Civil Disobedience Research Paper

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Those are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, one of the great examples of a leader of a civil disobedience movement that exemplifies the way that civil disobedience positively impacted society. Lynching and bombings that resulted in deaths of African Americans were a part of daily life in addition to the fact that African Americans were second class citizens as a result of Supreme Court cases and many laws enacted throughout the United States. From a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King wrote a letter to his fellow clergymen citing the reasons why it is right to perform acts of civil disobedience. In the letter he quoted St. Augustine who said, “An unjust law is no law at all.” The Civil Rights movement in the United States had other heroes who defied authority because of unjust laws. Rosa Parks was an African American woman seated in the African American section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. When the white section was filled, Ms. Parks was asked to give her seat to a white man. She did not comply and was arrested. “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” Those words were
uttered by Ms. Parks when she was speaking about the courage it took to go to jail rather than give in to an unjust law. Examples of civil disobedience are numerous from the beginning of time up to the present.
In China in 1989, there was a growing movement for economic, political and social reform because of the overbearing oppressive style of government in China. Inflation was rampant and the government was very corrupt. Crowds, mainly college students, began to gather in Tiananmen Square to protest the government and this went on for two months. Finally, in early June, tanks rolled in to Tiananmen Square and many civilians were shot. Unlike the American Civil Rights Movement, where eventually, reforms in the laws were enacted in 1964, change in China came much slower and still needs work, but the brave souls who demonstrated and died in Beijing helped bring awareness to all the oppressed that change is
possible. Many citizens would say that it is not right to protest laws, but I assert that it is the responsibility and civic duty of every citizen to perform acts of civil disobedience when there is injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King in his letter to the clergymen reminded them that in Nazi Germany it was legal to exterminate anyone not considered to be an Aryan, but were those laws just? No! Muhammad Ali chose to not be drafted into the Vietnam War because he felt it was an unjust war. He did not run to Canada like other young men. He stayed in America and faced the consequences and was stripped of his boxing title. That was a very courageous act of civil disobedience. Acts of civil disobedience are not for the faint of heart. There are consequences for not following the law or actively trying to change a law. Those consequences could be jail time, fines, scorn from the public or even death. Henry David Thoreau said, “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be the slaves.” He also stated, “Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.” Unfortunately, those elected to positions of power can enact unjust laws that oppress the human spirit. I stand by my declaration that acts of civil disobedience bring positive attention and change and have the power to right the wrongs of injustice.