The end of 2014 marks the United States fourteenth year in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. Ever since September 11^th, 2001 we have been fighting a battle that doesn’t seem to be ending. President Barak Obama has constantly talked about ending this war and bringing our troops home, since the beginning of his term. Actually, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his speech “Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence” he was giving the public his opinion of the Vietnam War. The ideas that he presented to the large crowd in Riverside Church in New York City are still relevant today. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech is still significant today because we are still fighting for nonviolence, equality, and peace even though it may not be in the United States.                                       

Troops in Afghanistan- (World News Picture 1)

        Violence is something that Dr. King Jr. really felt negatively about, especially when it had to do with war. We have been sending troops into countries like Iran and Afghanistan to help protect our own country, but we are constantly losing our loved ones and our own citizens. Including, Dr. Martin Luther King expresses his concerns about the war, which are still concerns of the United States today. “For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent” (King Jr. 2).  Violence is never the

MLK giving his Break the Silence speech at Riverside Church(americanradioworks picture 2)

answer, and Martin Luther King Jr. really made that known in his speech. He felt that for the sake of the War, he had to share his feelings and let it be known what he was thinking. King talks about sending loved ones into the war, and how in the end the causalities could end up breaking families apart. Today we still discuss how the war breaks families apart and how terrible the casualties are. Author David S. Cloud states that Obama wanted to send less troops into Iraq because of so many causalities. MLK talked about losing too many people, and we are seeing the same exact thing go on today. President Barak Obama, does not want to see so many people killed, he does want to keep families together. Dr. King really promoted that violence is poisonous and that we should not lose lives over war. Today we are trying our best to bring our troops in the Middle East home and safe with their families just like King wanted in 1967. We are fighting to bring our troops home and end all the violence going on in other countries. We are still trying to “Break the Silence” as Dr. King would say even though it is the 21^st Century.   

Martin Luther King Jr. (wnpr.org/post/king picture 3)

In addition to fighting for non-violence, King struggled for there to be equality in Vietnam. The reason that the United States was in the Vietnam War was because we were helping them fight against communist rule. The Vietnam government wanted Vietnam under communist rule. They fought initially against forces from France and then America. Martin Luther King Jr. did not want the United States in the war. Even though he was against it, he still felt that Vietnam shouldn’t have gone under communist rule. King points out “A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act” (King 5). The United States feels the same way in a sense that they wanted our country to be free and they wanted the Middle East to be free from all its corrupt morals. If another country needed help, the United States would still step in, just like we did over 40 years ago. Equality is something we as the United States have. Years ago people came to the United States for the sole reason of freedom, to start a new life, and have the same opportunities as everyone else. The United States is built on trying to have equality and that was something Martin Luther King Jr. really strived for. The United States is still doing the same today by helping other countries in the Middle East try to have that same foundation of equality as we have.

Moreover, Martin Luther King Jr. really felt greatly about spreading peace. He was a civil rights activist so he fought passionately for peace between blacks and whites in the U.S., so he felt the same when it came to us and other countries. King suggested his true feelings in his speech. "Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition" (King 4).

Even though when the United States was going against our enemies in the Vietnam War, he felt that we could learn from them and their wisdom. We could try to see a different point of view, and maybe by getting a new perspective we could find new ways to promote peace between other countries. Also, we were able to get out of Iraq a few years ago, but we are still trying in the Middle East to end the dispute and make peace. The sooner we make peace, the sooner we can get our troops out of there. It has been very difficult because countries like Afghanistan are not willing to end things. Even though the United States is still trying. MLK believed that peace is the best solution. To this day we still believe highly of that and are trying our best to bring peace into the Middle East. We are trying to end this war because fighting never usually solves problems. Just like being silent also never solves problems. By spreading peace we truly are breaking the silence just like Dr. Martin Luther King wanted all along.

Furthermore, Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas presented in the speech “Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence” are still significant today. The United States is fighting for non-violence, equality, and peace just like what King wanted when it came to the War of Vietnam. Even though it has been years since Martin Luther King Jr. has done his speech, his viewpoints are still needed to the United States today. The United States is all about freedom and having rights that people in other countries do not have. It is time to fight for what we as nation believe in and spread the equality. It is Time to Break the Silence and fight for what we as a country believe in!

                                                                                                     Obama talking about Afghanistan (https://www.youtube.com)

Works Cited

           

Cloud, David S. “What Lies Ahead for U.S. in Afghanistan.” Los Angeles Times. 29  December 2014. Web. 02 March. 2015. Print.

King, Martin Luther Jr. “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence.” Clergy and  Laymen concerned about Vietnam. Riverside Church, New York City. 4 April  1967. Lecture.