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The Capitol Attacks make clear that the US can't lead abroad if democracy is undermined at home.
MLK taught that same lesson...we just didn't learn it.
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![The Capitol Attacks make clear that the US can't lead abroad if democracy is undermined at home.MLK taught that same lesson...we just didn't learn it.[THREAD]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Er7yaB6XIAAU9Bg.png "The Capitol Attacks make clear that the US can't lead abroad if democracy is undermined at home.MLK taught that same lesson...we just didn't learn it.[THREAD]")
MLK taught that same lesson...we just didn't learn it.
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In particular, I am referring to the warnings and lessons in King's 1967 "Beyond Vietnam" Speech https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/beyond-vietnam
King had become an outspoken critic of the war. This is not surprising. In his 1964 Nobel Prize speech, he highlighted war as the third great plague on modern society (the other two being racial injustice and poverty) https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/lecture/
Indeed, King opens the speech by saying that those who think his criticism of the Vietnam war is undermining the Civil Rights movement "don't know him"
He offers several (seven, to be precise) reasons that he thinks its necessary for him to discuss Vietnam.
I won't cover all 7, but two are especially salient in light of January 6 attacks
I won't cover all 7, but two are especially salient in light of January 6 attacks
First, he points out that the war is taking resources and government attention away from the struggles at home
With respect to the Capitol Attacks, @EmmaMAshford in @ForeignPolicy makes a similar point regarding US efforts to promote democracy abroad distracting from US efforts to protect democracy at home https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/07/america-cant-promote-protect-democracy-abroad/
Second, MLK notes that it's difficult (if not impossible) to condemn violence at home if the US is overly violent abroad
With respect to the Capitol Attacks, @WonkVJ picked up on this very point in his recent take https://inkstickmedia.com/the-liberal-internationalist-origins-of-right-wing-insurrection/
While the most famous line in MLK's speech is "If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read `Vietnam'", MLK goes on to say "The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit".
For MLK, the US seemed to no longer be a force for good in the world. The line by JFK drives home the point.
MLK says that if the US is "to get on to the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values."
With respect to the Capitol Attacks, this is another way of thinking about the point @kelly_zvobgo raised in her recent @ForeignPolicy piece: maybe America is not the shining "city on a hill" https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/08/great-american-myth-capitol-maga-trump-black-lives-matter-transitional-justice/
In his speech, MLK wants the US to lead the way in global justice: but this can only be done my transforming our values within
With respect to the Capitol Attacks, getting our domestic "house in order" is exactly the theme @JimGoldgeier & @BWJ777 hit in @ForeignAffairs: can't hold a "summit of democracies" abroad until we fix our democratic priorities at home https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-01-09/united-states-needs-democracy-summit-home
Overall, the theme of King's speech is that Vietnam points to how foreign and domestic policies are inter-linked, particularly when the country is a major, hegemonic power like the United States.
Indeed, I think MLK would agree with @thomaswright08 in the @TheAtlantic: standing up for democracy abroad and at home are necessarily reinforcing https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/us-must-now-stand-democracy-home-and-abroad/617626/
But MLK's point is this won't happen just because "American is America". It's a choice.
In sum, as we reflect on MLK's legacy, we shouldn't continue to forget the lesson he taught for how America can lead in the world: it starts at home.
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