“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,” -Martin Luther King Jr.
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” -Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr, one of the most well-known civil rights activist in American history. He opened people’s eyes to the horrors of racism and segregation. His protests and speeches caused ripples to spread throughout a country plagued by white supremacy. However, he didn’t cause these ripples to spread by smashing windows or burning buildings in chaotic riots, he did it buy peacefully
…show more content…
Where African-Americans used peaceful protests and marches to demand equal rights and treatment. No matter how big or small, these demonstrations put pressure on our government to make serious changes, and these changes shaped our country into what it is today. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was riding the bus when she was ordered to give up her seat to a white man. She refused, resulting in her immediate arrest. This sparked a year long protest known as the Montgomery bus boycott. African-Americans refused to ride busses in Montgomery until something was done about the situation. In 1956, more than a year after Rosa Parks’ arrest and the beginning of the boycott, the U.S supreme court ordered Montgomery to integrate the bus system. This is just one example of a successful peaceful protest during the movement. On August 18, 1963, the most famous event of the civil rights movement took place, the march on Washington. Over 250,000 blacks and whites marched the capital in support of the Civil Rights bill. Martin Luther King Jr. also delivered his infamous “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. This protest, like the other, proved to be successful in 1964 when congress passed the Civil Rights Act which legally ended segregation of all public facilities. These protests made the government and the people question their morality which eventually created the essential changes our country needed. Thus, The United States fulfilled the demand of its constitution which states “all men are created