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Martin Luther King Beyond Vietnam Essay

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Martin Luther King Beyond Vietnam Essay
“Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence”

Racial discrimination, violence, and poverty have all remained plight in today’s society. Racial discrimination is one of the most controversial problems in our society. People should be constantly aware of the impact that racial discrimination, violence, and poverty have on the public. Many steps have been taken to resolve these issues, but it will take more than one voice to make the change. Numerous people have helped society take that big step in the past, but in order to continue to see change we must continue to make the change. In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence,” he asserts that the Vietnam War is immoral and has negative implications not only for the United States and Vietnam, but also the rest of the world. Dr. Martin Luther King brought the Vietnam War in relation to the Poverty Program of the government. The program gave the black population hope to improve their situation; however, exorbitant sums went to fight in the war rather than join the Poverty Program. “The war was an enemy of the poor people.” Dr. King stated. It stripped black males from their homes making it harder for their families to survive. King
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Having a black president undoubtedly shows how America has progressed since the Civil Rights Movement. But, even as Barack Obama sits in the Oval Office, we have not yet achieved King’s dream of a post- racial America. In Dr. King’s speech he states, “Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.” Being able to speak up for one’s self is vital. President Obama would not be as successful as he is today without standing up and speaking for what he believes

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