In the 1800's, Britain's rule over the Indian people was oppressive. Several attempts were made to influence and alter the Indian culture including forcing English to be taught as a primary language along with creating laws that banned specific muslim practices such as sati, which allowed a widow to be burned to death on the funeral pyre of her dead husband. As they continued to change their culture, movements such at the rebellion of 1857 fought to object to these new rules. These were all violent protests often created by military personnel who in many cases were the main participants in these movements. These protests resulted in thousands of dead and injured people and the impact of the movement was minimal with barely any change.…
Mahatma Gandhi employed a campaign of peaceful resistance in the first half of the twentieth so that India could be independent from Great Britain and possess institutions that protected the rights of Indians. Some years later, American civil rights organizations continued this approach, organizing sit-ins and marches to force governments to change policies that discriminated against African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that civil disobedience,“seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue”. It uses the power of the people to force institutional action. Civil disobedience tactics can be just as effective today, just look at Cedric Herrou a French farmer who illegally transported African migrants into France for humanitarian reasons.…
Peaceful defiance of laws effectiveness is all in the eye of the beholder. If done correctly it can bring attention to the movement in a positive light. However if it causes to much of a nuisance to people that do not support the cause it will receive much opposition. The most effective peaceful defiance of laws in my opinion would be the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s. With their leaders they perfectly blended the ability to get their word out with complying with others to achieve what they wanted. Now at the time their tactics must have been a nuisance, but that is why it worked so well. They implicated many plans that involved people of all age and even all race to make people see how badly they were beimg treated.That is unlike…
Nonviolent struggle has been utilized countless times throughout the history of civilization. Contrary to popular belief, many of the world’s greatest wars are fought free of violence. Nonviolent actions offer an alternative approach to conflict resolution; one that does not resort to literal war and prevents blood shedding. The motivation behind these struggles vary, but the desired outcome is always to promote or prevent a change. Conflicts are diverse, and typically they are concerned with social, economic, ethnic, religious, national, humanitarian, and political matters (Sharp, 2005, p. 15).…
In 1961, President Kennedy meet with representatives of CORE and other Black organizations to strategize a new way of fighting segregation. Although the President’s interest was only to reduce the negative attention the movement was bringing in the eyes of the international community, the suggestion of registering Black voters empowered the African American community. With the funds provided by the Federal Government, the SNCC strategized making voter registration their top priority. The Southern Regional Council established a new Voter Education Project in Atlanta. Through this projects, field representatives such as Medgar Davis and Robert Moses were able to help register many Black voters. Notwithstanding the progress, this new strategy…
Peaceful resistance is impossible, especially in this modern society. Peaceful organization turns to riot even when good intentions are present. Inaction and guiltmongering do nothing to help society. It is sad to see people who believe they are doing all the good in the world turn to these methods and use violence though convinced it is really peaceful. "Peaceful" protest accomplishes nothing. American government is predicated on this. The only things that change are violence and political action. Asking nicely saved nobody, and the American Revolution is proof of this. The colonists asked for a long time for fair representation in Parliament but no change came and, in fact, increases in taxes and injustices happened. It was not until the injustices came to a head in gunfire that there was a change, which was an overthrow of the British Empire and the Americans took control of their own lives and governed themselves. Peaceful resistance did nothing.…
African-Americans have been oppressed since their arrival in America in 1619. Due to their differences in physical characteristics, Whites considered them an inferior race and therefore treated them as property, disregarding their human rights. After many years of exploitation and abuse, in 1791, slaves on the small island of Hispaniola revolted against French rule and successfully gained their freedom in 1804. It gave hope to African American slaves who, in turn, decided to stand against their masters and gain their freedom. Every one of those rebellions was extremely violent. They were so passionate about the cause and have been oppressed for so long that they targeted anyone that was white: men, women and children. In Donn C. Worgs ““Beware of the Frustrated”: The Fantasy and Reality of African American Revolt”, the author examines African Americans’ need to use violence when it comes to revolting against their oppressors. On an opposite note, in “Civil Rights Success and the Politics of Racial Violence”, Joseph E. Luders emphasizes on the positive effects on nonviolent protests. Both authors justify these opposing strategies while making some valid points. This research paper will examine the strong arguments of both Worgs and Luders while attempting to understand how each strategy has individually shaped the mind of African Americans in today’s America.…
