Selma to Saigon: The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War

Images

Black muslim leader malcolm X and world heavyweight boxing champion muhammad ali in new York City, march 1, 1964. (Bettmann/Corbis/aP images) (Above) Paul Robeson testifying before the House Un-american activities Committee on June 12, 1956, where he denounced the committee and accused its members of being the un-americans. as early as the mid-1950s, Robeson spoke out against american involvement in independence movements in Vietnam and other third World countries. (Bettmann/Corbis/aP images) (Below) Historian and activist Howard Zinn served as an adviser to SnCC and urged the students to speak out against the Vietnam War in the summer of 1965. (Danny lyon/magnum Photos) (Above) Robert moses, the legendary leader of SnCC who became an early opponent of the Vietnam War. (Danny lyon/magnum Photos) (Below) Staughton lynd, David Dellinger, and Robert moses protesting the Vietnam War on august 6, 1965—the same day President lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights act. (Staughton lynd Papers) James Farmer, the head of CoRe, was initially reluctant to oppose the Vietnam War. (library of Congress) (Above) Diane nash and James Bevel were founding members of SnCC who later opposed the war. nash traveled to Vietnam in the winter of 1967, and Bevel implored martin luther King Jr. to oppose the war. (Wisconsin State Historical Society, WHS 91969) (Below) lyndon B. Johnson unveiled the Voting Rights act in a speech before a joint session of Congress a week after Bloody Sunday and thrilled the civil rights establishment by declaring, “We Shall overcome.” Because of the president’s steadfast support of civil rights, many blacks and civil rights leaders were reluctant to oppose the war. (lBJ library; photo by Yoichi okamato) the murder of navy veteran and SnCC activist Sammy Younge Jr. on January 3, 1966, in tuskegee prompted SNCC to become the first civil rights organization to oppose the war. (trenholm technical State archives, gwen Patton, archivist) President lyndon B. Johnson and martin luther King in the oval Office on March 18, 1966. they had an uneasy relationship and eventually split over the Vietnam War. (lBJ library; photo by Yoichi okamato) (Above) John lewis (right), leader of SnCC, demanded to know why the U.S. government was willing to send troops to Vietnam but not to protect civil rights workers in the Deep South. (lBJ library; photo by Yoichi okamato) (Below) martin luther King Jr. walking into Riverside Church prior to delivering his address denouncing the Vietnam War. (John C. goodman) martin luther King Jr. shocked the liberal establishment by speaking out against the Vietnam War at Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. He is flanked by Rabbi abraham Joshua Heschel (far left), historian Henry Steele Commager (left), and theologian John C. Bennett (right). (John C. goodman) another view of the Riverside speech. (John C. goodman) martin luther King Jr. answering questions after his Riverside address. (John C. goodman) two african american teenagers in Central Park carrying placards illustrating the growing black opposition to the Vietnam War, april 15, 1967. (John C. goodman) martin luther King Jr. marching with Dr. Benjamin Spock (left) from Central Park to the United nations, april 15, 1967. (John C. goodman) (Above) martin luther King Jr. marching with CalCaV in arlington national Cemetery, February 6, 1968. (John C. goodman) (Left) martin luther King addressing a CalCaV meeting at a Presbyterian church in Washington, D.C., on February 6, 1968. (John C. goodman) (Above) SnCC leader Stokely Carmichael (second from left) and his lieutenant Cleveland Sellers (far right) outside an armed forces induction center in atlanta, may 1, 1967. Sellers told reporters he said “no” to the U.S. army. (Bettmann/Corbis/aP images) (Below) Roy Wilkins, head of the naaCP, was a staunch anticommunist and close ally of President Johnson. He was critical of individual african americans and civil rights organizations that opposed the Vietnam War. (lBJ library; photo by Yoichi okamato) A. Philip Randolph was a lifelong pacifist, but like his protégé Bayard Rustin, he was opposed to civil rights activists taking a position on the Vietnam War. (lBJ...