QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (WEEK 11)

Muhammad Ali on draft resistance [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 118-119]: What did Ali mean by “just want[ing] to be free”? How was his decision a reflection of this belief? How did his views correspond to broader sentiments in the African-American community?

Merle Haggard in “The Fightin’ Side of Me” [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 119]: Who was Haggard referring to when singing about those people “running down our country”? What did he mean by this? What does he suggest such people should do?

Martin Luther King, Jr. at Riverside Church [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 119-123]: Why was King initially hesitant to speak out against the war? How did the war affect programs to eliminate poverty, according to King? What does he say about guaranteeing liberties in Southeast Asia and the United States? What hypocrisy does he highlight concerning the use of violence? How does he characterize the United States government? Why? What initiatives does he propose?

Malcolm X at the Militant Labor Forum [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 123-124]: Who does he have in mind when referring to “they”? What does Malcolm X say was considered “anti- American” or “subversive”? What is the symbolic significance of his image in the “Third World People Unite Against the War” poster? Why would Malcolm X, who was an American, appear on a “Third World People” poster?

John Kerry before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 124-127]: Why did the antiwar veterans refer to their Detroit investigation the Winter Soldier Investigation? What was disclosed in Detroit? What did Kerry mean by the “biggest nothing in history”? What does Kerry have to say about those whom Spiro Agnew called the “criminal misfits of society”? Why, according to Kerry, were many Vietnamese fighting the United States? Whom does Kerry say has dishonored the veterans? Why?

Interview of Colonel David H. Hackworth [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 125]: Why did Hackworth become disenchanted with the Vietnam war?

Speech of Joseph A. Scerra [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 126]: Why, according to Scerra, should the United States “honor [its] commitment”? Why does he believe “those who dissented” were owed a “debt of gratitude”?