“Civil disobedience is a form of protest in which protesters deliberately violate a law” (suber). It is a way for society to reform itself to reflect its current values while maintaining its fundamental ideals. Some may argue civil disobedience is a “slippery slope” leading to anarchy or it cannot be justified in a democracy. Civil disobedience, while not optimum, is a way to accomplish change with the intent of reform and stabilizing communities.…
Throughout our history as a free society, countless nonviolent protests have arisen as a means to try to create change. Peaceful protest is not a new concept, even in America. Henry David Thoreau, a Transcendentalist writer in the 19th century, refused to pay taxes because he did not support the Mexican War. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau claims that so many men today blindly follow the government’s wishes and that “in most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense.” Peaceful protest is a way for men to “be men first, and subjects afterward,” expressing their opinions and acting as a catalyst for change in a free state. Without peaceful resistance, there would be little diversity of ideas; the government would control all policy without much regard to minority opinion, and scant progress would be made. Peaceful resistance is a means in which citizens are able to influence the laws and encourage progress. From Thoreau’s time to now, civil disobedience, to put it in Mr. Thoreau’s terms, has played a positive and necessary role in…
How would you have felt if you were born back in time during discrimination and the civil rights movement? Many people’s rights were diminished throughout history. However, people such as the civil rights activist fought for their and future generations rights. Civil rights activist had a sole method throughout their fight against discrimination, and that is the use of nonviolence. Furthermore, in order for civil rights activist to achieve their goal, they used certain paths such as the purpose of nonviolence, nonviolence strategies, and the “Six Principles of Nonviolence.”…
Peaceful Protest and civil disobedience have been a hallmark of change from the early 20th century onwards. Though nonviolent efforts, multiple civil movements have peacefully broken a law in order to protest an injustice of said law. Usually done in a coordinated manner by a large group of people, these protest have been strikingly effective in bettering the systems they have set out to change. Peaceful resistance is therefore one of the most effective ways of protesting and correcting unjust and broken laws, and is a staple of free society.…
Significant changes to society are difficult; a great change is usually brought about by a major event. Occasionally, changes can be brought upon peacefully; but most often the changes which are violent are more commonly known. The Civil Rights Movement used a variety of nonviolent methods; whereas what may have sparked this movement (The Attack on Pearl Harbor) was a brutal.…
Its commonly said that you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette. The same can be said that you’ve got to break a few rules to create social change. Oscar Wilde once said “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” He means that humanity created social change through the actions of disobedience. His claim is supported by many historical events like the American revolution, the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for women’s rights.…
boycott of the buses. This was an extremely successful form of protest during The Civil Rights Movement. The first day of the boycott having been successful, King, E.D. Nixon, and other civic and religious leaders created the Montgomery Improvement Association—so as to continue the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The MIA managed to keep the boycott going for over a year until a federal court order required Montgomery to desegregate its buses.…
A five year old gets killed by the force of a water hose that ran his head directly to a post. There is a lot of protesting that goes on every single day that have people that are willing to take a stand for what they believe. A free society believes that the freedom they have to hold power is what helps them fulfill their potential. It is unbelievably ridiculous that even children are put at risk for protest. These protest are used to be nonviolent; however, there is no guarantee that this will not be put to the test. There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone saying that there needs to be a change because that person has taken the time to recognize that the world needs to make improvement. Equality is not something that can be eliminated. It will always be present because the way that someone is comes from their experience. With this, peaceful resistance might show the worst cruelty and what kind of…