“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech has long been one of my favorites. The honesty and conviction behind the ideas he espouses coupled with King’s almost musical delivery makes this speech nearly impossible for even the casual listener to hear and feel unmoved. When most people walk away from the speech, “I have a dream” are the words they most remember. However, his eloquent contrast between physical and non-violent protest is what sticks with me.
I find it pretty amazing that something that seemed so contentious 40-50 years ago is so cut and dry today. At the risk of making a severe understatement, segregation was not a good thing. I’ve not conducted a poll and I’m not referencing any data, but I’d feel safe guessing that the vast majority of Americans (including those who at some point in time were segregationists) would agree with that statement today. Although there were violent elements during the Civil Rights era, the war was won through the “creative protest” and “soul force” King spoke of.
Non-violent protest isn’t particularly sexy. Fighting fire with fire tends to be our natural instinct, for understandable reasons. If someone attacks you or your property, you’ll probably feel justified in using force to protect yourself and/or punish the offending party. However, the sit-ins, boycotts, and marches are more inline with the underlying message of the non-violent movement – people are people. Everyone deserves to be afforded a base level of rights and respect, and violence is anathema to this doctrine.
I can’t honestly say I would have marched with Dr. King if I were transported back in time. I would have been angry and wanted my actions to have immediately noticeable effects. I’d like to think I would have joined the creative protest, but I don’t know.
Disclaimer: I heard an NPR editorial last week relating to the plainly evident evil of segregation and a brief hypothesizing on what contemporary issues were that would be blatantly obvious 50 years from now. That was the impetus for this post 
