1)  To call someone a hater would have violated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s determination for the Movement to follow the spirit of the Biblical principles of love and non-violence.

2)  Blacks were clearly hated in the South so there was no need to point out the obvious.

3) To have openly called the followers of Jim Crow racism haters would have provoked even more meanness, violence, and hatred.

4) The leaders of the Movement wanted to change the hearts of those caught up in racism, not just to coerce them into accepting them.

5) One of the primary role models for the Movement was Mahatma Gandhi and he called his British oppressors friends, not haters.

6) Leaders of the Movement knew that there was no way to intimidate those who held all the power, into giving up their power.  They understood that name-calling would only backfire.

If you call someone who hates you a hater, he/she will spew out even more hatred against you.  If you call someone who only disagrees with you a hater, you might intimidate him/her into silence.

“Was not Jesus an extremist for love? . . . the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.