A Time to Break Silence

8/13/2019 A Time to Break Silence

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The Author

Martin Luther King, Jr. , (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born MichaelLuther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began thefamily's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until hisdeath Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated publicschools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B.

A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlantafrom which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years oftheological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was electedpresident of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. Witha fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University,completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In

Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectualand artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family

In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Churchin Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of hisrace, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kindin the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership ofthe first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the UnitedStates, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor

of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the SupremeCourt of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregationon buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott,King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but atthe same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian LeadershipConference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoningcivil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its

operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968,King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times,appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrotefive books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest inBirmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what hecalled a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", amanifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration



of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred withPresident John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he wasarrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awardedfive honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; andbecame not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to havereceived the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that hewould turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rightsmovement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel roomin Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking

garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.



I Have A Dream

A speech addressed not just to black people but to all people who‘s dreamingabout being equal with everybody else. Even before Martin was born in this world, hisgrandfather and his father did not escaped racial prejudice and segragation even him

with his siblings have also suffered the injustices showed by the white people. Thespeech was considered one of the greatest speech ever made because of its contentand how Martin Luther deliver it infront of many people in the March of Washington. Itgives the Black American of what they are dreaming of, they are longing for, thefreedom and equality which is taken away from them long time ago. We can observedthat Black people in America was obviously segragated everywhere. For example, theblack woman riding in a city bus, she was been pushed back because the driver saysthat they prioritize white people even if a black was already sitting in the passenger‘sseat.

Now, let‘s try to analyze the speech of Martin Luther King Jr. Historians says thatMartin Luther‘s ―I Have A Dream‖ was a powerful metaphoric speech. Let‘s see themetaphors used in the speech. First , we should discuss metaphors that are ofgeographical orientation that includes:

island (of poverty) ocean (of prosperity) valley (of segregation and later, of despair) sunlit path (of racial justice) quick sands (of racial injustice) rock (of brotherhood) waters (justice) a mighty stream (righteousness) an oasis (of freedom and justice) mountain (despair); stone (of hope)

The sense of these metaphors taken collectively is that of the ruggedindividualism of America —the independent spirit of a nation of people who havetraversed harsh, unfriendly terrain and conquered hostile environmental forces in order

to complete the picture of a new, progressive yet durable nation. Mountains and hillscarry the desired implication of the elevation of the status of the black community to thatwhich is equal with the white community; and the idea that the implied journey to thatmetaphoric mountaintop will be a difficult —even treacherous – one.

Second would be metaphors associated with containment and compliance:

manacles (of segregation)



chains (of discrimination) and even tranquilizing drug (of gradualism).

Another metaphors that could can be found are words associated with weatherconditions such as:

the light (of hope) joyous daybreak (a lone vehicle qualifying the aforementioned

subject of the Emancipation Proclamation) autumn (of freedom) whirlwinds (of revolt) bright day (of justice) are positive terms or phrases emblematic of a

hopeful change through the natural processes of cultural evolution. flames (of withering injustice)

heat (of injustice, also of oppression)These are indicative of the destructive forces of discrimination and inequality,expressed as the various destructive forces found in nature.

Then, metaphors associated with finance or money that inlcudes:

a promissory note (Declaration of Independence) heir (every American) a ‗bad check‘ (again, to the D eclaration of Independence )

vaults (of opportunity) bank (of justice) riches (of freedom) security (of justice) palace (of justice) insufficient funds (the implied inequality regarding the Declaration

of Independence)

With these monetary metaphors, King was speaking to all Americans in adistinctly American voice —that of the lone, struggling, but earnest capitalist. Thefinancial pioneer pulling himself up ‗by the bootstraps‘ is both– intrinsically andhistorically —an American icon.

Further, there remain a few metaphors that are markedly illustrative of thecommon American mythology of Christianity.

These include the table (of brotherhood) and cup (of bitterness and hatred); andthe musical/spiritual vehicles of symphony (of brotherhood) and discord (of our nation).



