Lesson 1: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nonviolent Resistance
"I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek."
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963
These words were spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. during his ten-day jail term for violating a court injunction against any "parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing" in Birmingham. He came to Alabama's largest city to lead an Easter weekend protest and boycott of downtown stores as a way of forcing white city leaders to negotiate a settlement of black citizens' grievances. King wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in response to a public statement by eight white clergymen appealing to the local black population to use the courts and not the streets to secure civil rights. The clergymen counseled "law and order and common sense," not demonstrations that "incite to hatred and violence," as the most prudent means to promote justice. This criticism of King was elaborated the following year by a fellow Baptist minister, Joseph H. Jackson (president of the National Baptist Convention from 1953–1982), who delivered a speech counseling blacks to reject "direct confrontation" and "stick to law and order."
By examining King's famous essay in defense of nonviolent protest, along with two significant criticisms of his direct action campaign, this lesson will help students assess various alternatives for securing civil rights for black Americans in a self-governing society.
Guiding Questions
To what extent was King's nonviolent resistance to segregation laws the best means of securing civil rights for black Americans in the 1960s?
Learning Objectives
Explain Martin Luther King, Jr.'s concept of nonviolent resistance and the role of civil disobedience within it.
Analyze the concerns regarding King's intervention in Birmingham and King's responses to those concerns.
Evaluate the arguments made against King's protest methods and the alternatives recommended.
Evaluate the arguments regarding non-violence and the effect these strategies had on civil rights in the United States.