MLK was neither praising nor justifying those who riot. Here's the context before and after the quote I gave earlier: > ... it is not enough for me to stand be

MLK was neither praising nor justifying those who riot. Here's the context before and after the quote I gave earlier: > ... it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. ... > And so we must still face the fact that our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nations winters of delay. As long as justice is postponed we always stand on the verge of these darker nights of social disruption. The question now, is whether America is prepared to do something massively, affirmatively and forthrightly about the great problem we face in the area of race and the problem which can bring the curtain of doom down on American civilization if it is not solved. Nor do I praise nor justify riots. The goal should be to understand why riots occur, in order to avoid having them in the future - and hopefully by improving justice and civil rights, vs. some of the more horrific solutions that humans have tried before.