Southern White had no conception of what life was like in Black churches, for religion was segregated in the South, just as segregated as all other aspects of social life. Thus White leaders were thrown off balance by the calm and peaceful spirituals sung by King's marchers. The use of nonviolent marching and demonstrations in general was also powerfully upsetting to the idea that somehow Blacks were violent. The White enemy was prepared for rioting, not for peace along the equally pacific lines of the Indian activist Gandhi, King's professed inspiration along with Jesus' advice to turn the other cheek when struck by one's enemy in conflict.
Faced with nonviolent Black Christian American marchers, King's enemy was forced to live up to its own American Christian ideals, and failed miserably in doing so. This was because the Southern police could not suppress nonviolent civil disobedience and integration except with violence, and the subsequent incarcerations of Black nonviolent protesters highlighted the injustice of the system. Seeing people put in jail for peacefully sitting next to someone of a different race for eating a sandwich highlighted the absurdity of segregation, and the absurdity of fears of mixing the races in the Southern United States.
The use of faith made the marches, if not enjoyable in Alinsky's words, at least, profoundly moving for King's adherents. King's marches and negotiations were also quite pointed in their attacks. Nor did negotiations ever dragged on too long -- for although King was criticized for his swiftness and refusal to wait for concessions, this enabled him to mobilize the spirit of his people with great resolve, and to keep up the pressure on the local authorities,...
Concessions had been made, he argued, and he had seen their deleterious effects. Thus, concessions could be made no longer -- again, returning to the idea of forcing the opposition to honor its principles, justice must be given to all, and Black Americans were a part of that American 'all.'
In seeking the opposition to make good on its reneged promises, King personalized the attack he was making -- but rather than attacking the oppositions as 'Americans,' he channeled the protesters he led to focus on one polarizing figure, such as the Southern police commissioner, or the governor of Alabama, rather than on specific laws. The Black Americans were seeking justice, he implied, and thus they were the true Americans, unlike the Whites he attacked. Furthermore, by turning the debate into a North vs. South issue, however inaccurately (as there was certainly de facto if not de jure segregation in the North), King was able to mobilize Northern politicians, the Northern-run media, and Northern public opinion to support his side. The uncouth vulnerability of the brutish Southern leaders in contrast to Black children and Church-going Christians was stark, and drove home King's image of truth, justice, and the American way of equality embodied in Black faces and Black bodies.
