The Voice of the Voiceless

The Voice of the Voiceless

Martin Luther King Jr. is known for many of his incredible speeches. One speech that is very important is “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” King’s speech explains why America is being hypocritical. He provides seven reasons to support why he is against the Vietnam War. Some of his reasons are funding being taken away for the war, violence being used and innocent women and children being murdered. When innocent people are being killed and money is being taken away from those who need it, it is time to speak up for the voiceless.

In King’s speech, he explains how the war has taken away funding from organizations for the poor. King states, “There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated.” The money that was supposed to be for helping the poor was taken away. With the war going on, the funding program basically was forgotten about. Money that was supposed to be funded for the poor in America was going to the poor somewhere else.

I am personally dealing with a situation that relates to King’s argument. I attend Fairleigh
Dickinson University as a part of the Educational Opportunity Fund program. This program is sponsored by the state of New Jersey, in which students who want to attend college but cannot because of their financial status. However, Governor Christie wants to cut the funding of the program by 1.5 million dollars to increase other state funded programs. The EOF students have taken action to send letters to local senators and assemblymen to convince them to reconsider cutting the funds. My EOF peers and me are choosing to break the silence and speak up.

Sending these letters to the senators and assemblymen is our way of speaking up. These letters explain what the program means to us and how our lives have changed. By sending these letters, we are showing that we will not stay silent when the program that made it possible for us to be here at FDU is being cut. 

Along with the governor being a hypocrite because he is taking away funds from the EOF program to give to other funds, King also explains how the nation is being a hypocrite.  A nation that doesn’t believe violence will solve anything is in war, using violence. The young men ask, “What about Vietnam? King writes, “Their question hit home, and 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. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.” King was against living in a nation that was using violence. He had to speak up. The silence had to be broken by the one who can be the voice of the voiceless.

One case that involved thousands of people nationwide speaking up for the voiceless is the Michael Brown case. Brown was shot by a white police officer. This caused uproar in society because many thought it was unfair that the police officer who shot Brown was not indicted.  A recent CNN article states, “The 18-year-old was shot by police officer in a St. Louis suburb on Saturday, sparking a federal civil rights inquiry, local protests and national debate,” (Shoichet).  As the case began, not many people were following, but as media developed the story, more people took notice. After there was no indictment given to the police officer, protests increased in the most popular cities in America. Thousands gathered in New York City, Washington DC and even Los Angeles to speak up and break the silence about the injustice that was committed in the killing of Michael Brown.

While some cases are being spoken up for, others are not. Recently, three young students were a part of what has been explained to be a hate crime. There has been a shooting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that killed three innocent Muslims. Craig Hicks shot the two females and male where the media didn’t acknowledge it as a big deal. The media only portrays Muslims as terrorists. When a Muslim is involved in terrorism, the media blows it up. This causes people to be afraid of Muslims and not want to associate with them. This is a time to break the silence because if things don’t change, Muslims will always be known as terrorists.

The Chapel Hill shooting and the Michael Brown case were two major events that were hate crimes. However, the Brown case was spoken up for. When the Chapel Hill Shooting occurred, the media just disregarded it. Muslims are only the center of attention in the media when there is a terrorist attack. This causes the world to see Muslims as terrorists only. There are many opportunities to speak up for the voiceless. The Chapel Hill shooting is another opportunity to speak up for the three innocent Muslims.

     

       Innocent Muslims in Palestine were being killed. In his speech, King also explains how innocent women and children were being killed in the war. In Palestine, a war has been going on for over fifty years and innocent people are being killed because of this war over land. Knowing I cannot do much about this, my family and I have decided to send money to family and friends that need it over there. Organizations have been created to contribute to them as well. Many people all over the country became the voice of the voiceless in this war. Walks were made with hundreds of people holding Palestinian flags and signs with the hashtag free Palestine. The pictures of the walks were posted on social media to raise awareness of what is going on. The voiceless people in the war didn’t have freedom. Doing the walks was a way for people to speak up for the people in Palestine.

            Muslims weren’t the only ones who didn’t have freedom. Fredrick Douglas writes “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” explaining what Fourth of July means for blacks. Douglas explains, “A day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.” Douglas is saying that Negros don’t really celebrate the Fourth of

July because they don’t have independence. Douglas explains that blacks do not have freedom because they are slaves. Blacks were being sold for labor and weren’t allowed to express themselves. If a slave was caught trying to learn, they would be killed. The silence has to stop because the Negros are being treated unfairly. When Negros are treated unfairly because of their skin color, it is time to speak up. It isn’t fair that they don’t get the same privileges as whites just because of the color of their skin. They shouldn’t feel like they don’t have independence on a day that is marked to be the day of independence. This is not a nation for just whites nor is it a nation just for blacks. It is one nation for both blacks and whites who should have equal freedom. There have been many protests and fights to get the same freedom for the blacks. The Africans are speaking up for the ones who died of slavery.

            In Dr. King’s speech, he explains how we should voice the voiceless by speaking up for the ones who cannot. With the Educational Opportunity Funds being cut, the Michael Brown Case, the War in Palestine and the three Chapel Hill students, it is time to speak up for the ones that are too afraid and the ones that were too late, such as Michael Brown who was killed. The innocent people that are being killed are too afraid to stand up for themselves. We have to be the voices of the voiceless.