Question

…We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured…

What is King’s view of the disorder that is occurring as a result of civil rights demonstrations?

It is blocking social progress.

It is desirable, as African Americans have been suffering injustice for generations

It is necessary to the eventual defeat of injustice.

Answer 1

It is necessary to the eventual defeat of injustice.

King argues the tension caused by nonviolent direct action exposes hidden injustice—like opening a boil—so it can be seen, judged, and healed, making the unrest a necessary step toward social change.