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Question, what do you think would have happened if we tried to TAKE what we consider ours?
If they beat non-violent protestors to death, what would have happened during an armed insurrection?
I have to give it to MLK only because he had the foresight to see that we could never be heard by kicking ass and taking names. Even sympathetic Whites would not have given that message the time of day. Look at the Rosa Parks situation. Many other people had defied the Bus Seating Laws. But all had checkered pasts and were not good candidates for challenging the laws. They were all dismissed as trouble-makers. Violence would have gotten us nowhere.
No doubt, Malcolm had good ideas, and he definitely had a right to be angry--and show it. But, when you are not in the majority, every option is not available to you. And I think that over time, we have become so comfortable with what we have and what we can do, we tend to forget that.
All I can say is, MLK produced (or helped to produce) the results. And I cannot see how were going to get what we wanted if we unwilling to work within the system that existed then to make things happen.
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