I am all for civil discourse, but I also possess all of the privileges of the world that allow me to engage in it without fear that failure to convince in that discourse will ultimately affect me in some profound way. It would behoove us all to recognize that there are many people in this country who do not have that privilege. These people have voices that have gone unheard for decades, if not for the entirety of America’s existence as a country (or longer).

Many of these people now literally fear for their life because we elected a man who tells American citizens that it’s ok to be physically abusive to women. We elected a man who tells Americans that it’s ok to physically attack people of color and non-Christians. We elected a man who tells Americans it’s ok to cheat people out of their fairly earned wages, as long as you get ahead in life. We elected another man who tells Americans it’s ok to have their children electrocuted to stop them from being gay. We elected another man who tells Americans it’s ok to tell women what they are and are not allowed to do with their own bodies. Even if you argue that some of these things were not explicitly said by those candidates, it is inarguable that their election validates the common perception that these men stand for those things. As a result, Americans everywhere are having their every racist, sexist, xenophobic, religiously intolerant thought validated by the men we chose as a country to elect to the White House.

We have to understand that for the people marginalized by this social oppression, civil discourse has already failed them. They have been attempting civil discourse for a very long time, and America as a society continues to tell them that their lives don’t matter. We have not and continue not to care about their ability to co-exist peacefully and have the opportunity to prosper in this country. So it’s hard for those people to continue having civil discourse after we elect a straight white cis-male billionaire who is perceived to support ideals that directly devalue their lives.

Progress never happens because of civil discourse. Progress happens through revolution, when society is presented with a united voice so loud that ignoring it causes significant “inconvenience” for those in power. History has borne this out time and again, so we should not be surprised. Sometimes it takes the form of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr, sometimes it’s the more violent form of Malcolm X. However, even the Reverend himself recognized that civil discourse wasn’t enough.

In 1963, MLK wrote the following words in his landmark “Letter from Birmingham Jail” missive:

First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.”

Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t believe in pursuing legal paths to equality, but rather that those of us with privilege need to hear them in order for that course of action to succeed.

My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.

Ultimately, we must recognize the wisdom of his words; that it’s not ok to sit back and pretend to be allies in pursuit of the end of oppression. We must accept that where civil discourse has already been shown to fail time and again, it is reasonable for people to rise up and speak with a different tone of voice. It is inexcusable for us to simply pat those people on the head and say “Shhh, calm down, it’s going to be alright…eventually.” We must respect the fact that sometimes extraordinary measures are required in order for people to be heard.

Are you listening?