MLK Versus BLM in Changing Hearts and Minds
Newsweek, August 2, 2020
2 Pages Posted: 5 Aug 2020
Date Written: August 2, 2020
Abstract
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught some important lessons about the long-term detrimental effects of intimidation and violence in pursuit of changing social norms. The Black Lives Matter movement could benefit from those lessons. Real social change, that is, changing hearts and minds, is imperiled, not promoted, by aggressive confrontation. King intuitively understood what today's social science tells us: One might gain the temporary social power to intimidate others to behave in particular ways but such intimidation only produces resentment and resistance that make it harder to "transform" your enemy, as King implored.
Keywords: Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Lives Matter, BLM, civil rights movement, social change, nonviolent resistance, demonstrations, riots
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