Nonviolence is an *amazing* choice when the other side is claiming that you are violent.

[michaelc@scholar.social]

RE: https://mas.to/@OrionKidder/115952027221291825

Nonviolence is an *amazing* choice when the other side is claiming that you are violent. That's one reason why MLK Jr. chose that route--racist nothern whites didn't think Black southerners *could be* nonviolent. It shows discipline. AND it shows the lies being told are lies without even having to point them out.

Resistance: being obviously not what they claim you are.

[orionkidder@mas.to]

@michaelc Exactly. For MLK and the SCLC, it was the right *tactic*. In other circumstances, it might not be.

[michaelc@scholar.social]

@OrionKidder And what different people think of as "nonviolence" appears to be very different, too. I saw an argument recently that the Freedom Riders weren't *really* nonviolent because they knew they were likely to be attacked, and thus the ride was an intent to provoke violence. Or that boycotts are "economic violence."

That isn't how *I* would define nonviolence. But I'm not everybody.

[orionkidder@mas.to]

@michaelc Absolutely! The state (or whoever) is going to call whatever you do "violent" because it threatens their power. You're not trying to convince them, though. They're sociopaths. You're trying to get the public to pressure them enough that they change their behaviour.

[chestycougth@mastodon.social]

@michaelc But so F***ing depressingly, the shooting of Renée Good shows that even being passive and forgiving won't keep you safe anymore. As a UK citizen, I hope America survives MAGA and preserves the democracy it so passionately created some 200 years ago. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