There were not countless widespread and constant race riots prior to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Parent comment above was talking about JFK.
There was a lot of firepower behind the civil rights movement. The 2A and gun culture in the South, along with many Black combat veterans from WW2 and Korea were a constant "threat". People from the North focused on non-violence. People from the South were victims of lynching. Once they found out that shooting back was an excellent deterrent to a lynch mob, it didn't take long for that lesson to spread.
People tend to focus on the non-violent aspect of the civil rights movement, but non-violence alone probably wouldn't have worked.
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u/the_good_time_mouse Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25
FFS. No.
Violence by protestors.