Reference no: EM133354215

Question: HOW MUCH influence Cold War concerns (foreign and domestic) had in shaping the Civil Rights movement in the United States from 1945 -1970 from this speech?

Case Study: standing in the piercing chill of an Alpine November. (Look out, Look out) So as a result of their tiredness they decided to rise up and protest against colonialism and imperialism. As a result of their rising up, more than one billion three hundred million of the colored peoples of the world have broken aloose from colonialism and imperialism. (Yes sir) They have broken aloose from the Egypt of colonialism. [applause] (Go ahead) They have broken aloose from the Egypt of colonialism, and now they are moving through the wilderness of adjustment toward the promised land of cultural integration. And as they look back you know what they are saying? "Racism and colonialism must go in this world." (Yes) They assembled in Bandung some months ago, and that was the word that echoed from Bandung (Yes): "Racism and colonialism must go."18 (That's right) [applause] Just two weeks ago, in Africa and Europe, I talked with some of the major leaders of Asia and Africa. And this was the one point they stressed over and over again. Prime Minister Nkrumah, his finance minister N. K Gbedemah said to me, "Our sympathies are with the free world.19 There is something about America that we like, but we are making it clear in the U.N. and in the other diplomatic circles around the world that beautiful words and extensive handouts cannot be substitutes for the basic simple responsibility of giving freedom and justice to our colored brothers all over the United States." [applause] That is what they are saying around the world. And I say to you my friends, because of our love for America we cannot slow up. (Yes, Yes) Oh, the hour is getting late. (Yes) The clock of destiny is ticking out. (Go ahead) We've got to say this to the nation that we are not fighting for ourselves alone, we are fighting for this nation. (Yes) For if America doesn't wake up, she will one day arise and discover that the uncommitted peoples of the world will have given their allegiance to a false communistic ideology. (Go ahead) I just wish this evening that somebody would take a fast plane over to Washington (Go ahead) and just plead with Senator [James] Eastland and his colleagues (All right), and say to him that the civil rights issue is not some ephemeral, evanescent domestic issue that can be kicked around by reactionary and hypocritical politicians. (Yes) But it is an eternal moral issue which may well determine the destiny of our nation in its ideological struggle with communism. (Oh yeah, That's right) [applause] [words inaudible] The destiny of our nation is involved. We can't afford to slow up. (Yes sir) The motor is now cranked up. We are moving up the highway of freedom toward the city of equality, and we can't afford to slow up because our nation has a date with destiny. We've got to keep moving. We've got to keep moving. [applause] I'm about through now, but there is a warning signal, a signal that must forever stand before us. (Yes) I've tried to say that we've come a long, long way, and we have a long, long way to go. I've tried to suggest some of the things that we must do in order to go the additional miles ahead. My friends, I cannot leave you without saying that as we move on let us be sure that our methods are thoroughly moral and Christian. (Go ahead, Yes) [applause] This is one of the basic things confronting our nation. No matter what we suffer. I know it's really hard when we think of the tragic midnight of injustice and oppression that we've had to live under so many years, but let us not become bitter. Let us never indulge in hate campaigns, for we can't solve the problem like that. (No) Somebody must have sense in this world. (Amen, Yes) And to hate for hate does nothing but intensify the existence of hate in the universe. (Amen) We must not use violence. Maybe sometimes we will have to be the victims of violence, but never let us be the perpetrators of violence. (Amen) For if we succumb to the temptation of using violence in our struggle, unborn generations would be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness (Yes), and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. (Go ahead) We must not use violence. (All right) Oh, sometimes as we struggle it will be necessary to boycott. But let us remember as we boycott that a boycott is never an end. A boycott is merely means to awaken within the oppressor the sense of shame and to let him know that we don't like how we are being treated; but the end my friends is reconciliation, the end is redemption. (Yeah) Our aim must never be to