More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay on civil disobedience
Racial discrimination during the early 20th century
An essay on civil disobedience
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: An essay on civil disobedience
To accomplish social equality and justice has been a long controversial issue in U.S. history. Voting Rights Act of 1965 should be understood as a tremendous accomplishment today because it not only represent a symbol of the triumph of fighting social injustice, but also open the first gate for African American and minority to strive for more political power in order to create a “great society.”
Civil Disobedience is an important moral responsibility of a citizen, however it should not get to the level of illegal activity under any circumstances, because great reform can be brought peacefully not violently. In the title named "On Civil Disobedience" by Mohandas K. Ghandi once said: “No country has ever become or will ever become, happy though victory in war”(Mohandas K. Gandhi , 148). Even that long ago, when war was at high, and people embraced it, he knew that the only thing war brought was death, and depression among civilians. This method of civil disobedience has only resulted into more wars, and no real solutions. The most efficient way to the be civilly disobedient is to be peaceful, but willing to stand up for your cause.
People's justification to engage in civil disobedience rests on the unresponsiveness that their engagement to oppose an unjust law receives. People who yearn for a change in a policy might sometimes find themselves in a dead end because their “attempts to have the laws repealed have been ignored and legal protests and demonstrations have had no success” (Rawls 373). What Rawls says is that civil disobedience is a last option to oppose an unjust law; therefore, providing civil disobedients with a justification for their cause. Civil disobedience is the spark of light that people encountered at the dead end and they hope that this spark of light will illuminate to show that an unjust law should not exist at all. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his “Letter from
The Fifteenth Amendment granted African-American males the right to vote in the late 1800s. However, through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, southern states were able to effectively discourage African-Americans. It was not till 1965, almost a century later, that the Voting Rights Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson; enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment. But acquiring the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an enduring task for African-American citizens and supporters. A perfect example is “Bloody Sunday”, where a group of activist, in their attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama protesting for the rights of voters, were beaten and left for dead of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
When King was 15 years old, Morehouse College (the same that his father and grandfather had attended) offered opportunities for anyone to join if they passed the entrance exam. King passed it, and so he became a freshman in college. He didn’t really know what he was working towards at first; he lost interest in becoming a preacher because the way his father preached brought displays of emotion that made King feel uncomfortable. He felt like it robbed religion’s dignity when people shouted “Amen!” or “Hallelujah!” throughout the service.
Not only does a vote serve as a person’s voice, electing representatives who represent all the people’s issues and goals help modify the community for the better. Unfortunately, these opportunities were not given freely to African Americans. Jim Crow Laws implemented various types of tests and methods to deter Black people from voting. For example, before being allowed to register to vote, most southern state voting officials enforced that Black people “pass literacy tests or recite the Constitution” (Pendergast 121). This method was highly effective because the majority of African American people were not taught how to read or write during slavery and therefore did not pass.
All of these people are practicing what they think is civil disobedience differently and for different purposes therefore they cannot be a port of the same group. On page 56 it says that civil disobedients are “organized minorities, bound together by common opinion, rather than by common interest.” These five people do not share a common opinion, they all just want the war to stop for different reasons. Each one of these people is wanting the war to stop for their own self-interest. For example, Mary is against the war because her taxes are being raised and Tom is against the war because it has been going on for too long, and there is no chance to win.
If the march didn’t happen the voting rights act would never have been signed, and African Americans still be denied their right. So the march from Selma to Montgomery was a big part of the civil rights movement because it lead to the voting rights act and it gave people
The stark contrast between the fight for freedom abroad and the realities of racial discrimination at home sparked a renewed determination among African Americans and their allies to dismantle segregation and secure their voting rights. In addition, the tragic murder of Emmett Till also propels the progress of the Voting Rights Act by addressing the pervasive issue of
However, until today, African Americans still couldn’t get their real voting rights. This act doesn’t totally infer this situation, no matter how industrious blacks demand their completed fundamental rights. Except African American, within the United States, many minorities have struggled for their rights for many years. It is necessary for a government to protect all citizens’ rights, including the minorities. If the government couldn’t do that, as a citizen, we should speak out our perspectives by participating in the voting
Civil Rights Leader, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., in his speech, “Give Us the Ballot”, emphasizes the importance of African American suffrage and urges many groups of people to do what they can to help this cause. King’s purpose is to inspire the black community to fight for their right to vote through nonviolent protest. He adopts a tone of urgency in order to encourage action from the African American audience, as well as from politicians, white northern liberals, and moderate southerners. Martin Luther King Jr. begins his speech by vilifying the institutions which disobey the Supreme Court’s decision to allow black people to vote and by expounding how the newly enfranchised African American community will vote to make changes in the
The greatest revolutionaries of the United States of America, both past and present, answer to values, principles of American culture and widely-accepted beliefs. They do not answer to laws. The belief that obedience to laws is a sign of patriotism is deeply flawed in the fact that the original patriots of the thirteen colonies were everything except obedient to their government. In the ideal democracy, the core values, moral justices, of the people will be reflected in the laws of the nation. When a split in laws and moral justice occurs, it is the right and obligation of the people of said nation to act as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson; it is their duty to disobey.
Today’s Dreamer In today’s society, people seem to rely on others more than they rely on themselves. People have seemed to lose sight of the actual important things in their lives such as self reliance. This is important because if a person is unable to rely on themselves then it will be more difficult to rely on others. America today is a country based upon people willing to help others.
All human beings know about civil disobedience, some have even witnessed it throughout history. Civil disobedience is the act to fight for your rights. But there are different kinds of civil disobedient acts. One way is to simply oppose the law without breaking it. One could also break the regulation in order to make a difference.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” These astonishing words that Mahatma Gandhi said made me suppose that Civil Disobedience is a Moral Responsibility of a citizen because when breaking certain laws, a citizen perhaps incorporate a good intention or a bad intention for breaking it. Citizens break the law occasionally to have their beliefs be heard so change can be assemble. Some ways that Civil Disobedience can be a Moral Responsibility would be breaking the law for the right intentions. An example of breaking the law for the right intentions could be The Salt March that Gandhi Created or, Rosa Parks standing up for her beliefs about her actions, MLK wanting equal rights with caucasian. Illegal Immigrants coming into the
