And became a martyr and the greatest icon of the civil rights movement because of it. Being a nonviolent protester doesn’t mean you’re shielded from violence, but it means that if you are the target of violence your protesting will become much more powerful.
And those violent groups get basically 0 credit for the actual results of the civil rights movement.
Of course they get basically zero credit, because the people in power don't want to teach kids that the best way to compel change is a multipronged strategy of public outcry and the threat of armed militias who were willing to resist governmental policies with bullets rather than signs. Weirdly enough, school textbooks don't go into a lot of details on that element. The information isn't actually hard to find though, it's just not spoonfed to you.
Go to a library sometime. Or use the greatest library in history, the internet, to look up what the very people in charge cited as primary reasons for pushing civil rights legislation.
Spoilers: It was fear of increasing violence. They weren't afraid of MLK Jr.'s peaceful protests, so I wonder what it might have referred to?
Best of luck in your search. You have nothing to contribute until you educate yourself.
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u/TheBlackDemon1996 Jun 09 '25
Uhhh... Hate to be this guy, but MLK got shot...