As much respect as I have for Dr. King; the violence of his death, and the violent reaction to his death, is what prompted the government to stop fucking around and pass legislation.

The assassination and subsequent riots quickly revived the bill.[38][39][27][40] On April 5, Johnson wrote a letter to the United States House of Representatives urging passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act.[31] The Rules Committee, "jolted by the repeated civil disturbances virtually outside its door," finally ended its hearings on April 8.[41] With newly urgent attention from White House legislative director Joseph Califano and Speaker of the House John McCormack, the bill—which was previously stalled that year—passed the House by a wide margin on April 10

• King Assassination Riots

I suppose that you could argue the non-violent approach was necessary to reach the critical mass of support necessary to achieve rioting on this scale, but ultimately the violence is what got the goods.