A protester is defined as someone who publicly demonstrates strong objection towards something in particular. If a great amount of people show their resentment towards a certain thing, there could be protests about anything. In both of these passages, “Waiting for Dan” and “A Letter Home,” there was a substantial amount of protests that were happening. In the story “Waiting for Dan” a great deal of people were constantly protesting the Freedom Rides that were taking place in the time of the Civil Rights Movement. In “A Letter Home” there were many protests and acts of defiance going on amongst a small group of students at Kent State University because they were outraged about U.S. soldiers invading Cambodia. While reading both of these passages, …show more content…
For instance, in “A Letter Home,” there were many students who were infuriated with the U.S. soldiers who had invaded Cambodia. To show their feelings, the students held protests. “A day or two after that, some young people burned the ROTC building on campus and set some bonfires downtown. I heard that police cars were hit with bottles and store windows were broken” (2). These students wanted to show their hatred for what the U.S. soldiers were doing, and the protests that they conducted were very intense and could have potentially been violent. They were not going to sit around and keep their opinions to themselves, and they decided that they needed to do something to show how outraged they …show more content…
Firstly, in “A Letter Home,” there was only a small group of people who caused all of the outbreaks while in “Waiting for Dan,” it is indirectly suggesting that there was a numerous amount of people who protested the Freedom Rides. In “A Letter Home,” it specifically states that there was only a small group of people who were protesting. “Only a small group of people caused these outbreaks of violence” (3). It was not like the whole school was constantly defying the police and National Guards. It was only a small amount of students and other young people who were causing all of this trouble. In the story, “Waiting for Dan,” although it does not directly state how many people were protesting, the story is still suggesting that there was a substantially larger amount of people who participated in these protests. “...two separate explosions of violence. An angry crowd mobbed one bus...the other bus was firebombed” (6). If there was only a small number of people who were protesting the Freedom Rides, it would not be possible for there to have been this much of a crisis. This quote from the story tells me that there had to be a very large group of people who were involved in this protest. This is one difference between the protesters in “A Letter Home” and “Waiting for
Others protest that has had an effect on America since the Amendment was ratified are protest against war such as Vietnam and Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Civil Rights Movement, and more recently the protest of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. Also the many strikes and pickets labor union have been involved in through out history. There are differences among these gatherings. The most striking difference is typically if the protest is violent or non-violent. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Henry David Thoreau referred to the use of civil disobedience. In the movie, ?Breaking the Spell? protesters felt they were not being violent since the items they damaged belong to big business.
A Civil Rights leader and a member of a religious organization, Cesar Chaves in his article “He Showed Us the Way” (1978) suggest that the correct way to protest is through a non-violent protest than a violent one, because many people would rather see a problem be solved without violence than with violence. Causing mayhem to property or/and livestock is defying the message that he is trying to put out to the world, also why would someone join a protest if the protesters are just harming or destroying innocent people’s property or/and livestock.
The authors are using credentials and conclusions of someone to vouch for their argument. For example, Lukianoff and Haidt explain that public figures like “Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Maher have publicly condemned the oversensitivity of college students, saying too many of them can’t take a joke”. By public figures explaining the relevance of college campuses and how attention must be increased strengthens the argument, because it is bringing attention to the issues of freedom of speech. Lukianoff and Haidt also provide examples of events being canceled, because of protests. Based on a TV commercial an event was canceled because the “’program [was] dividing people and would make for an uncomfortable and possibly unsafe environment’”. This example shows how many events, words, subjects, will cause discomfort to people causing them to be canceled. However, the examples provided shows how many people are missing out on positive learning experiences. By showing examples, it strengthens the argument by allowing the reader to realize campuses are harming students and their experiences to
Civil disobedience was key in the pursuit of equality for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Through forms of peaceful protest, African Americans were able to bring to light the socio-economic inequalities they faced and forced the government and general public to do something about it. Sit-ins, one method of practicing civil disobedience, took root in the early 1960s and quickly became a popular and effective form of peaceful protest. James Baldwin makes a very brief note of sit-ins in his essay “Down at the Cross”. Its brief mention is probably due to the time at which the essay was written, just before sit-ins became a national phenomenon. At first glance, one may think that Baldwin doesn‘t think much change will happen from the sit-in movement. However, the urgency to take immediate action as described in his essay hints toward sit-ins as being a possible solution to ending discrimination in public spaces.
As Dr. King stated in Letter from A Birmingham Jail, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. I must confess that I am not afraid of the word, tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive tension that is necessary for growth. The purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.” Such as in the case of the 1969 student site-in against the Vietnam W...
Interestingly, it was not the protest itself that sparked the beginning of what became known as the free speech movement. Rather it was the reaction of the media and the government that encouraged the support of students throughout the country. What was intended to be a peaceful protest was portrayed to the country as evidence of a vast “communist plot.” Dubbed as “operation abolition,” a video of the protest was released, supposedly showing how the communist were now using students to achieve their means. The plan backfired; students were attracted to Berkeley by the droves, with a new sense of determination in tow.
