3/25 Discussion Questions (Part 1)

Martin Luther King Discussion Questions:
1. Why did King make the choice to speak out against U.S. involvement in Vietnam? Do you think this speech risked doing harm to his status as a civil rights leader, as well as harming the movement itself?
2. Do you believe there was a relationship between the war in Vietnam and the civil rights struggle at home? Why or why not?
3. What if King had not taken a position on the war in Vietnam? Would it have undermined his stated commitment to nonviolence and social justice, or would it have merely highlighted his commitment to the civil rights movement?

Gonzales Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think Gonzales chose to divide this poem up into three relatively distinct sections? What purpose does this format serve?
2. What role do you think the character of Joaquin serves in this poem? How do you think this character relates to the Chicano movement in the 1960s?
3. In the ninth line of the poem Gonzales writes, “I must choose between the paradox of/ victory of the spirit, despite physical hunger,/ or to exist in the grasp of American social neurosis,/ sterilization of the soul and a full stomach.” To what extent do you believe that Mexican Americans had the choice to choose between assimilation of American values or retention of their native values? If Mexican Americans were to decide to assimilate, do you think they would achieve economic/financial equality?