Peaceful Resistance During The Civil Rights Movement

During the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King highlighted the effectiveness of peaceful resistance. When Parks refused to leave a bus seat upon demand of a white man, she was arrested for civil disobedience. Such a simple action triggered a 381-day boycott of public buses and furthered the growing movement. King later described this movement in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” where he explained the bombings that drew him to Birmingham, and how he would peacefully pursue a solution through large-scale civil disobedience. Both Parks and King peacefully revealed injustice to the public, and the violent responses from their opponents allowed the media to highlight the impacts of segregation, mainly poverty, physical threats, and verbal prejudice. Again, civil disobedience broadened social inequality, while also reducing the violence, poverty, and discrimination that African Americans experienced, increasing their involvement in modern government and the overall equality of the

Rosa Parks refused to give up her spot on the bus to a white male. This was a form of peaceful resentment that positively impacted the free society because it helped contribute to the Civil Rights movement and to integration. Martin Luther King Jr. also peacefully protested in the streets of Southern cities fighting for equal rights fro African Americans. This peaceful resistance positively

Take the Nat Turner revolt in 1831, for example. It became the largest slave uprising in the history of the south. In the revolt, Nat Turner, a black preacher, and his small slave army mercilessly killed 60 people (mostly women and children) in Virginia (United States History: Heritage of Freedom). And instead of helping to end slavery, this revolt and similar ones gave southerners a reason to defend it. Now, look at the "underground railroad" founded by Harriet Tubman, which was in the same time frame as the Nat Turner revolt. After escaping herself, Harriet helped about 300 slaves to freedom. The underground railroad is still known today for what it accomplished. Everyone involved with the underground railroad hated slavery and everything it stood for, but instead of taking up knives and torches, these brave people put their effort into something that would truly make a difference. Violent protesting is almost always fueled by hate and anger; peaceful resistance is usually fueled by a desire for

The African-American population was highly persecuted, although instead of being cast aside and thought to be useless they were kept as slaves. Many of the Black populous attempted to rise up against their white masters but they were easily cut down by the government and everyone else around them. To deal with this, the African-Americans turned to God and began following Christian practices in their homes and families. This created a massive Christian culture among them. Many people eventually rose up, and on December 1, 1955, a woman named Rosa Parks went against the government’s rule of black and white segregation in the bus system. Her act was the start of many non-violent protests which included; sitting in, marches and the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were a group of people, of both black and white ethnicity who drove through the south of the United States to prove the point of racial equality. This proved effective, as did the other non violent protests, set up by Martin Luther King Jr. He was one of the few black ministers to rise up for his people. Although Martin Luther King Jr. was effective throughout his life, his death was the most influential part of his work. His death was a catalyst which eventually drew the government to allow basic civil rights, stopping the oppression of

Peaceful resistance in the United States of America, done with the right intentions, has a positive impact of a free society. I hold this belief because as humans we can be flawed in our ways of thinking and require something to draw our attention for us to realize our flawed views. Peaceful resistance is positive because it draws attention to an issue in society, it communicates a level of civility, and it attempts to initiate a positive way of addressing issues in society.

When most Americans think of the Civil Rights Movement, their focus automatically goes to Martin Luther King Jr. and the importance of the non-violent protest. In an effort to memorialize the best of the Movement, another voice often gets overlooked as schoolchildren celebrate events like Black History Month. This voice is the one of black anger, something that has been frowned upon by society and turned into a stereotype to marginalize very valid emotions. While the legacy of Civil Rights leaders such as King are important to remember, it does the country and the black community a disservice as a whole if the population forgets that many black citizens were also driven by an anger that was often righteous, or one that they at least had numerous reasons for possessing it. One figure that captures that frustrated spirit is Malcolm X. Because of him, Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X is historically significant for capturing the voice of black anger. Beyond the ability to verbalize black anger, the book is also vital because it reveals the complexity of Malcolm X’s thoughts and how he was able to accept change as an important part of helping the black community. By presenting how such an imposing political and moral leader was able to find a way for his anger to coexist with his ability to be surprisingly open-minded at times, the work becomes an important resource because it helps readers realize that they too have the right to be angry at injustice, if they also