The vehicles of table and cup have connotations of Christ‘s Last Supper— wherea symphony of brotherhood shared a table, passed a cup and was ultimately destroyedby discord and bitterness (on the part of Judas). King utilizes these metaphors andimages to symbolize the betrayal of the black race (according to the precepts of theDeclaration of Independence) —which is, ultimately, the betrayal of Christ‘s teachings

and Christian doctrine.Martin Luther King spoke and endeavored to inspire a black audience of every

educational and financial status, every age and gender. He used a variety of imagesand references that touched both the intellect (i.e. ―summer of the negro‘s legitimatediscontent‖) as well as the emotions (―whirlwind of revolt‖) of his audience. Further, Kingaimed his message at the more responsible, sympathetic portions of white America —byreminding them of their intellectual obligations as rendered by both the Declaration ofIndependence and the Emancipation Proclamation —as well as their emotionalobligations as (mostly) Christians (the cup, table, discord and symphony metaphors) —and as descendants of Abraham Lincoln (―a great American‘s symbolic shadow‖)— aenduring source of sympathy and passion for most Americans.

Finally, K ing‘s ―I Have a Dream‖ speech represents exactly that– the AmericanDream. Within all of its metaphoric themes – geography/terrain, containment, naturalphenomena, monetary and Christianity —there is a message of both the desire andstruggle common to all Americans, of every race – to achieve that which was promisedlong ago: The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.



Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence

Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence is an anti-Vietnam war speechdelivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4 1967. The major speech at RiversideChurch in New York, New York, followed several interviews and public speeches in

which Dr. King came out against the war in Vietnam and the policies that created thewar. Some civil rights leaders, organizations and editorial page writers of theWashington Post and the New York Times called the Riverside Church speech amistake on King‘s part. But others, called it Dr. King‘s most important speech. A Time toBreak Silence protests the command and deployment by the American government ofalmost unlimited violence against the people and the land of Vietnam for the declaredpurpose of protecting them from the menace of world communism.

―A time comes when silence is betrayal‖

-Clergy and Laymen Concerned aboutVietnam

Dr. King started his speech by expressing his delight upon seeing how manyturned out concerned about the war in Vietnam and their nation‘s involvement. Headdressed some of the distinguished leaders and personalities of America andexpressed his pleasure upon having the privilege of preaching again in the RiversideChurch. He then pledged himself in full accord with the recent statement of theorganizers of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam: ―A time come s when

silence i s betrayal‖ and he declares, ―that time has come for us.‖ ―Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task

of opposing their government‘s policy, especially in time of war.‖

I think we would all have to agree with Dr. King here, because althoughsupporting acts of nonviolent protest or non-cooperation is an easy role, it becomes avery difficult choice when the task requires us to oppose our government‘s policyespecially in times of war. Though we can see that evil is on both sides of thoseinvolved in the war, it is obvious that America‘s violence has greatly exceeded that ofthe enemy and its use of power for violence has greatly increased. That‘s why, in such asituation, King said that it is the time to move on and ―break the silence of the night.‖

He gave seven major reasons for bringing the matter of war in to his speech:

1. The war is an enemy of the poor

―Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken andeviscerated, as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on warm



and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies inrehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and

skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.‖

Dr. King here turns his reason to practical observation. Before America involved

itself in the war in Vietnam, there was already a real promise of hope for the poorthrough the poverty program of the government. But now, it was obvious that Americawould never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so longas the government continued to draw men and skills and money for the war.

2. Sending black young men to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asiawhich they themselves have not found in their own country.

―And so we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negroand white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has

been unable to seat them together in the same schools.‖ Dr. King noticed that the war was doing more than ―devastating the hopes of the

poor at home .‖ And so he could not be silent in the act of sending their sons, brothersand their husbands to fight and to die in the war, especially the black men whichaccording to him could hardly live on the same block in their own country. For him it wasa cruel manipulation by the government to send black men to the war to die while theythemselves were treated unfairly in their own homes, as if it was not enough for them tobe discriminated and be horribly treated so they were sent to kill and die, and fight forthe very nation who could not even accept them.

