Question

tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
22 we should never forget that everything adolf hitler did in germany was legal and everything the hungarian freedom fighters did in hungary was illegal. it was illegal to aid and comfort a jew in hitlers germany. even so, i am sure that, had i lived in germany at the time, i would have aided and comforted my jewish brothers. if today i lived in a communist country where certain principles dear to the christian faith are suppressed, i would openly advocate disobeying that countrys antireligious laws.
23 i must make two honest confessions to you, my christian and jewish brothers. first, i must confess that over the past few years i have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. i have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the negros great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the white citizens councilor 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 cannot agree with your methods of direct action, who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another mans freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the negro to wait for amore convenient season. shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
24 i had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. i had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the south is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. we merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. we bring it out in the open, where it can be

Explanation:

The text from Dr. King's work discusses the tension related to racial injustice. The "hidden tension" refers to the long - standing racial inequality and injustice that African - Americans (Negroes in the text) have endured. This includes systemic racism, lack of equal rights (such as in law, social opportunities), and the passive acceptance (by the Negro in a negative peace phase) of an unjust situation. Dr. King and those engaging in non - violent direct action are bringing this underlying, long - existing racial tension (which was not being actively addressed or was ignored) to the public's attention so that it can be resolved.

Answer:

The "hidden tension" is the long - standing racial inequality and injustice (such as systemic racism, lack of equal rights, and the Negro's passive acceptance of an unjust situation) that Dr. King and non - violent activists are revealing.