johnson wanted to give the people of Vietnam the freedom and independence of what fellow American’s enjoyed daily. What freedom was he speaking of in America, as Martin Luther king states in his speech Beyond Vietnam “So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and White boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to