How Did The Civil Rights Movement Contribute To Civil Disobedience?

Civil Disobedience means to peacefully refuse or comply with specific laws you personally do not agree with, and accepting the consequences by not following said laws. Throughout history you see Civil Disobedience from great people such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, “later in life” Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela. Each of these great historic people contributed to Civil Disobedience, trying to equalize African Americans in a Caucasian set world.
As a whole our instinctive feeling is to divide up things that are different, one of those things being race. But because of Civil Disobedience, American History was able to change for the better and bring down those divided walls. Martin Luther King Jr the Civil Rights Activist used Civil Disobedience his whole life. Trying to break barriers that separated African Americans from Caucasians. He had people gather for sit-ins, peaceful protests that involved walking through the city with people of all color. He was arrested for all of these acts that disobeyed the law. But instead of acting negatively because of the racial slurs, crosses being burnt on his property, and the occasional raids to his church and home he accepted the consequences of trying to spread peace. An since he didn’t give up, the walls broke down and African Americans started to be treated equally,
all thanks to Civil Disobedience. Rosa Parks was known for not moving her seat on the bus to allow a Caucasian man to sit there.
A lot of people seem to forget that Rosa Parks was already sitting in the African American section of the bus which went with the law. But, because a Caucasian man had nowhere to sit and Parks was in the first row of the section, they asked her to move. Knowing she was in the right and with the law, Parks declined and refused to move. This lead to Parks arrest and started the Montgomery Bus boycott. This specific boycott had people of all color walking to and from wherever they needed to go. They knew the law was in the wrong and decided to protest against
it. Malcolm X’s later years showed him supporting Civil Disobedience. After hearing that his mentor Elijah Muhammad didn’t follow his own teachings and committed adultery, Malcolm X knew he had to find his own path and started a religious pilgrimage. When he came back he was a completely different man. With new refreshed religious beliefs, he pulled away from Black Muslims. Hearing that Malcolm X pulled away from Black Muslim community, the community took their anger out on him with firebombing his home. Even though the firebombs were overly dangerous he did not retaliate he continued to try to spread his words of peace. Even though his later years were shortened by his assassination his act on Civil Disobedience helped shape American History. Civil Disobedience not only shaped American History but also other Countries around the world. Nelson Mandela the South African Activist was a multi-ethnic/multi-religious leader that was sought out by many people. Mandela was the leader of Southern African peaceful protests, and armed resistance against autocratic white minorities that divided Southern Africa. After a new leader in Africa restricted non-Caucasian basic rights, Mandela started to lead protests. These protests were through boycotts, civil disobedience, strikes and other nonviolent methods. In 1952 Mandela also lead a campaign for Defiance of the Unjust Laws, which lead to his and several others arrest for treason. After being tried for treason Mandela was sentenced to around three decades in jail. Mandela's protests gave other South Africans a chance to help and get their basic rights back. Civil Disobedience was not only used in the World’s History, it’s incorporated into today’s situations. After a serious terrorist attack in France 2016, they decided to ban Hijabs due to the fact the terrorists religion involved this specific headpiece. Muslims living in France did not appreciate that they were being stereotyped alongside terrorists because they practice the same religion. So inside of acting violently or with anger they wore their Hijabs. They knew that religion wasn’t the cause, because they themselves weren’t terrorists. So, the only was to prove it was to peacefully show that the head garment held no threat. Peacefully rejecting/protesting a law and accepting the consequences is what Civil Disobedience is about. Through American and World History, Civil Disobedience has helped shape the world today. Peacefully protesting and trying to make things simple and equal for everyone is what Civil Disobedience is for, turning a negative situation into a positive outcome.