The Provocation of Violence: A Civil Rights Tactic?

The civil rights movement is pledged to nonviolence. It is commonly assumed by those of us involved in it that the provocation of violence is alien to its strategy and that violence is simply a calculated risk in trying to achieve its goals. But the facts compel me to question this assumption and to suggest that the provocation of violence is often used as a latent tactic.

This contention is difficult to prove. I am certain many of us working for civil rights are unconscious of the way...