Likewise, violent protests raise awareness in a negative and oftentimes irrational light. Following the tragic shooting of Michael Brown in the fall of 2014***, countless riots shed light on a new twist on a century-old issue; race in America. The man shot was an African-American, unarmed, young adult. He was shot by a white police officer who believed the young man to be a threat to his safety. His death became the catalyst for the modern Black Lives Matter movement’s stance on equality in American justice systems. While the movement places an emphasis on a need for change, much like Martin Luther King did in the 1960’s, the mass riots from Ferguson, Missouri to Baltimore, Maryland contradict civil disobedience. The riots caused hundreds of vandalisms, countless injuries of police officers in both cities, and created fear for the movement. Awareness for the issues were raised because of this movement, but the violent initial spark of it derailed the solid proof of the need for change. This further proves the necessity that civil disobedience is on a free society; peaceable expression of views has a heavier weight when it comes to altering the course of a
In Document D, Abraham Lincoln talks about how men should do the right thing and protest. This relates to today’s society because multiple people protest for what they believe in. Some examples today are women’s rights, LGBT rights, and police brutality. The Novel, Cry the Beloved Country is related to document D because people protest for cheaper bus rides. In the book, when Kumalo and Msimangu were going to catch a bus to Alexandra, but they were stopped by Dubula. He said, “If you use this bus you are weakening the cause of the black people. We have determined not to use these buses until the fare is brought back again to fourpence”(pg.73, Patton). Both examples explain how people are protesting for the right thing.
For example in "A Letter Home" the protesters were angry that the U.S. army invaded Cambodia. In the letter it states "even before a shot was fired yesterday, the feeling on campus was anything but normal. Many students were outraged when they heard that U.S. soldiers had invaded Cambodia on April 30. A day or two after that, some young people burned the ROTC building on campus and set some bonfires downtown. I heard that police cars were hit with bottles and store windows were broken"(2). This shows that many protesters were brutal because of their anger towards the soldiers, and they were trying to teach them a lesson. In "Waiting for Dan”, many colored people and people like Dan rode the buses as protest to the unequal treatment of African Americans. In the excerpt it states "before he left, he justified his decision by saying the Freedom Ride would bring the race issue to the forefront of American politics"(7). Dans courage shows that he was willing to stand up for his rights, no matter the
America was getting out of hand and becoming the bully of nations. The responsibility that individual students had to encounter and resolve social problems “was the permeating and victimizing fact of human degradation, symbolized by the Southern struggle against racial bigotry, compelled most of us from silence to activism. Second, the enclosing face of the Cold War, symbolized by the presence of the bomb brought awareness that we ourselves, and our friends, and millions of abstract “others” we knew more directly because of our common peril, might die at any time.” They had to resolve these problems of racial degradation and war by using their voice. So, they had protest what they thought was right to resolve the social problems.
The Free Speech Movement was a college campus phenomenon inspired first by the struggle for civil rights and later fueled by opposition to the Vietnam War. (The Free Speech Movement) The Free Speech Movement sparked an unprecedented wave of student activism and involvement, one of such a great multitude that the college administration had no idea what to do with this entire activist, fighting and protesting for the same cause. (The Free Speech Movement.) With the administration not knowing what to do they banned all on campus political activities, out of fear that something bad was going to happen. (The Free Speech Movement) With this ban on political activities on campus a alumni of Berkeley set up a table right in the center of campus proper, with political information. (The Free Speech Movement) An Oakland Tribune reporter found out that this political activity was taking place on the campus proper; when word reached the camp...
They were not protesting anything in particular, the purpose of the protest was to unmask themselves to show that they are normal people. Since they went out in front of millions people and acted this way people lost
There are many similarities and differences between these two short stories, “A Letter Home” and “Waiting for Dan”. One similarity that these two short stories have is that they both take place during a certain time were two groups of people were fighting with each other. Another similarity that these two short stories have is that they both talk about a character not being home during protesting. One difference between these two short stories is that they both take place during two different times. In the short story, “A letter home” this story takes place during the Vietnam War. This year would be 1970. In the short story, “Waiting for Dan” this story takes place during the Civil Rights Movement. Another difference between these two short
Today, there are many stories of protests all across the world. Although it is not thought about during the protest, they may be following Thoreau’s way of protest. Martin Luther King had a very similar situation to Thoreau. Likewise, Ghandi also went through some of the same experiences just in a little more violent way. Thoreau had many beliefs about Civil Disobedience and the way things in government and society should work. He had certain beliefs and ways about going about them. Thoreau thought that we the people needed a government that was better for us and would help. He believed that governments that were expedient were the best kinds of governments. Thoreau has been known to have many different parts of his protest, which still influence on many people today.
Walkout; what is a Walkout? According to the website Dictionary.com, it defines the term walkout as “the act of leaving or being absent from a meeting, especially as an expression of protest”. Some people may say it is an act of retaliation, and others may say it is standing up for what you believe in. A walkout it is not only an act of leaving, it is a form of expression. People who are involved in a walkout bring attention or raise awareness for a certain issue that is taking place. That’s what happened in 1968. A group of East Los Angeles students walked out, in order to have their goals met by the L.A.U.S.D School District, which was, a better education for the Latino community.