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Civil Disobedience Dating back as long as history started, there have been disagreements and people fighting for what they believe in. In the United States, civil disobedience can go back to 125 years ago in 1893, involving Gandhi’s first real protest with Native American rights. Small actions that started with someone like Gandhi have shaped America and many other countries into our nations that we have today and the laws that are in place. Civil disobedience can be described as the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. One major action of Civil Disobedience of course dealt with the civil rights movement in the 1950s through the 1960s. One that has currently come into light …show more content…
They haven’t had the rights and freedom and equality that they deserved. Back in the 1800, a smaller civil rights movement occurred, this partially leading to the civil war that freed slaves and made them citizens, and supposedly gave them the right to vote; which wasn’t always the case. Things didn’t start to get better for African-Americans for a little while after the ‘60s movement. Most of the protests and sit-ins that were held, weren’t violent due to the protestors; but to prejudice people and government officials. Due to leaders such as MLK and Rosa Parks, they were taught that violence from them wouldn’t solve their problem, but only make it worse. Martin Luther King once said himself that “Mass Civil Disobedience can use rage as a constructive and creative force,” this statement is saying that just not being violent and aggressive can show less than if you were calm and peaceful, King believed that stupidity and ignorance does not show your real power, as he also said “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Considering that the mind can be a very powerful thing, I agree with King in both of his statements, inciting violence never really wins in the end. This act of civil disobedience relates to Selma because this was in Selma, and King led a protest in Selma for the right to …show more content…
At first the law that made abortions legal, was back in 1973; although it’s been in place for some time now, more people are protesting to get abortions illegal or at least put restrictions on the law. This type of civil disobedience has not only existed in the United States, but in places all over the world, although these protests are about making restrictions or completely banning abortions. Many people have tried to show civil disobedience by using the word of God and the commandments of the bible. A classic text is Proverbs 31:8: “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless”, also commandment number 6, says “You shall not murder”, these verses and commandments from the Bible relates to Selma. In instances like Selma, they were meeting in churches, holding meetings, and even preaching about how these members of the KKK or other groups like that, we're not following the word of God and were fighting for their God given rights. In Romans 2:11 says “For God does not show favoritism”, this is saying that those prejudice had right to say they were not all equal; or attempting to take away their rights in the United States. People all over the work are fighting to save lives and show civil disobedience while doing
During the time of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr., freedom for African-Americans was relative terminology in the fact that one was during slavery and the other during the Civil Rights era. “Civil Disobedience,” written by Thoreau, analyzes the duty and responsibility of citizens to protest and take action against such corrupt laws and other acts of the government. Likewise, King conveys to his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” audience that the laws of the government against blacks are intolerable and that civil disobedience should be used as an instrument of freedom. Both writers display effective usage of the pathos and ethos appeal as means to persuade their audience of their cause and meaning behind their writing, although King proves to be more successful in his execution.
In the great era of foundational philosophers, two stand out, Plato and Thoreau. Each had their own opinion on various topics, especially on civil disobedience. Plato’s life span was approximately 428-348 BC. Plato wrote numerous works throughout his lifetime, however we will be focusing on one, the Crito. Thoreau’s life span was 1817-1862. To help us determine what civil disobedience means to both of these philosophers we will first look at a general definition. According to Merriam-Webster civil disobedience is defined as “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” This definition will act as a springboard to compare and contrast both of their thoughts on the topic. We will determine, according to Plato and Thoreau, when we are called to engage in civil disobedience and when the moral parameters of civil disobedience are pushed too far.
On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, explains that civil disobedience is the act of standing for your beliefs even though they are against the law. Thoreau goes on to say that the government (because it is ruled by the majority) is not always right for everyone especially the individual and the minority. Over the course of American history, there have been many different groups formed for the purpose of civil disobedience. The two that I am going to focus on are the activists of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers of the Black Liberation Movement. The Civil Rights Movement began in 1954 with the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. It was basically lead by Martin Luther King Jr. whose teachings were of peaceful protesting and boycotting in order to achieve the goals of integration and equality for Black Americans (Small). The Black Liberation Movement started a few years later in 1960 and was later taken over and popularized by the Black Panthers in 1966. The basis of this movement was not just black equality but also black independence by any and every means necessary. The Panthers wanted blacks to be in control of their own neighborhoods (Acoli). These two protest movements had similar but at the same time very different platforms. The difference their effectiveness was caused by the difference in the techniques.
The Civil Rights Movement was a series of actions that really peaked in the 1960's. These political actions were aimed at gaining rights for African Americans. However, there were two ways of going about the movement. There were ones who protested peacefully, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and others who wanted a more pro-active way of fighting, like the black-rights activist Malcolm X. However, which way was more proactive? Even though both had great intentions, Dr. Martin Luther King had a better way of trying to achieve rights for the African American community.
