Backlash is good. MLK's whole strategy was about bringing the whole question of civil rights into a crisis, so the racists would have to actually stand up for t

Backlash is good. MLK's whole strategy was about bringing the whole question of civil rights into a crisis, so the racists would have to actually stand up for their views, so the nation could have the kind of heated discussion the subject deserved. That's how protest works: you make a whole bunch of people hate you, so they bang on about how awful you are all the time. If your cause is right, you can count on enough of the heated discussions you spawn to fall in your direction, and even though everybody will pay lip service to how awful you are, they'll recognize the basic sense of what you're campaigning for.