Civil Disobedience Thesis
Civil Disobedience
In the 1960s, America was going through a new set of political and consciousness movements, where people rebelled, protested, and demanded what they though it was their right to have. However, some protestors, especially in the African American community, where seeking a new transformation and a change in consciousness, by fighting for segregation, unemployment, and poverty by using non-violent civil disobedience, while others supported self-defense and their right to bear arms to fight. This period of time not only brought transformation, but also a difference in opinion and social change.
Civil disobedience is known as the refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government. One of the biggest and well-known leaders of the civil rights movement that implemented non-violent civil disobedience is Martin Luther King Jr. he stood for passive resistance while using the weapon of love. He strongly believed that love was something strong and powerful that has direct action, …show more content…
that instead of turning into violence, “we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” (King). He preached to the black community that in order to rise from the dark and walk upon the path of racial justice, everyone must pull themselves out of the segregation with persistence, patience, intelligence, thought and discipline . King’s beliefs were based upon standing within his constitutional rights to protest without using the physical force. Although, many of the black community stood with King, there were many others that stood against non-violent civil disobedience and supported self-defense.
This was mainly due to the big influence that Malcolm X had on the African-Americans Muslim community. Malcolm X is known as a human rights activist leader that rose up in this period of time, and supported self-defense. He did not only opposed King’s ideals, but also influenced the black community to protect themselves, even if it is necessary the use of violence. While working with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, he preached to the black community “we have the natural and civil right to defend ourselves against violent people” (Malcolm X), where blacks had to come together and fight against their enemy, an enemy that has violently oppressed their rights and that it was their turn to fight back with violence
.
Even though, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were strong leaders of the civil right movement, and they believed on what they preached, based on the best way to enforce the 14th and 15th amendment rights of blacks and every American citizen. They opposed each other extremely, since one was against violence and the other one supports it, as one supports the ideal of unity and integration while the other one believes in separation of races. But most importantly, even though they both wanted to protest to make a statement on racial equality, their views and beliefs in morality and courage to stand against segregation impacted differently the community and later “alter the course of history in a way that inspired other groups to press for equal rights”(Mintz).
In the 1960s, America was going through a new set of political and consciousness movements, where people rebelled, protested, and demanded what they though it was their right to have. However, some protestors, especially in the African American community, where seeking a new transformation and a change in consciousness, by fighting for segregation, unemployment, and poverty by using non-violent civil disobedience, while others supported self-defense and their right to bear arms to fight. This period of time not only brought transformation, but also a difference in opinion and social change.
Civil disobedience is known as the refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government. One of the biggest and well-known leaders of the civil rights movement that implemented non-violent civil disobedience is Martin Luther King Jr. he stood for passive resistance while using the weapon of love. He strongly believed that love was something strong and powerful that has direct action, …show more content…
that instead of turning into violence, “we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” (King). He preached to the black community that in order to rise from the dark and walk upon the path of racial justice, everyone must pull themselves out of the segregation with persistence, patience, intelligence, thought and discipline . King’s beliefs were based upon standing within his constitutional rights to protest without using the physical force. Although, many of the black community stood with King, there were many others that stood against non-violent civil disobedience and supported self-defense.
This was mainly due to the big influence that Malcolm X had on the African-Americans Muslim community. Malcolm X is known as a human rights activist leader that rose up in this period of time, and supported self-defense. He did not only opposed King’s ideals, but also influenced the black community to protect themselves, even if it is necessary the use of violence. While working with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, he preached to the black community “we have the natural and civil right to defend ourselves against violent people” (Malcolm X), where blacks had to come together and fight against their enemy, an enemy that has violently oppressed their rights and that it was their turn to fight back with violence
.
Even though, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were strong leaders of the civil right movement, and they believed on what they preached, based on the best way to enforce the 14th and 15th amendment rights of blacks and every American citizen. They opposed each other extremely, since one was against violence and the other one supports it, as one supports the ideal of unity and integration while the other one believes in separation of races. But most importantly, even though they both wanted to protest to make a statement on racial equality, their views and beliefs in morality and courage to stand against segregation impacted differently the community and later “alter the course of history in a way that inspired other groups to press for equal rights”(Mintz).