Martin Luther King, Jr.


The Backlash

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Source: Bingham, Jonathan B. Dr. Martin Luther King: Extension of Remarks of Hon. Jonathan B. Bingham of New York in the House of Representatives. Congressional Record 113, Part 7 (April 5, 1967), H8497. Bingham, Jonathan B. "Dr. Martin Luther King: Extension of Remarks of Hon. Jonathan B. Bingham of New York in the House of Representatives." Congressional Record 113, Part 7 (April 5, 1967), H8497.

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On April 4, 1967, exactly one year to the day before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his most famous speech condemning the war in Vietnam. In the speech given at the Riverside Church in New York, King called the United States the "greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He additionally urged African-Americans to refuse the draft and become conscientious objectors. Reaction from inside and outside the civil rights movement was swift and generally condemnatory. Editorials from Life, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others saw King's speech as detrimental to both the cause of civil rights and peace. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and more moderate civil rights groups like the Urban League disassociated themselves from King's statements. Many in the civil rights movement feared that King's radicalization would dry up funds from white northern liberal sources.

The day after King's speech, House Representative Jonathan B. Bingham of New York (D) got onto the floor of the House and used his allotted time for extended remarks to sharply criticize King for his attempt to combine the Civil Rights Movement and the Peace Movement. Rep. Bingham, a self described former supporter, also saw King's speech as harmful to both causes. He states:

"If all American Negroes were to refuse to serve in Vietnam, as Dr. King urges, they would be stepping out of the mainstream of American life. They would be giving aid and comfort to the bigots who want to keep them segregated and in the ghettoes."

Furthermore, Bingham described King's calls for unilateral cease fire, negotiations, and a set date for U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam "unrealistic."


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