While MLK was an important figure, on his own he wouldn't have achieved anything with his pacifism.
Despite the government's efforts to sweep them and their importance under the rug, people like Malcom X and the various militant civil rights groups active in the era were a very large contributor to the government throwing in the towel and giving African-Americans civil rights. They were armed and posed a very real threat of violence. That is why the battle for civil rights was won. Not by pacifism, but posing a threat to those in power.
I was thinking of other militant groups similar to the Black Panthers, and mistakenly used the Black Panthers themselves as an example. Thank you for catching that, I'll fix my comment accordingly.
I should also add that the fight for equality did not end at the CRA in 1964, there was still a massive struggle well into the 1970s, and institutional racism is still alive and well today.
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u/TheSheetSlinger Jul 28 '26
Yeah, iirc even MLKs nonviolent success relied on the credible threat of eventual violence as the nonviolent approach began losing its popularity.