“We must honestly face the fact
that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the
whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here, and one
day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in
America?” And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question
about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask
that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply
saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole
society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s
marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces
beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. And you
see, my friends, when you deal with this you begin to ask the question, “Who
owns the oil?” You begin to ask the question, “Who owns the iron ore?” You
begin to ask the question, “Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a
world that’s two-thirds water?” These are questions that must be asked.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Address to the tenth-anniversary
convention of the SCLC (1967)