ng in America. He says,Not only is this racial explosion probably to take place in America, but all of the ingredients for this racial explosion in America to blossom into a world-wide racial explosion present themselves right here in front of us. Americas racial powder keg, in short, can actually fuse or ignite a world-wide powder keg. (The Black 46)Is America a powder keg waiting to explode? Will good prevail? Will white society finally come to terms with itself and allow all persons to enjoy what is rightfully theirs? And, can the rage of a race, the black race, be diffused before the apparent inevitable occurs? These questions remain to be answered.As Malcolm X has sought to channel black rage to effect change, so too has Martin Luther King, Jr. During his life, no doubt, King understood the rage of his race. He says,There is the danger that those of us who have lived so long under the yoke of oppression, those of us who have been exploited and trampled over, those of us who have had to stand amid the tragic midnight of injustice and indignities will enter the new age with hate and bitterness. But if we retaliate with hate and bitterness, the new age will be nothing but a duplication of the old age. (Facing 562) King describes a duplication of the old age -- this time black over white. Although he does not want to accept it, King knew what both history and reality teach. Desiring to divert the rage of his people, he dismisses the rhetoric of violence and hate, proclaiming,I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. . . . I refuse to accept the cynicalnotion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway intoa hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality . . . . (Nobel 110)But will t...
