Sadly, it seems those who say violence does not accomplish anything are wrong. I heard McConnell say it today!
Centuries of world history prove him wrong. The freedom marches prove him wrong. It was the killing of the freedom marchers, the burning and the lynching that brought change. Singing, marching and hand holding can only go so far.
Violence, innocent death, property destruction and great financial loss have been the means of overcoming entrenched beliefs and government sanctioned oppression. Without violence and horrible loss, nothing other than lip service and insignificant changes in law are likely forthcoming.
I abhor violence; I strongly oppose it; I will not participate in it. I am simply an observer.
"While it rarely achieves any creative goal, rioting is the voice of the voiceless who have nothing to lose." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
It does not matter whether it occurred to King or not, history tells us that without violence, the death of innocents and the loss of property, the peaceful, non-violent protests of his followers would have likely lead to little if anything. It was the violence, generated among the ignorant that were hell bent on preserving Jim Crow laws of the South and maintaining American apartheid, that brought in the Federal Government and forced change. King was brilliant and brave in his insistence on non-violence, all the while knowing that he and some of his millions of followers would be met with violence. It was the violence that brought the change.
It will be violence that brings the change now; whether it is the violence of the police or the violence of the protestors.
