Rare video of MLK talking about “a new phase” and Guaranteed Income
In a rare video featuring clips from “The Frank McGee Sunday Report” (NBC News, May 7, 1967) Martin Luther King says the civil rights movement’s new phase is seeking genuine equality (economic and social) with solutions like a guaranteed income.
The clip starts abruptly so we do not hear the interviewer’s question. But it seems as if King was asked if he would consider the civil rights movement dead. MLK responds,
“I would not say that the civil rights movement is dead…Now we are in a new phase. And that is a phase where we are seeking genuine equality. Where we are dealing with hard economic and social issues. And it means that the job is much more difficult.
It’s much easier to integrate a lunch counter than it is to guarantee an annual income. It’s much easier to integrate a bus than it is to get a program that will force the government to put billions of dollars into ending slums.
It’s a wonderful thing to work and be concerned about integrating public schools — which I will continue to work for with vigor and with zeal. But I’ve also got to be concerned about the survival of a world in which to be integrated. And these issues to me are tied together in that sense.”
King goes on to explain his thoughts and decision to speak out on Vietnam were influenced by time he took to reflect and mediate while writing his last book. Unfortunately the video is edited and incomplete. I have reached out to NBC for more information. It is currently not available for preview or purchase on their website.
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