Civil Rights

Non-violent action is actually a war. The civil rights movement was a 10 year battle against injustice. The only difference is that a war can be fought and be successful for land expansion, power, or money, where non-violent action cannot. It was interesting the way non-violence can only be used when the enemy is doing something unjust. It was interesting the way King made the US look upon itself and uphold the country’s own values to eradicate segregation. It seems often times injustice gets out of hand not because of where a belief started, but where it ended. King quoted the constitution and talked about how all men were created equal, but this phrase had been grossly spun about and now segregation started. The movement was very successful in pushing people to relearn and reevaluate their own beliefs on the subject by being forced to look at what they were doing to the black population. King’s concept of creating tension is also intriguing. He talks about the way to initiate change is through creating enough tension for the other person to change. He used the media to put tension and pressure on the government as well as the racist whites by showing the world what was happening through the media.