“Beyond Vietnam:” Dr. King’s Riverside Address

As the U.S. war in Southeast Asia expanded and deaths mounted, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used his position as the pre-eminent spokesperson for civil and human rights to denounce the war. On April 4, 1967, he gave an address (referred to either as “Beyond Vietnam” or “A Time to Break Silence”) at the historic Riverside Church in New York City that was both an analysis of the war and a plea for peace. His talk received almost universal condemnation by the mainstream media and criticism from some of his allies in the civil rights struggle. Nonetheless, that speech was and remains a profound discussion of the Vietnam War, war in general, and creating peace with justice. This chapter will provide an examination of the context and content of that address.