Nonviolent Protest and Resistance Privileged

[Exian]

They killed for mere sit-ins and marches; is it so hard to imagine a worse response if the protesters turned violent?

Answering violence with violence may be understandable but it's probably not the wisest reaction. The faction controlling the narrative, and that's usually the more powerful one, will point to the counter violence as being the reason and justification for their violence.

As I view it, the civil rights movement largely not resorting to violence assured their victory. The ugly face of the racists was reveiled for everyone to see and it became harder to associate with them. Even for people who's sympathy may have been with racism and segregation in general.

And that's why it's important to organize protests. Khemikal is probably right for the most part that most people don't have a violent reaction, but it only takes one violent outburst to change the narrative.