Why Were Martin Luther King’s Campaigns in the North Less Successful Than Those in the South?

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Martin Luther King’s campaigns in the North were less successful than those in the South because of a number of reasons. Such as; lack of support, violence, Martin Luther King’s reputation, lack of media attention, the Chicago freedom rides, the Moynihan report and social and economic problems. The most significant reason why Martin Luther King’s campaigns were less successful in the North was the lack of media attention due to the reaction the people gave to those who were campaigning. The South was a lot more segregated and the people were more racist which meant that they gave a more extreme reaction. The North was segregated although nowhere near as strongly as the South. The people didn’t react as much as there wasn’t much violence and the protests were calmer which meant that the media had nothing to report about as nothing specifically extreme occurred. The media would pick up on the events in the South as the campaigns were not as calm and violence arose. His tactics did not go to plan and the reaction of the police and public was not what was expected. The Mayor of Chicago knew that they had to stop the campaigns from attracting media attention and to counteract this he ordered the police to avoid using violence and brutality and treat the campaigners with respect. This prevented the movement from gaining as much publicity and support than in the South. Another reason for King being less successful in the North compared to the South is because of the lack of support. He didn’t gain as many people as expected, for example his first campaign in the North, The Chicago Freedom Movement, only 30,000 people attended rather than the 100,000 King had expected. This meant that the campaign wasn’t as effective as he intended and that it wasn’t big enough and didn’t get as much of a reaction as they first thought. As discrimination wasn’t as high in the North, many
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