Race and the Anti-War Movement in the 1960s: A Conversation with Matthew Delmont, Dartmouth University and Author of Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America’s Soul

Matthew Delmont’s new book, *Until the Last Gun is Silent*, uses two striking biographies to illuminate the tangled relationship between race and the anti‑war movement in the 1960s. Coretta Scott King emerges as a pioneering peace activist, speaking out against the Vietnam conflict as early as 1965 at a Madison Square Garden rally. Her public dissent not only challenged the prevailing pro‑war narrative but also pressured Martin Luther King Jr. to articulate his own anti‑war stance, culminating in the historic Riverside Church speech of 1967. By foregrounding Coretta’s courage, Delmont shows how Black leadership shaped the broader anti‑war discourse.

The Vietnam era differed sharply from World War II in how military service intersected with civil‑rights struggles. The war was the first fully integrated conflict, yet Black soldiers were over‑represented in infantry units and accounted for 16 % of early casualties despite comprising only 11 % of the population. Project 100,000—an administration program that drafted low‑scoring, predominantly Black men under the guise of reducing unemployment—exacerbated community resentment and highlighted the paradox of fighting for a nation that still denied equal rights. These dynamics fueled a growing anti‑war sentiment among African‑American activists, who saw the draft as another tool of systemic oppression.

Dwight “Skip” Johnson’s story personalizes the era’s contradictions. A Detroit native who earned the Medal of Honor after a heroic tank ambush, Johnson returned home to a hollow celebration that ignored his trauma and the lack of veteran services. His experience underscores the broader failure to reintegrate Vietnam veterans, especially Black servicemen, and illustrates how heroic narratives often masked deeper social neglect. Delmont’s dual focus on Coretta Scott King and Johnson offers a nuanced lens on patriotism, dissent, and the enduring impact of the Vietnam War on race relations—insights that remain vital for today’s discussions on military service, civil rights, and protest movements.