(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Dr. Martin Luther King and Non-Violent Direct Action


A perfect example of this would be the boycott of the Montgomery buses. When the bus companies refused to integrate the public buses, the black citizens of Montgomery, and a few whites as well joined in a boycott of the bus system, which caused the buses to run into a large financial problem. Without the business of a large portion of the city, the bus company could not survive, and the issue was finally negotiated. This boycott further proved the effectiveness of nonviolence.
             King did not believe that negotiation and judicial action were enough to end segregation and racism. In his career as a civil rights activist, negotiation had been his first attempt at making a difference. In all his attempts to solve the problems verbally, he was always told to wait. In all of his experience, wait ended up meaning never, and it became very clear to King that verbal negotiation would not ever be effective. Whites made it impossible for blacks to be heard, and blacks were left with no other options, the situation could no longer be ignored. Blacks were forced to watch as whites committed violent acts against themselves and their families, and the whites who committed these acts were not punished for them. King knew that fighting violence with violence would lead only to a bloody defeat of the black civil rights movement, so he resorted to the use of nonviolence.
             To King, there seem to be two opposing sides of black groups during the civil rights movement, those who had become desensitized by the racial discrimination, and had grown insensitive to the issue of racism, and those extremists who believed that violence must be used to get their point across. King and his nonviolent groups were a minority among the other blacks, because they felt that both of these approaches would be futile in producing results. There was an evident disagreement with those who had given up on the fight for rights, because they had adjusted to segregation.


Essays Related to Dr. Martin Luther King and Non-Violent Direct Action


Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question