Armed Resistance Strategies Essay

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Recommended: Leadership style of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

When comparing the two main strategies of the civil rights movement, peaceful direct action and armed resistance, it becomes clear that the more productive method of protest is the nonviolent objection to the restriction of rights placed on African Americans. Through the thorough examination of these two strategies both by themselves as well as when used in conjunction with one another the facts clearly point to one strategy becoming more effective than the other in the case of advancing civil rights.
The more attention grabbing of the two strategies is armed resistance, both for its physical as well as mental effects. These more subtle, and quite possibly effective, mental effects can be seen as simply the threat of violence. The fear in …show more content…

The whole idea behind nonviolence was to not react to the racism of the American South, to turn the proverbial other cheek. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the figurehead for this type of movement, relying on his passionate speeches to bring about the change that violence had failed time and time again to generate. King continuously reminded his followers of all the things they and those who had come before them had gone through. He claimed that to resort to violence would be a dishonor and a disgrace the years of suffering that their ancestors had endured. He maintained the stance that no matter the atrocities committed by whites that African Americans wouldn’t stoop to their level. While speaking at a meeting to discuss the Freedom riders, Dr. King delivered a message that would become the central theme of the civil rights movement: “In our protest there will be no cross burnings. No white person will be taken from their home by a hooded Negro mob and brutally murdered. There will be no threats and intimidation. We will be guided by the highest principle of law and order….” Not only did this set the standard of future protests but it gave the image that the African Americans were taking the high road, that they were didn’t need to resort to violence as did the whites. King realized that this was something that really struck a chord with a lot of people who were on the fence of civil rights and persuaded them to join his

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