Self-Defeating Violence

Half a century ago, the Civil Rights movement made great strides through non-violent protest. Led by Martin Luther King, non-violent marchers validated their plight and protest through dignified acceptance of police brutality. Blacks were the victims; whites the perpetrators. Obvious victims of injustice in the streets, black marchers gained white support for removing injustice in law. When white Americans saw peaceful blacks being beaten and trampled by the likes of Bull Connor in Birmingham and Jim Clark in Selma, whites were forced to reexamine their prejudices and laws. An entire generation, led by Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey did just that.

However, when black Americans turned to violence to accelerate change, they ended the movement. In the midst of riots in Detroit, Watts, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago and Washington DC, white America stared at their black & white TV sets and saw blacks as the perpetrators of violence. Although King argued that “riots are self-defeating and socially destructive,” he was ignored by the militants. Sympathy for civil rights evaporated.

Fast-forward to Ferguson, Missouri. Regardless of the social ills revealed by the Michael Brown case, the violence that followed will slow-down change. When the majority of Americans see indiscriminate violence and destruction in high-definition on their LED screens, the apologists of violence become invisible. American voters are not social scientists. They believe what they see and what people with credibility tell them. Had only peaceful protests followed, the leaders of those protests would have credibility; they would have been heard. Now, with burning buildings as backdrops, advocates for change can shout with rage and spew reams of data -- the average American will not hear.

People who think violence accelerates change need to think again. When the goal is dialogue, violence is an inhibitor. Ferguson may be a metaphor for multiple problems, but its turn to street violence is self-defeating.