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Friday, April 19, 2013

Martin Luther King Jr.: On America's Response To Terrorism


Below is an excerpt from Martin Luther King's April 4, 1967 speech at the Riverside Church in New York City, a speech many historians believe led to King's assassination - a year later to the day.  (I have added the word "terrorism" alongside King's Cold War reference to "communism.") 

"This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against communism (terroism). War is not the answer. Communism (Terrorism) will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons. Let us not join those who shout war and, through their misguided passions, urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. We must not engage in a negative anti (terrorism) communism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against (terrorism) communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice. We must with positive action seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity, and injustice, which are the fertile soil in which the seed of (terrorism) communism grows and develops."
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