Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his Letter from Birmingham jail in April, 1963, that “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” The government tries its best to give all American citizens freedom and equality. The problem is, it is not possible to please all people. When the government passes a law, they often do it to help the majority of the population and the other part of the community is left unsatisfied. In our democracy, the majority rules within Constitutional limits. The Bill of Rights, especially Amendment I, exist to protect minority rights and allow freedom of expression. Since many citizens feel that the government does not listen to them, they feel as though they need to protest to make their voices heard. Occasionally, vandalism and destruction have occurred because of unhappy citizens wanting their voices to be heard. Because its goal is to keep violence at a minimum, I believe peaceful resistance to laws …show more content…
On August 28, 1963, A. Philip Randolph led more than 200,000 black and white Americans in a peaceful protest vying for freedom and equality for African Americans. The March, ending in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, was a key moment in the growing struggle for civil rights in the United States. Even after this show of protest, African Americans still endured years of disillusion and racial strife. Nevertheless, this march still represented a declaration of hope, of belief in the democratic process, and of faith in the ability of blacks and whites to work together for racial