Why Do African Americans Choose Violence Or Non-Violence?

Words: 407
Pages: 2

The main claim of this article is that most African American chose violence over non-violent meaning of protest because violence can reveal manhood but non-violence does not; however, non-violence finally got faith from both African American and White American because it contains the concept of hope that violence does not have. Wendt supports his argument by analyzing how gender norms were identified during the civil rights era. Wendt finds out that “ The gendered nature of southern violence carried special significance for black men, who learned that violence, race and gender were inextricably linked”(545). He notes that the conceptualization of manhood was reinforced by an organization called National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909(546). This organization criticized African Americans were “community’s submissiveness” because they did not defeat back when White Americans took advantage from them (546). …show more content…
Therefore, Oppressed African Americans chose violence over non-violence because they had been influenced by this propaganda. He then claims that non-violence is an effective tool that had been used by civil rights activists. In order to support this claim, he analyzed MLK’s tactic. He finds out that his tactic is an integration of Gandhian and Christian ideas. He points out features of MLK’s tactic, his tactic is not only depend on “moral suasion”, but also is a form of non-violent coercion that created crises inside and outside. Thus, he thinks although non-violence was regarded as degrading to their manhood, this is the most effective way against