Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy is great but it has, to a large degree, been sanitized - made safe for American consumption. He went far beyond the fight for racial justice, seeing and calling out the economic problems that are so obvious today. In a speech Dr. King gave at the 1967 Southern Christian Leadership Conference convention, entitled Where Do We Go From Here?, he sounded like nothing so much as an Occupyer. All our grievances are connected they said - a concept he not only would have appreciated, but one that echoes parts of this speech from 45 years before: I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about Where do we go from here, that we honestly face the fact that the Movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And Im simply saying that more and more, weve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in lifes market place. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, Who owns the oil? You begin to ask the question, Who owns the iron ore? You begin to ask the question, Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two thirds water? These are questions that must be asked. Now, dont think that you have me in a bind today. Im not talking about Communism. What Im saying to you this morning is that Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the Kingdom of Brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of Communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated. famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/martin-luther-king-speeches/martin-luther-king-speech-where-do-we-go-from-here.htm
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:16:53 +0000
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