The freedom of speech protects society from the basic human right to think and express themselves freely. It also puts a limit on the government and allows them to hear people’s opinions on various subjects. Being able to freely, and peacefully, express themselves positively impacts a free society. If the resistance was violent, then there would be a higher chance of a negative impact. Not abiding to the law is illegal, but if the law is unethical then the people should not have to abide to it. Throughout history there have been numerous amounts of peaceful protests and resistances. Rosa Parks was a major weighing factor in the boost of the racial issue in the 1950s. One of the laws, then was that African Americans could only sit in the back

Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because it arouses concern and opens the eyes of law makers and others who are obliged to follow them.

In Thoreau 's essay Civil Disobedience he makes the point that bystanders are just as bad as criminals and that people should stand against unjust crimes even if it means going against the law. And to some extent I do agree because in the past people have broken unjust laws and have created change. A well-known example would be when Rosa Parks sat on the bus in the "White-only" seating area, which lead to important events that helped push the Civil Rights movement forward. But I think that it depends on which laws they choose to break and how far they choose to go with it.

During the civil rights movement, one of the main ways that MLK Jr. fought to find equality was to peacefully resist laws. During the women's suffrage movement, a way the National Women's Party (NWP)pushed to have their equality was to peacefully protest laws. Civil disobedience positively affects society because this form of protest gives citizens an outlet to try and bring great change to our society. These great changes brought to our society through disobedience help to ensure that the basic right to equality, guaranteed by the Constitution, is achieved on a day to day basis. Civil disobedience is an amazing ideal because of the power the ideal holds.

Our country was founded upon the premise of standing up for what we believe is right even if the rest of society sees it differently. From the Boston Tea Party to the Civil Rights Movement our ancestors have seen the need to stand up against injustice of both foreign rulers and an unjust government. However it can be said that peaceful resistance to laws has the greatest positive impact on free society because it leads to a change in laws by bringing to light social issues. Furthermore without the peaceful resistance to unjust laws we as a society would simply never thrive in a global and connected world.

Martin Luther King Jr. was very important during the times where African Americans were not being treated equally and being discriminated. He fought for what was right without using violence. He spread his massages throughout the world. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, activist decided to set up a boycott. This became known as the Montgomery bus boycott. King was chosen to be the protest’s leader and spokesperson. About a

During the Civil Rights Movement, King and many of his followers and fellow activists deeply followed the path of non-violent protest, otherwise known as civil disobedience. After being arrested during the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, King received a series of critiques from fellow clergymen stating their disapproval of his actions. Of course, King addressed a letter, now more commonly known as “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, to his critics as well as the nation in order to defend his ideology. Though King does a great job at explaining to his audience the essence of his ideology, he fails to address the practicality or universality of civil disobedience.

By the people being allowed to peacefully resist government programs or decisions, the people still feel like they have a say in how the country is run like it was many years ago. Peaceful resistance all shows others that you do not need to be strong or own a weapon to feel heard. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks made a perfect example of how a peaceful resistance does make a difference. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus for a white man, so she got arrested. Even though she got arrested for refusing, she showed all the other black people and white people on that bus that she was not afraid to go to jail for what she believed in. She was not afraid to stand up to two white men who ordered her to move to the back of the bus. Rosa Parks was very well known after that day because she used her freedom of speech to say what she wanted and to sit where she wanted to sit. She did not give in and let the two superior white men bully her into moving to the back. Peaceful resistance was just starting with Rosa Parks, and it continued for many years and still goes on to this

Since the dawn of human civilization, there have been governments. As a species, we have always attempted to efficiently and systematically maintain order. However it is not uncommon for those same governments to turn on the people it protects, as evidenced by the countless tyrants and authoritarian regimes that plague our history. When studying the complex subject of a free or oppressive government, it is rather interesting to look at the stark contrasts between how both of these organizations handle protests against their rules or laws. The authoritarian regime holds absolute power, meaning that nearly any form of complaint against their actions will be met with disregard, or even punishment. However in a free society in which the government must answer to the people, protests are the language of the discontent, signifying to a representative government that change is needed.