by Sheriff Richard Mack
The ‘I Have A Dream’ speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King will live on for many years in the public consciousness, and for good reason: This speech – delivered on August 28, 1963 – creates a powerful vision of a world where all people are treated as equals, and has been an inspiration to millions. However, it was not just this speech but his huge body of work that made him a significant figure in American history. And as he lived for nearly five years after proclaiming ‘I Have A Dream,’ this alone was likely not the thing that got him killed. There was another speech – given almost four years later on April 4, 1967, at the Riverside Church in New York City and exactly one year to the day before his assassination – that may hold that distinctive honor. His closest friends and staff called this his finest and most powerful speech, but it was also his most controversial. It’s known today as the ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech.
It was 15 years after his assassination in 1983 that President Ronald Reagan signed legislation proclaiming Martin Luther King Day a Federal holiday, and another 17 years until it was recognized by all 50 states. Schools, banks and all government offices close the third Monday of each January as we honor the memory and message of Dr. King. This holiday is unique for several reasons. For one, it was the first Federal holiday named after a specific person (although some states refer to it as ‘Civil Rights Day’, Wyoming calls it ‘Wyoming Equality Day’ and Alabama and Mississippi – in an act of pure passive-aggressive defiance – have combined it with their celebration of the famed Confederate Civil War general Robert E. Lee. Secondly, the legislation for MLK day designates it as “a day on, not a day off.” It is intended to be a day of remembrance and activism, and Americans are encouraged to find common causes and methods of improving their communities.
Will anyone play the historic ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech as they celebrate MLK day this year? Not likely. Dr. King struggled with this speech immensely as he wrote it the days preceding his appearance. I invite you to read transcripts and commentaries available from many sources online, but here are some excerpts from this amazing dissertation, given to a standing-room-only crowd made up mostly of white people:
“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government… If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read, ‘Vietnam’.”
Perhaps not too surprisingly, the morning after his speech Dr. King was blasted by the national media and many politicians calling him a traitor and a liar. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover used this speech to justify illegal monitoring, wiretapping, and surveillance of this American Baptist Preacher (even though this had been going on for years before what they labeled as his anti-government rant.)
President Lyndon B. Johnson was enraged by Dr. King’s accusations, and for good reason. JFK tried to prevent the Vietnam War, but as soon as Johnson took over the Presidency pursuant to Kennedy’s assassination, he did just the opposite. As reported in The Pentagon Papers, through lies and misinformation, Johnson dedicated his presidency to sending hundreds of thousands of U S troops into Asia to fight in a politically fabricated war where – among many other atrocities and waste of human life – black soldiers were ‘given the honor to serve’ and used as shields and pawns. This was one of the reasons Muhamed Ali refused to answer his federal draft notice. Ali was charged criminally for failing to go to Vietnam but was exonerated by the United States Supreme Court.
Prior to the speech King and Johnson were friends, but afterward, LBJ publicly criticized King’s Riverside Church speech. Even some people within the Civil Rights movement spoke out against Dr. King’s speech. The hate and attacks against Dr. King were so egregious and ubiquitous that Dr. King could not deal with it all. Sources close to him later reported he felt lonely and depressed. His doctor suggested that he seek psychiatric counseling, but his staff warned him not to do so because they feared his arch enemy, the FBI, would discover it and paint a picture to the world of him as being unstable and crazy. Needless to say, Dr. King refused the counseling.
The $34 trillion question (that’s the amount of our current national debt, thanks to corrupt politicians spending money we do not have) is simply this: Has corruption within the Federal Government and FBI decreased since the 1960’s? Lamentably, no. Things have gotten even worse. America is run by the bullying and cruelty of bureaucrats who seek to control our lives with excessive regulations and policies. Justice is often non-existent and corrupt politics rule the courts and legislatures. Our borders are controlled by cartel gangs, and international terrorists have infiltrated our country by the tens of thousands. And all this to make certain that 40 million illegal aliens can be added to the voter rolls nationwide. (And by the way, for those of you who still think there was no election fraud, all this counts as election fraud!)
I believe Dr. King’s statement about the soul of America being poisoned has proven to be prophetic. The increase in crime, drugs, human trafficking, murders, sexual exploitation of children, the lack of national security and fabricated false-flag wars are but collateral damage to those who have orchestrated this chaos with their primary goal as the ultimate destruction of our own country.
Dr. Martin Luther King told the truth in 1967 and one year later died from an assassin’s bullet. James Earl Ray was accused of King’s murder; he even initially confessed to it. However, just days later he recanted his confession, proclaimed his innocence and demanded a trial. But the government refused to give him one! No doubt, they feared such a trial might expose too much. MLK’s son Dexter King met with James Earl Ray in prison. Dexter asked Ray directly if he had killed his father, and Ray said he did not. Dexter King then said, “I believe you and my family believes you.” The King family testified in a court of law, asking and pleading for their own government to allow James Earl Ray to have a trial, but the request was denied. Why would the government refuse a trial that had the complete support of the widow and fatherless children of Dr. King? Why? Well, take a big guess who the King family thought had a hand in the assassination of their father and husband. That’s right! The greatest purveyor of violence in the world.
Richard Ivan Mack is the former Sheriff of Graham County, Arizona and the first sheriff in American history to sue the Federal Government (under the Clinton administration), take it all the way to the US Supreme Court and win a landmark case against government overreach. He is now the President and Founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association, which provides training to all Sheriffs and Public Officials to protect and defend the Civil Rights of all citizens.
Note: Most of the historical information in this article was derived from the documentary ‘King In The Wilderness’.
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