Martin Luther King Jr and the Nonviolent Fight Against Violence

Martin Luther King Jr. is the quintessential example of a man fighting for change. In the 1960’s, it seemed that racial tensions would continue to escalate. Racism was widespread throughout America, and acts of violence were prevalent on both sides. The Ku Klux Klan was still a force, making life difficult for African Americans. Conversely, the Black Panthers and Malcolm X also resorted to violence to make their demand for equality heard. The Great Migration caused the heavy concentration of African Americans in the inner city that were on fire due to the rioting. How could Martin Luther King Jr. attempt to force reform, without resorting to violence? Dr. King realized that by utilizing peaceful protest and coercive nonviolence, he could achieve more reform than by resorting to violence.
Martin Luther King Jr. never considered violence as an option, however he did see the need for change. He believed in using a tactic called coercive nonviolence, which was the act of using passive force to call for change. “King was ready to throw ‘real force’ against Kennedy and Congress, telling Levison looked forward to seeing ‘Negroes sitting all over Washington’ (Jackson 174)”. More people active in the boycotts, more people in the marches, media publicity to pressure the government, were all tactics King sought to use.
Eventually, Dr. King found the conflict that was perfect for publicity to push civil and social rights. African Americans had to abide by the seating of the bus drivers, and they would make the African Americans stand up so a white person could take their seat. Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat for a white passenger. She was arrested, and found guilty in court. Her passive approach was exactly the protest tactic Dr. King desired. She was also a respectable figure in society, a middle aged secretary. The publicity of her arrest and trial led to the outrage of the African Americans in the community. For an entire year, the majority of the black population boycotted the public bus company. Eventually, the bus company was forced to make concessions. This was a huge victory in the fight for justice because the black community beat the financially advantaged bus company without resorting to violence.
What would it take for the government to look for reform? The answer lies in his idea of coercive nonviolence. Dr. King absolutely abhorred all forms of violence, and was even seen as an ‘American Gandhi’. He organized marches and events, which he used to pressure the government to enact reform. One of the most famous marches was the march on Washington while John Kennedy was in office. Kennedy had promised reform for and aid for African Americans, but he fell well short of the expectations of Martin Luther King Jr. that involved better job opportunities, racial equality, and an end to segregation. This highly and precisely organized event was designed to coerce the government to action. Every person in the march was given a sign or some sort of role, there was no room to deviate from the overall objective. Even thought the march had many goals and grievances, “…the march had no single ‘original’ plan; it represented a convergence of several streams of expectations and hope”(Jackson 172), it remained a well-organized protest. Violence would not be tolerated, as the march was meant to build a respectable aura around the civil and social reforms King was trying to push for.
Setbacks in his pacifistic fight for rights were the other African Americans that did not directly follow King. While not all were obstacles, the rioting and the lynching did not facilitate favorable change. There were many cases where members of the Black Panthers would use violence to achieve heir means. This directly opposes King’s tactic of coercive nonviolence. However, who could blame them? Many white racists used violence to intimidate blacks into submission. This is why the Black Panthers had so many followers, because people felt that King’s passive approach would not be taken seriously by the government or the community.
Chicago, Cleveland, and Newark burned in the night, as the result of dangerous riots, which poses setback for respectable vision that Dr. King, had desired for his movement. King had to stress to his followers that violence does not give the civil rights movement a good persona. He detested the media because it only really covered the violence thus many of King’s deeds did not make the news. People want to see violence, and they realized that publicity would come through these actions, not speeches and protest. This view was contradictory to King’s view. Despite the media coverage and the pressure to resort to violence, King remained a pacifist, and became an idol for people across the world.
In a time where the black community was ruthlessly oppressed by many in the white community, and with the absence of government action, violence was sure to spout. It takes strong character to be able to take verbal, emotional and physical abuse and refuse to react with violence. Some did not have this strength, such as the black nationalists. They had pride in their culture and heritage, but they felt that violence was the way to force reform. However, their actions, while frightening, were detrimental to Dr. King’s goals. It becomes easy to see African Americans lighting cities on fire and rioting in the streets and label them savages. Dr. King sought to legitimize the movement for reform of social structure. Even when his house was firebombed, he still did not desire retaliation of any sort on the culprits. “King knew his effectiveness in the North depended on how well nonviolence and the promise of integration cold deliver shoes, overcoats and political clout to the urban masses. He achieved metaphorical sainthood, and is epitomized as a pivotal character in history. Preaching nonviolence and at the same time pressuring the government to enact reform was more effective than lynching. Dr. King’s words were for effective than any riot could be, and for this, Dr. King is a household name in American pastime. Dr. King’s tactic of coercive nonviolence and passive protest proved more compelling than violence, and helped shape the lives Americans today.