Most Effective Way of Fighting for Human Rights and Freedom

Peaceful protesting does little in the world of making change, so the best way to successfully fight for human rights and freedom is through violent means, but only specific violent means. The four forms of violence are sabotage, guerrilla warfare, terrorism and open revolution. Sabotage is the best way to proceed violently, because it causes no injury or loss of life, while the others result in murder and the opposite of peace between the two opposing sides. Lethal weapons make temporary power of the country, but non-lethal weapons make permanent change and peace in the end.

Peaceful protesting is not the answer when arguing for human rights. This is shown through the event of the Sharpeville massacre. On the 21st of March 1960, between 5000 and 7000 indigenous workers, including women and children, assembled at a local police station demanding to be arrested for not carrying their passbooks. The protestors were very peaceful and positive, they were not expecting the police to lash out, so they were almost in high spirits and enthusiastic. Instead, the police where intimidated by the large crowd and made a point to scare them off. At the start they only ordered jet aircrafts to intimidate the crowd from above, and then sent in armoured cars. In the end, the police open-fired on the crowd, killing sixty-nine people and wounding 180. In this picture (see last page) you can see the chaos at this event, and policemen beating the blacks, including women and children. After this event the South African government band the ANC. This is when the ANC decided that all their efforts for peaceful protesting were doing nothing to protect them, or helping them achieve human rights and freedom.

Lethal weapons and harmful violence were used by the National Party to enforce the Apartheid, and this did not work at keeping peace at all. Harmful violence caused many consequences such as all other countries forming a trade embargo against South Africa. Other countries disagreed fully with the apartheid, so in a form of protest they took out all commerce and trade with South Africa. This ruined the South Africans economy. They were also band from other things, such as international sports like the Olympics. It is also shown through the ANC’s non-lethal weapon violence that it created peace, while the South Africa NP government caused the opposite of peace, and constant fighting. If it weren’t for Nelson Mandela’s good heart, the white people would now be suffering for the way the made the black people suffer in the past. Nelson Mandela said, “I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent,” and this is the reason why the harmful violence had not been payed back to the white community of South Africa. The white South African community used violence throughout the entire apartheid, and still lost in the end. This shows that lethal weapons caused nothing but pain and trouble, and will always end badly.

There is one form of violence which works for achieving human rights and freedom, and that is the non-lethal form of sabotage. Nelson Mandela made this clear in his speech at his trial in 1964. He said, “Sabotage did not involve loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Bitterness would be kept to a minimum and, if the policy bore fruit, democratic government could become a reality.” He chose this way of proceeding into protesting because it was non-lethal, no one was going to be injured, and it meant there was hope for peace in the future and a possibility of a democratic nation. But, they could also damage the economy by doing this and get their human rights and freedom. The apartheid ended because of the economy struggles thanks to Umkhonto we Sizwe, “Spear of the Nation.” Umkhonto we Sizwe or MK for short, came out of the ANC, founded by Nelson Mandela, and launched all of the sabotage attacks. MK enforced the struggle of the economy and forced the National Party to give in, and to give them the human rights and freedom they wanted. Sabotage was the only form of violence which enforced changes for South Africans by getting them human rights and freedom, because it is non-lethal and it ensured a possibility of peace between the two sides in the future.

Out of the four forms of violence, sabotage is the best way to proceed when protesting because it did not involve harm or injury to anyone, and it had the possibility of a democratic government in the future, and peace between the two sides. While lethal violence caused lots of harm and grief, and hate between the two sides. On the other hand, peaceful protesting made no effect on the National Party and left them defenceless from the police. Overall, sabotage was the most beneficial way to proceed, for a peaceful now and a peaceful future between the opposition.