Ferguson, Mo., is once again a flash point in this nation’s struggle to come to grips with itself, as its citizens are embroiled in a profound conversation about bias, policing, the criminal justice system, civil rights and social justice.

The Department of Justice has released its scathing report documenting widespread racial targeting of citizens with fine and tickets. The city manager, the police chief and a judge cited in the report have stepped down. Cases will now be adjudicated outside the corrupt system described in the report. According to an article last week in The Times:

“The Missouri Supreme Court, citing the need for ‘extraordinary action’ to restore trust in Ferguson’s court system after the Department of Justice blasted it for routinely violating constitutional rights, assigned a state appeals court judge on Monday to oversee all municipal cases.”

But unfortunately, two police officers have also been shot in Ferguson. (The officers were treated at a hospital and released.)

All of it has caused the nation’s attention to once again turn to this small town and the sustained protests there.

Sometimes we understandably want justice to come quickly . but justice, if it is to be permanent, often inches forward. For those in the grip of injustice, toiling in the shadow of oppression, the wait can be nearly unbearable. But that hasn’t necessarily happened in this case.

It could be argued that the protest movement born in Ferguson in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson . a movement that quickly expanded from a focus on a single case to a sprawling indictment of the system . has been one of the most successful in recent history, both in terms of the speed at which it has garnered results and the breadth of those results.

And yet, that progress has been tarnished by flashes of violence.

That doesn’t have to be the case. There is a moral continuity that bridges and binds all people of good conscience.

There is universal condemnation of predation. No one should ever be targeted for harm. No cause can turn wrong to right. Violence can never be liberated from its inherent abhorrence.

As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in the 1967 book “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?”:

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.” King continued, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.”

Violence is weakness masquerading as strength. It is a crude statement of depravity voiced by the unethical and impolitic. It reduces humanity rather than lifts it.

The violent must find no asylum in the assembly of the righteous. We can and must stand up to injustice and against vigilante justice simultaneously.

(Authorities announced Sunday that an arrest had been made in the shootings. The prosecutor insisted the suspect had been a “demonstrator” . a fact that protest leaders denied . although the prosecutor did acknowledge that the shooter said he had a dispute with people in front of the police department “which had nothing to do with the demonstrations that were going on.”)

To those peaceful protesters who eschew violence as much as the rest of us, we must say: Hold tight. Be encouraged, steadfast and unmovable. We know the fatigue that builds from feeling that one must always fight. But your efforts are not in vain.

This is your moment. History has heard you, and justice is coming to meet you.

And we can do as a nation what those protesters have shown us can be done. We can elevate dialogue so that racial realities . both interpersonal and structural . can be acknowledged and remedies developed and implemented.

We can register indignation while preserving civility.

On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” President Obama put it this way:

“What had been happening in Ferguson was oppressive and objectionable and was worthy of protest. But there was no excuse for criminal acts. And whoever fired those shots shouldn’t detract from the issue . they’re criminals. They need to be arrested. And then what we need to do is to make sure that like-minded, good-spirited people on both sides . law enforcement who have a terrifically tough job and people who understandably don’t want to be stopped and harassed just because of their race . that we’re able to work together to try to come up with some good answers.”

We can honor the lives of police officers . and applaud them when proper service is rendered . and at the same time marvel at the persistence and efficacy of the protesters who have gotten the nation’s attention and gotten results.