English

Virginia Thompson

22 May, 11:00

What is King's conclusion in this passage?

He is shocked by the tension of protest

Negotiation is better than protest.

He is not afraid of tension,

Tension is necessary for growth.

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why

sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't

negotiation a better path?" You are quite

right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is

the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent

direct action seeks to create such a crisis and

foster such a tension that a community which

has constantly refused to negotiate is forced

to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize

the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My

citing the creation of tension as part of the

work of the nonviolent resister may sound

rather shocking. But I must confess that I am

not afraid of the word "tension." I have

DONE

Intro