Why did Martin Luther King oppose the Vietnam War?

King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time.

When did MLK oppose the Vietnam War?

King’s anti-war sentiments emerged publicly for the first time in March 1965, when King declared that “millions of dollars can be spent every day to hold troops in South Viet Nam and our country cannot protect the rights of Negroes in Selma” (King, 9 March 1965).

What two things did Dr King dislike about the Vietnam War?

King became active in taking a stand against the war in Vietnam. He complained that all the money spent on weapons could have been used to make the lives of the poor better. He also hated the violence of it. Many people thought his comments took attention away from civil rights.

Which civil rights leader opposed the Vietnam War?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This was the first anti-war statement by a civil rights organization. But, a month later, on August 12, 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his first speech opposing the war in Vietnam at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama.

What role did Martin Luther play in the civil rights movement?

He advocated for peaceful approaches to some of society’s biggest problems. He organized a number of marches and protests and was a key figure in the American civil rights movement. He was instrumental in the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the March on Washington.

Why do Americans oppose the Vietnam War?

Many Americans opposed the war on moral grounds, appalled by the devastation and violence of the war. Others claimed the conflict was a war against Vietnamese independence, or an intervention in a foreign civil war; others opposed it because they felt it lacked clear objectives and appeared to be unwinnable.