Final answer:
The conflict between labor and capitalists in post-Civil War Chicago was often violent due to poor working conditions and income inequality. Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement about riots being the language of the unheard applies to the workers who felt ignored and used violence to demand change.
Step-by-step explanation:
The conflict between labor and capitalists in post-Civil War Chicago was often violent due to a variety of factors. At this time, workers faced poor working conditions, low wages, and income inequality. They were frustrated and angry at the vast discrepancy between their lives and the wealth of the factory owners. Unable to organize and lacking legal protection, some working communities resorted to spontaneous violence as a way to express their frustration.
When Martin Luther King Jr. said that riots were "the language of the unheard," he meant that marginalized and oppressed groups often resort to violent actions as a means to be heard and demand change when peaceful methods are ineffective. In the context of the workers, it means that they felt ignored and unheard in their struggles for better conditions, and so violence became a tool to make their voices heard and force attention and action from the capitalists.