Martin Luther King Jr. was an influential civil rights leader. He wanted to bring all people together and live in a peaceful society. In his speech, King talked about how as a leader of a civil rights movement, he couldn't support the war in Vietnam. Martin Luther King Jr. persuaded his audience to not support the Vietnam war through his use of ethos and pathos.
Many students were taught in their U.S. History class in high school that United States went to war with Vietnam because they wanted to prevent the Vietnam from becoming communists, and if Vietnam were to fall it could result in the whole region of Indochina to become communists (domino theory). In Howard Zinn’s essay gives a different perspective to its readers and he raises questions in minds of his reader such as, “what was the real reason for U.S to invade Vietnam and how come a wealthiest and a powerful country lose war, so miserably against a third world country?” According to Howard Zinn the hidden reason for U.S. entering and supporting French in the Vietnam War was because “Communist had control over all of Southeast Asia, which
John Lewis was most definitely a man of his time, alongside Martin Luther King , Jr. These men changed the country in many ways and some more than they could have imagined. March: Book One and March: Book Two gives us, the reader, first point of view from John Lewis and what it was like as a colored man in the times of segregation.
In the 1967 speech, “Beyond Vietnam”, the author, activist Martin Luther King jr, states reasons why America needs to end their involvement in the Vietnam War. During this time period there was a lot of controversy surrounding the war. Many people believed that America had no reason to interfere, Dr. King being one of those people. In his speech addressed to the laymen and clergy at Riverside Church he used pathos, logos, imagery, and an argument shift to list the reasons why America should withdraw their troops, and to create sympathy within his audience.
“There is at the outset a very obvious... connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America,”(Document E: Martin Luther King, Jr.). During the period of the Vietnam War, division struck the United States due to people’s vast opinions, this caused a rift in the country and began protests. Citizens of the USA did have legitimate reasons to protest the Vietnam War, but not all agreed with that. American citizens had many different reasons to protest the Vietnam War, but the biggest reason was that people were realizing how horrific wars truly were.
He says “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.” King uses this statement to point out the inconsistency with America trying to establish freedom far away before establishing freedom on their own home soil. Additionally, King’s statement that Southeast Asia is eight thousand miles away strengthens the irony by making Southeast Asia seem like a place which is completely disconnected from America. This quote causes the audience to realize the contradiction in the Vietnam war policy, making them less likely to accept
Violence is said to never be the answer in any situation, as determined by America's constitution. If the basis of America is non-violence, the question comes up, why did America fight in Vietnam? Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Junior sets out to solve this tragedy by giving a speech.
The Vietnam war, one of the longest war in the history of United States, is often regarded as the most controversial battle. The liberal, radical and conservative interpretation tries to shed some light on the dark and murky image of the war. Radical view suggests
All they wanted was “to save the soul of America” (King, Beyond, 42). Martin Luther King Jr is an African American preacher and civil rights activist that along with every other African American male and female in 1976 was waging a war in America for their not-so-natural born rights. Not only were they fighting for their own rights in 1976, but they were sending away the son, husbands, brothers of other Americans thousands of miles away to the country of Vietnam to fight an unjust war for the rights of the people in Southeast Asia. Martin Luther King Jr proves to all throughout his speech “Beyond Vietnam --- A Time to Break Silence” that the Vietnam war was unjust by his use of emotional diction, the allusion of Jim crow, and repetition.
The Vietnam War affected American foreign policy significantly, both during the conflict and in the years that followed. Many Americans lost faith in their government and its foreign policies as a result of the war's protracted, expensive, and ultimately disastrous military involvement. The conflict also caused a change in American foreign policy, emphasizing diplomacy and using a more cautious and practical approach. Additionally, as decision-makers strove to learn from the mistakes of Vietnam and advance peace and security globally, the war brought a fresh emphasis on human rights and democracy promotion in American foreign policy. American politics, society, and culture were all profoundly affected by the Vietnam War, which also led to a
Dr. King feels that he cannot speak against violence being used in the ghettos without having protested the greatest use of violence, “[his] own government.” (Paragraph 3). Dr. King uses specificity such as “Molotov cocktails and rifles” (Paragraph 3) to create a vivid image of the violence that has occurred in his own nation. Dr. King made this speech to address the violence going on in the Vietnam War.
In his speech "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence", Martin Luther King Jr. wants the listeners to think of American involvement in the Vietnam war as terrible. The author uses emotional appeal, figures of speech, and a creative literacy to convince the audience of his viewpoint. King begins by showing the devastating effects of the Vietnam war on the people in poverty. "It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor... Then came the build up in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated".
Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in the African American Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, he was known for his nonviolent movements and methods of protesting. This involved many African American citizens to take verbal and physical abuse from the police and not being able to do anything about it. He used his words to inspire the nation into taking action, instead of promoting violence. Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of thousands of United States citizen from all different backgrounds at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Kings uses ethos to point out why segregation was unjust and to justify why African Americans deserves the same rights as the white citizens of the United States.
Martin Luther King Jr. disagreed with the way the war was being handled, and thought nonviolent demonstrations would be more efficient. In his speech, “Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence” Martin Luther King Jr., uses appeals to emotion, appeals to credibility, and powerful diction to strengthen his argument and persuade his audience that the Vietnam War is unjust. First, Martin Luther King Jr. uses emotional appeals to persuade his audience that the Vietnam War is unjust because it is unfairly killing the poor and its destroying the country. King uses emotional words and descriptions to capture the audience’s attention and convey the injustices caused by the Vietnam War.
The Civil Rights Movement was a big thing for the United states and we as Americans will always remember Martin Luther King Jr. for helping lead the people and inspire change and bring hope. The speech “ I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important gathering of people at the Lincoln Memorial. A huge crowd gathered to listen to his powerful speech which helped to inspire change. Martin Luther King also wrote a letter to eight white clergymen named “Letter From Birmingham Jail” the letter was written in in his jail cell which he was in for marching and protests. In both of these texts Dr. King used pathos and logos to inspire change and reach out to the people during the civil rights movements.
