AS WE REMEMBER THE 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (APRIL 4, 1968), IT IS APPROPRIATE TO PONDER WHAT HE WOULD BE SAYING ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR IF HE WERE ALIVE TODAY.
I AM CERTAIN THAT IF KING WERE ALIVE HE WOULD RESTATE MUCH OF WHAT HE SAID IN HIS HISTORIC ADDRESS, "BEYOND VIETNAM," DELIVERED AT THE RIVERSIDE CHURCH IN NEW YORK ON APRIL 4, 1967, EXACTLY A YEAR TO THE DAY BEFORE HE WAS ASSASSINATED. ALTHOUGH HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR HIS WORDS STILL RING TRUE AND CAN BE APPLIED TO A CRITIQUE OF THE IRAQ WAR.

KING BEGAN HIS 1967 SPEECH BY CALLING ON AMERICANS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WAR. "A TIME COMES WHEN SILENCE IS BETRAYAL," HE SAID. "EVEN WHEN PRESSED BY THE DEMANDS OF INNER TRUTH, MEN [AND WOMEN] DO NOT EASILY ASSUME THE TASK OF OPPOSING THEIR GOVERNMENT'S POLICY, ESPECIALLY IN TIME OF WAR.... BUT WE MUST SPEAK."

KING SAID THAT SINCE HE WAS A PREACHER BY CALLING IT SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISING THAT HE HAD SEVEN REASONS FOR BRINGING THE WAR INTO THE FIELD OF HIS "MORAL VISION":

1) THE WAR DESTROYS THE POVERTY AND OTHER SOCIAL PROGRAMS AT HOME;

2) THE WAR SENDS A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF BLACK AND POOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO DEFEND LIBERTIES THERE THAT THEY DON'T HAVE AT HOME;

3) THE WAR IS CONTRARY TO MY CONVICTION THAT MEANINGFUL CHANGE COMES THROUGH NONVIOLENT ACTION;

4) TAKING A STAND FOR PEACE IS CONSISTENT WITH MY EFFORTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS;

5) THE WAR POISONS THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN LIFE;

6) MY NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WAS A COMMISSION ... TO WORK HARDER THAN I HAD BEFORE FOR THE BROTHERHOOD [AND SISTERHOOD] OF [HUMANKIND];

7) GOD'S CALLING IS BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF RACE, NATION OR CREED. WE ARE CALLED TO SPEAK FOR THE WEAK, THE VOICELESS, THE VICTIMS OF OUR NATION, AND FOR THOSE IT CALLS THE ENEMY.

AS HE PONDERED "THE MADNESS OF VIETNAM [IRAQ]," KING SAID HE WAS SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO UNDERSTAND AND RESPOND IN COMPASSION. THE VIETNAMESE [IRAQIS] MUST SEE AMERICANS AS "STRANGE LIBERATORS." "THEY WATCH AS WE POISON THEIR WATER.... THEY ... WEEP AS THE BULLDOZERS ROAR THROUGH THEIR AREAS.... WE HAVE CORRUPTED THEIR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND KILLED THEIR MEN."
AT THE SAME TIME, KING WAS CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT THE WAR WAS DOING TO U.S. TROOPS. "WE ARE SUBMITTING THEM TO ... NOT SIMPLY THE BRUTALIZING PROCESS THAT GOES ON IN ANY WAR.... WE ARE ADDING CYNICISM TO THE PROCESS OF DEATH, FOR THEY MUST KNOW ... THAT NONE OF THE THINGS WE CLAIM TO BE FIGHTING FOR ARE REALLY INVOLVED."
"SOMEHOW THIS MADNESS MUST CEASE," KING DECLARED. "I SPEAK FOR THOSE WHOSE LAND IS BEING LAID WASTE, WHOSE HOMES ARE BEING DESTROYED, WHOSE CULTURE IS BEING SUBVERTED. I SPEAK FOR THE POOR OF AMERICA WHO ARE PAYING THE DOUBLE PRICE OF SMASHED HOPES AT HOME, AND DEATH AND CORRUPTION IN VIETNAM [IRAQ].... THE GREAT INITIATIVE IN THIS WAR IS OURS; THE INITIATIVE TO STOP IT MUST BE OURS."

THE WAR, KING SAID, IS A SYMPTOM "OF A FAR DEEPER MALADY WITHIN THE AMERICAN SPIRIT." IF AMERICANS ARE TO GET ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE WORLD REVOLUTION, HE CONTINUED, WE MUST UNDERGO "A RADICAL REVOLUTION OF VALUES." "WE MUST CHANGE FROM A THING-ORIENTED SOCIETY TO A PERSON-ORIENTED SOCIETY," HE DECLARED. "WHEN MACHINES AND COMPUTERS, PROFIT MOTIVES AND PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE CONSIDERED MORE IMPORTANT THAN PEOPLE, THE GIANT TRIPLETS OF RACISM, EXTREME MATERIALISM, AND MILITARISM ARE INCAPABLE OF BEING CONQUERED."

A TRUE REVOLUTION OF VALUES, HE SAID, WILL "LOOK UNEASILY ON THE GLARING CONTRAST OF POVERTY AND WEALTH." "A NATION THAT CONTINUES YEAR AFTER YEAR TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON MILITARY DEFENSE THAN ON PROGRAMS OF SOCIAL UPLIFT IS APPROACHING SPIRITUAL DEATH." "WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER." (EMPHASIS ADDED).
KING CONCLUDED WITH A CALL TO ACTION: "IF WE DO NOT ACT, WE SHALL SURELY BE DRAGGED DOWN THE LONG, DARK, AND SHAMEFUL CORRIDORS OF TIME RESERVED FOR THOSE WHO POSSESS POWER WITHOUT COMPASSION, MIGHT WITHOUT MORALITY, AND STRENGTH WITHOUT SIGHT."
KING'S WORDS OF APRIL 4, 1967 SPEAK TO US TODAY FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. LET US NOT TURN A DEAF EAR.

HARRY G. LEFEVER IS PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF SOCIOLOGY AT SPELMAN COLLEGE IN ATLANTA. HE IS THE AUTHOR OF UNDAUNTED BY THE FIGHT: SPELMAN COLLEGE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (MERCER UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2005).

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