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
...y, and also fidelity to the law. Acts of civil disobediences are aimed to defend principles of justice. In King’s case he aims to persuade the local government and the businesses to comply with desegregation laws. It was important for him to communicate fidelity to the law. You should lovingly break a law, because your reason behind protesting to to achieve what you see as a higher good. You are not directly hurting the people. King’s argument ultimately is you can break the law to make the law more just. You are attempting to break the law to show that the law is unjust, and it is an act of saying that the law can be made better than it is now. He’s gathered his facts and understanding of the law, it is 100% clear there’s a problem. For civil disobedience to be justified a real injustice must exist, or else it wouldn’t addresses a sense of justice of the majority.
In our country’s history, Civil Disobedience has had positive effects upon legislation and societal norms. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states five basic forms of expression that are to be protected by the government: Speech, Press, Assembly, Religion, and Petition. The Founders, in essence, created a means by which the average citizen can achieve political and social change. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. stated in 1989 that, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government cannot prohibit the expression of an idea simply because the society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”* When citizens speak out or
In recent years the issue of abortion has sparked some civil disobedience in an effort to repeal the laws allowing abortion, by using sit-ins, prayer, etc. outside of the clinics. Some within this group feel they have the right to use any means necessary to stop the killing on unborn children by attacking Dr’s who perform abortions or bombing a clinic. They feel that a violent approach is the only way to solve a problem.
Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means. The use of nonviolence runs throughout history however the fusion of organized mass struggle and nonviolence is relatively new.
By definition, civil disobedience means to actively refuse to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence (Wikipedia 2007). Many of the influential people in history have felt passionately about what they believe. These passions caused them to rebel against a government or authority. Many times they felt so strongly about what they believed and how they were being treated was wrong they became disobedient. They would take physical and verbal abuse for being disobedient but would never retaliate. They believed in what they thought was wrong and tried to change the way they were governed. Albert Einstein once said 'never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.' Albert Einstein's views seem to be reasonable. The claim by Albert Einstein is accurate because people should stand up for what they believe, they should know when they are right and their government is wrong, and they should trust in themselves and their own beliefs.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that sometimes laws were unjust. In these cases, King would first attempt negotiating with those who were proponents for the unjust issues or laws. If the negotiations were found to be unsuccessful, King would arrange non violent direct action. Antigone on the other hand, didn’t attempt negotiations, she believed that in certain cases, civil disobedience was necessary, and would do whatever was necessary to do her part of doing what she felt was just.
Throughout history, changes and movements have come in many different and unexpected forms. One form of change, disobedience, has continued to dominate the others in terms of effectiveness. Some of the greatest alterations made to the world have stemmed from some form of disobedience, such as the founding of the protestant church under Martin Luther and English Reformation. Often, the disobedience resulted from conflicting religious beliefs and interpretations of religious works. The history and formation of the United States of American provide an example of how disobedience shapes a nation. Disobedience of unjust laws, based on divine authority, laid the foundation of the American identity.
Civil disobedience is a form of non-violent direct action and respectful disagreement. Martin Luther King Jr. is most famous for his role in leading the African American Civil Rights Movement and using non-violent civil disobedience to promote his beliefs. He strongly believed that civil disobedience was the way to eliminate racial segregation against African Americans. While leading a protest march on the streets, King was arrested and sent to jail. In jail, he read an article written by a group of clergymen arguing against King’s acts of civil disobedience, saying that racial segregation should be negotiated in the courts, rather than in the streets, and accused King of causing unnecessary tension. In response to this, King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail, explaining that racial segregation is an injustice that affects everyone. In his letter, King lists his own criteria for acts of civil disobedience. In 1859, a white man named John Brown attempted to launch a series of slave revolts by raiding an army arsenal in Virginia. His motivation was to inspire a revolution to end slavery. Brown planned to gather groups of slaves throughout his raid to further carry out series of revolts. John Brown’s raid on Harper Ferry in 1859 meets many of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s standards for direct action and should be regarded as justified acts of civil disobedience.
The act of civil disobedience existed for a long time, dating back to the Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and early Christians. The height of the civil rights movement was the 1950’s to 1960’s. During this time period, many activists fought for racial equality and rights. Civil disobedience was practiced by these people who fought for racial equality and rights. Martin Luther King Jr. and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mocking Bird used civil disobedience as an act of fighting back against injustice in order for a better society. These two people, Martin Luther King Jr. and Atticus Finch, of the time of the 20th century practiced civil disobedience in the name of justice.
At the time, Selma was populated by 15,100 Negroes and 14,400 whites, a probable place to start such a cause. The protests began when Martin Luther King Jr., and a couple of other people, registered in a white hotel. James Baldwin was there. However, when more blacks tried to register, they were arrested by the county sheriff. This resulted in marches and protests. One of the first riots involved around 400 demonstrators who were dispersed by state troopers. During the protest, one man, Jim Lee Jackson, was shot and killed, presumably by a state trooper. (“Central Point” 23).