Mini Doc: Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam – Martin Luther King

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, we republish his speech, Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam. King’s speech broadened the scope of the Civil Rights Movement to include economic and global justice, linking the fight against racism to opposition to war and militarism.

King criticized the U.S. government for prioritizing military spending over addressing domestic poverty and inequality. He famously argued, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”