100,000 people on the governor's doorstep ready to riot will get bipartisan legislation instilled immediately. The civil rights movement was obviously non violent. However, the unrest, economic effects, and disruption FORCED LBJ, a Democrat who really didn't want it to happen, signing that legislation.
Voting in the US is a joke. No minority opinion survives in politics ever. If you go against the grain, you get forced out by other people.