I NEVER INTEND TO ADJUST MYSELF

Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 WMU Speech, see words here. See YouTube here

Herman W. Read Fieldhouse, west campus of Western Michigan University

"Social Justice."

Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word in psychology. It is the word "maladjusted." This is the ringing pride to modern child psychology. Maladjusted. Now of course, we all want to live the well adjusted life. In order to neurotic and schizophrenic personalities.

But as I move to my conclusion, I would like to say to you today in a very honest manner, there are some things in our society and some things in our world which I am proud to be maladjusted and I call upon all men of good-will will be maladjusted to these things until the good societies realize.

I very honestly say to you that I never intend to adjust myself to racial segregation and discrimination.

I never intend to adjust myself to religious bigotry.

I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. and leave millions of god's children smothering in an air tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.

I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self-defeating effects of physical violence.

But in a day when sputniks and explorers are dashing through outer space and guided ballistic missiles are carving highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can win a war.

It is no longer the choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.

BONUS: Martin Luther King, "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam"

"You may not know it my friends, but it is estimated that we spend $500,000 dollars to kill each enemy soldier, while we spend only $53 dollars for each person classified as poor and most of that $53 goes for salaries for people who are not poor. War is an enemy of the poor."