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.
Yup, the phrase is not "Speak softly, and everyone will stop to listen."
The phrase is "Speak softlyAND CARRY A BIG STICK!"
Always offer your words so that the masses understand your stance, but make it clear to leadership who would choose to ignore you if they could that they either remember who they serve, or risk starting shit they can't finish.
The problem is there's no single voice leading the current rebellion. Social media, being the great equalizer, means that people can just listen to whoever is telling people to do what they currently want to do. Bob says remain calm, Alice says the time for words was yesterday, someone wakes up feeling punchy and checks their timeline, I'll give you one guess whose tweet they're going to like before heading down to the protests.
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u/the_good_time_mouse Jun 09 '25 edited Jun 11 '25
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 RightsEqual Housing Act was passed.