3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

"I still believe that love is the most durable power in the world;' he preached on November 6,
1956, just seven days before the U.S . Supreme Court's decision against Alabama's bus
segregation laws.
A milestone of success, the Montgomery bus boycott represented a shining moment
for King . Activists in Montgomery showed that non-retaliatory action for a cause could
promote solidarity, build morale, and even bring victory against segregationist forces . King
decided, under the tutelage of activists such as Rustin, that justice could prevail without
force, without hatred, and without firearms . With nonviolence, King replaced his pistol with
a more powerful weapon that effectively "outgunned" his adversaries . The boycott exposed
the true power of nonviolence, which did not depend solely on the moral force of protest or
love but used love as a fulcrum : a means of levering the majority culture toward justice and
equality .ss It was also in Montgomery that King committed himself not simply to attacking
Jim Crow segregation but to changing the racial preconceptions of white Americans .
In Montgomery, King realized that moral suasion alone did not suffice . In subsequent
protests, he sought to upset the complacency of middle-class, white America . Indeed, he
consciously designed his method of social protest to generate change by initiating conflict
within the existing political system . His demonstrations were designed to provoke and
King, `"fhe Most Durable Power," The Christian Century, 74 (June 5, 1957) : 708 .
ssSce Adam Roberts, "Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nonviolent Resistance," The World
Today (June 24, 1968), 232 ; reprinted in Garrow, King: Civil Ri is Leader, 765 .
~Sce Mulford Q. Sibley, "Negro Revolution and Non-violent Action : Martin Luther King,
Jr.," Political Science Review , 9 (1-6/70), 181 ; reprinted in Garrow, Kin¢ : C~Ri is
805 .
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