Civil rights movement

=== Method of nonviolence and nonviolence training ===
During the time period considered to be the "African-American civil rights" era, the predominant use of protest was nonviolent, or peaceful.<ref name=Erikson>{{cite book |last1=Erikson |first1=Erik |title=Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence |date=1969 |publisher=Norton |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-393-31034-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gandhistruth00erik_0/page/415 415] |url=https://archive.org/details/gandhistruth00erik_0/page/415 }}</ref> Often referred to as pacifism, the method of nonviolence is considered to be an attempt to impact society positively. Although acts of racial discrimination have occurred historically throughout the United States, perhaps the most violent regions have been in the former Confederate states. During the 1950s and 1960s, the nonviolent protesting of the civil rights movement caused definite tension, which gained national attention.

In order to prepare for protests physically and psychologically, demonstrators received training in nonviolence. According to former civil rights activist Bruce Hartford, there are two main components of nonviolence training. There is the philosophical method, which involves understanding the method of nonviolence and why it is considered useful, and there is the tactical method, which ultimately teaches demonstrators "how to be a protestor{{mdash}}how to sit-in, how to picket, how to defend yourself against attack, giving training on how to remain cool when people are screaming racist insults into your face and pouring stuff on you and hitting you" (Civil Rights Movement Archive). The philosophical basis of the practice of nonviolence in the American civil rights movement was largely inspired by [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–22)|"non-cooperation" policies]] during his involvement in the [[Indian independence movement]], which were intended to gain attention so that the public would either "intervene in advance" or "provide public pressure in support of the action to be taken" (Erikson, 415). As Hartford explains it, philosophical nonviolence training aims to "shape the individual person's attitude and mental response to crises and violence" (Civil Rights Movement Archive). Hartford and activists like him, who trained in tactical nonviolence, considered it necessary in order to ensure physical safety, instill discipline, teach demonstrators how to demonstrate, and form mutual confidence among demonstrators (Civil Rights Movement Archive).<ref name=Erikson /><ref>{{cite web |title=Civil Rights Movement |url=http://www.crmvet.org/info/nv3.htm |website=Civil Rights Movement Archive|access-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref>

For many, the concept of nonviolent protest was a way of life, a culture. However, not everyone agreed with this notion. James Forman, former [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|SNCC]] (and later Black Panther) member, and nonviolence trainer was among those who did not. In his autobiography, ''The Making of Black Revolutionaries'', Forman revealed his perspective on the method of nonviolence as "strictly a tactic, not a way of life without limitations." Similarly, [[Bob Moses (activist)|Bob Moses]], who was also an active member of [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|SNCC]], felt that the method of nonviolence was practical. When interviewed by author Robert Penn Warren, Moses said "There's no question that he ([[Martin Luther King Jr.]]) had a great deal of influence with the masses. But I don't think it's in the direction of love. It's in a practical direction … ." (Who Speaks for the Negro? Warren).<ref>{{cite web |title=Bruce Hartford (full interview) |url=https://vimeo.com/17532881 |via=Vimeo |access-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Forman |first1=James |title=The Making of Black Revolutionaries |url=https://archive.org/details/makingofblackrev00form |url-access=registration |date=1972 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-940880-10-8}}</ref>

According to a 2020 study in the ''American Political Science Review'', nonviolent civil rights protests boosted vote shares for the Democratic party in presidential elections in nearby counties, but violent protests substantially boosted white support for Republicans in counties near to the violent protests.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wasow|first=Omar|date=2020|title=Agenda Seeding: How 1960s Black Protests Moved Elites, Public Opinion and Voting|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=114|issue=3|pages=638–659|doi=10.1017/S000305542000009X|issn=0003-0554|doi-access=free}}</ref>