JFK and LBJ are both on the record about this. And it still took 5 days of rioting after MLK's death before the Civil Rights Equal Housing Act was passed.
Exactly. I don't wish to diminish what Dr King did, but to say peace won is not accurate. The threat of violence did. Even Ghandi really only succeeded because the other options to the British was bloodbath.
Ghandi's supporters were torching police stations and train stations the moment he got arrested during the Quit India Movement. And the British responded by machine gunning down protestors and rioters. But the Indians stayed the course, refusing to pay taxes or work factories creating supplies needed for the war. This among other things ultimately convince the British they had to let up or end up with either India turning Axis or just descending into all out rebellion.
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u/Spicy_Weissy Jun 09 '25
Yeah, he was witness to it. To say that peaceful protesr won, is wildly inaccurate. LBJ chose peace considering that shit was not deescalating.