Question

35 POINTS
Read the passage from King’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
"I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ‘tension.’ I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.”
What does the word tension mean here? Why do you think King includes it? Write one or two paragraphs to answer these questions. Include supporting evidence to explain your response.

Answer 1

Martin Luther king Jr.’s word choice demonstrates a multitude of different things but when he includes the word tension this symbolizes a form of fighting between two parties and king explains he is not scared of that but he is scared of the level of extent that racism will go to without a solution.

Answer 2

Answer:

The word tension  means stress, in a tense or nervous way.To be more specific, nonviolent tension, would be tension without any violent actions. Dr.King says that "there is a type of nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth." He means that without pondering upon a idea, you would not be able to come up with a solution to the problem. The situation in the US was that people were not thinking about the inhumane treatments to humans, and thats why this problem prevailed. Dr.King's idea, was to bring this problem to the minds of Americans, and make them think about it, and really understand why it should be considered unconstitutional.