What was a key principle promoted by MLK in the civil rights movement?

• A. Nonviolent action
• B. Military intervention
• C. Violent uprising
• D. Segregation by law

Answer: (B)

Nonviolent action was the central principle MLK promoted in the civil rights movement. He believed injustice could be confronted without violence, using peaceful means—civil disobedience, boycotts, sit-ins, and peaceful marches—to expose segregation’s cruelty and win broad support from the public and policymakers. This approach drew on Gandhi’s ideas and Christian ethics, guiding campaigns like the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, where peaceful action amplified moral appeal and moral pressure on lawmakers. Military intervention would escalate violence and undermine legitimacy, violent uprising contradicts his commitment to love and reconciliation, and segregation by law was the problem he was working to end, not the principle he advocated.