Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time to Break Silence"

Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most influential people of this century. People remember King for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of their skin color. Through reading King's writings and speeches, that changed the world, one can learn that his values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, and peace were what motivated him to greatness. One of his less known speeches is "A Time to Break the Silence", this speech was different than most of King's speeches; the theme of this speech is not civil rights movement, but Vietnam. King addresses the war in Vietnam and he gives reasons why it should not continue. He asserts that Vietnam War has hindered the Civil Rights movement to achieve its goals. He expounds that the military drafted young black man to protect the rights of people of Vietnam and yet, these black youngsters did not have freedom for themselves. He says, " We were taking black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So, we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white to boys on TV screens as the kill and die tighter for a nation that has been unable to seat them tighter in the same schools… I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor." King presented to the people a fact that no one could disprove. Blacks were fighting side by side with whites to honor their country, and yet, blacks had very less liberties and freedoms than whites. Black people could not express themselves, have a better life, or have opportunities, same as white men. King had hit the nail on the head, no one could answer the question King was asking; Why is it that they, blacks and whites, kill and die side by side, but they do not have the same equality in society? Furthermore, he gave addition reason of why he was speaking