Kerry, Paul Potter, and Martin Luther King all identify the larger social issues that they felt were reflected in the Vietnam War. They see these larger problems as problems that lie within the United States; problems that the United States must resolve within themselves before intervening and committing acts of crime in other countries. The United States society is portrayed in a negative way according to Paul Potter, a young student leader, John F. Kerry, a veteran of the war, and Martin Luther King, a mature civil rights activist. Each writer's response clearly indicates evidence that each speaker agrees that the United States tries to play the leading role in all of the world's affairs.
Martin Luther King begins his speech by identifying seven main concerns that he has about the war in Vietnam. I believe that many of Kings concerns and issues with the war are issues that the United States has as a country, without the war. I think his seven primary concerns are as follows: 1) The termination of the Poverty Program; 2) Sending young brothers to fight for liberation in Southeast Asia, when they don't live free in Georgia and Harlem, and die alongside whites who live in a nation and cannot go to the same schools; 3) The massive violence used in Vietnam; 4) America would never be free or saved from itself unless the descendants had their own shackles removed; 5) The burden of maintain his role as a man who received the Nobel Prize for Peace and work for the "brotherhood of man"; 6) The Vietnam people who have been living under the curse of war and 7) The money spent on the war and supporting the French. King also discusses communism. He says that in order for other countries to believe that democracy is more productive the United States must fix several large issues such as poverty, militarism, and racism. I think that Martin Luther King is saying that he thinks it is unjust for the U.