A 1957 conversation between Martin Luther King, Jr. and J.Waites Waring

The Internet Archive has an invaluable 1957 interview on the "New Negro" and the state of Civil Rights with Rev. Martin Luther King and Judge J. Waites Waring, the judge who played a key role in the Briggs v. Elliot case.

The discussion includes reflections on the impact of Brown v. Board of Education. The interviewer is Richard Heffner who is still interviewing notables all these years later.

In retrospect, one of the more compelling moments in the show is when Heffner asks whether the two men think the violent resistance to civil rights will continue. Both men are optimistic -- King even suggests that the violence might die down in a matter of months.

King: "The violence that we are experiencing now is indicative of the...fact that the diehards are realizing that this system is at its dying point, and this is a last-ditch way to hold on to the old order."

Waring:"I think we are going forward. We are going forward inexorably; we've got to win. It's a question of whether we are going to win in the short term or the long term."

You can download the video or watch it as a video stream.