3-4. For the sake of the government and the soul of America

―They ask if our own nation wasn‘t using massive doses of violence to solve itsproblems, to bring about the change it wanted. ‖

Dr. King knew that he could never again speak against the violence or for theoppressed without having to consider that his own government was the greatestpurveyor of violence.

―If America‘s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read:Vietnam.‖

According to Dr. King, anyone who has any concern for the integrity and life of America could not ignore the war. Furthermore, he said that when he formed the groupof Southern Christian Leadership Conference, they chose the motto: ―to save the soul of

America‖ which he said was not to limit their vision to cer tain issues for black people,



but to affirm the conviction that America would never be free or saved unless its peoplewere also loosed completely from the shackles they still wear, As ―long as it destroysthe deepest hopes of men, America itself could not be free. In a way, he said that hewas agreeing with Langston Hughes who had written:

O, yes,

I say it plain,

America never was America to me,

And yet I swear this oath - -

America will be!

Together with the people who were determined that America will be, they are ledtowards the path of protest for the health of their land.

5. For the people of Vietnam

―I speak now not of the soldiers of each side, but simply of the people who have beenliving under the curse of war for almost three continuous decades n ow.‖

Dr. King thinks of the Vietnamese too, because according to him, there will be nomeaningful solution to the war until somebody acknowledges and hears the brokencries of these people- the innocent who are oppressed, the people who were caughtand fell victim to the war that was supposedly for the freedom of their land. And also, we

must speak for the weak, voiceless and the victims of this war and those we call‗enemy‘ because nothing could make them any less than our brothers.

6. Because of the commission on the Nobel Peace Prize given to him in1954 and his calling as the son of the Living God.

―…and I cannot forget that the Nobel Peace Prize was also a commission, acommission to work harder than I had ever worked before for ‗the brotherhood of man.‘‖

As if the weight of his commitment to the life and health of America were notenough, Dr. King also considered the Nobel Peace Prize given to him in 1954 as a

burden of responsibility to speak against the war.

‖I would have offered all that was most v alid if I said that I must be true to myconviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the Living God.‖

For Dr. King, the calling to speak against the war takes him beyond hisallegiance to his nation and even without the Nobel Peace Prize, he would still live withhis commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ, that beyond the calling of his race or



nation, there is still his vocation of son-ship and brotherhood, and his belief that thefather is deeply concerned in the suffering, helpless and outcast children brought aboutby the war.

7. Because ‘war is not just’

―Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make revolution inevitable.‖

-John F. Kennedy

Surprisingly, according to him, the role of America has taken the role of thosethat make the peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privilege and thepleasure that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. And it is not justfor him because as a strong and powerful nation, America should lead the world througha radical revolution of values.

This revolution of values must begin by shifting our society from a thing-orientedsociety to a person oriented society. Afterwards, this true revolution of values will sooncause the people to question the fairness and justice of many of the past and presentpolicies of the world and they will also look uneasily on the glaring contrast of povertyand wealth and they will say that ―this is not just.‖ The world will soon realize that thewar which is the ―way of settling differences is not just.‖ And this settling of differencesaccording to Martin Luther King, Jr. should not be the ―business of burning humanbeings with napalm, filling na tion‘s homes with orphans and widows and injectingpoisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples.‖

―War is not the answer, but rather, the positive revolution of values is the bestdefense against communism.‖

There is no other way to right the wrongs that America did for the people and ladof Vietnam but to attune for the sins and errors done and take the initiative in stoppingthe tragic war according to Dr. King, so he suggested five concrete things that thegovernment should do immediately to revolve the conflict:

1. End all bombing in North and South Vietnam2. Declare a unilateral cease fire3. Prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia4. Accept the fact that the National Liberation Front has substantial support

in South Vietnam5. Remove all foreign troops from Vietnam.

And also, part of the commitment to resolve the war is to offer and grant anasylum to anyone who fears for his life and make what reparations could be done forthe damage.



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A Time to Break Silence