Civil Disobedience And The Civil Rights Movement

In life, there are times when the superior powers of the world make a judgment that you oppose and wish to go against and rebel in a peaceful refusal of those laws. This is the definition of civil disobedience which has been one of the many solidifying mechanisms of American government. Henry David Thoreau, writer, philosopher and political critic; Martin Luther King Jr., minister and key activist in the Civil Rights movement, and Plato, classical Greek philosopher, were some of the finest contributors to examples, philosophies and insight into the meaning of civil disobedience and were true inspirations on solidifying my own beliefs and opinions on civil disobedience. The role of civil disobedience in the present day matters just as much as

African Americans weren’t allowed to use the same public facilities as the whites, live in many of the same towns or go to the same schools and most African Americans couldn’t vote because they were unable to pass voter literacy tests. Years of this treatment and dysfunctional habitat spawned what became a will in later generations of African Americans to rebel and finally erupted in the 50’s and 60’s of the 20th Century known as the Civil Rights Movement. This ignited what became one of the largest impulses to protest in all of American culture. In 1954, the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum when the United States Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. This first major achievement of many highlighted that change was going to be made with this movement, exciting and encouraging some and angering

The story “Crito” by Plato highlights what his belief is on civil disobedience. Crito comes to Socrates at his prison cell and asks him to leave with him and run away from prison, and leave to another city. If it were any other man, I believe they would have left but not Socrates due to spending his life teaching about laws and injustices. Socrates, and therefore, Plato’s opinion on civil disobedience is more righteous and focused on the impact running away from prison would have on the people and on the land. It is Plato’s idea that it would be against the good of the land and state to run away because the land, the people, and the laws have done nothing to him but his action would cause a negative outlook from the land and its people. He also brings up to point about the laws being known as just and fair during Socrates life even though he decided to stay. These points, although seeming rather valid, are not. If a man so chooses, he may leave, he may grow, he may oppose. I believe this time period’s beliefs such as the nobility of prisoners and the ethics of having slaves was completely