As kids people get taught what is wrong and right from a parental figure or experiences of life teach us how to react to different situations. When we finally turn adults no one is there to remind us of what’s good and what's bad so we have to use our past experiences and our knowledge to help guide us. Each adult shapes their societies for their generation and many more generations to come. Mohandas k. Gandhi and Susan B Anthony’s speech along with the article Selma to Montgomery March on history show that civil disobedience is a moral responsibility. For example civil disobedience is the moral responsibility of each and every single citizen because they are the second and largest half of what makes up a state and in order to keep the balance in power people have to fight for what they believe is correct. Gandhi claims that no state is possible with the rulers nor the ruled, both parts have to be present to make a state. …show more content…
When Martin Luther protested an fought for the right of the colored people he did in a nonviolent way but the rulers did not use the same method. According to the article Selma to Montgomery March “The marchers didn’t get far before Alabama state troopers wielding whips, nightsticks and tear gas rushed the group at the Edmund Pettis Bridge and beat them back to Selma.” The ruled risk getting punished harshly but that doesn’t take away their responsibility. It is the citizens duty to create a safe and equal environment for everyone. “You are our sovereign, our Government, only so long as we consider ourselves your subjects” (pg.176). Citizens can’t be managed by the rulers in everything they do. They have the power make great changes to better our communities and even though they may get punished they can't let fear control then. They can't neglect their responsibilities and have to assume their
The controversy over whether every citizen, regardless of race, should have the right to vote was one that was not taken lightly. On March 15, 1965, President Johnson delivered a speech a week after the Selma to Montgomery March regarding the racially induced violence that arose. His speech was very similar to the speech Dr. King would later deliver regarding what he believed the resolution should be. He thought that all Americans should have the equal opportunity to vote. On March 25, 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. stood up and made a speech regarding the Selma to Montgomery March, also.
“Selma to Montgomery”, a report written by Chuck Stone in the February of 2000, is about African Americans marching together to Montgomery to fight for their equal rights. Even after the freedom summer in 1964, blacks remained unable to vote, but it wasn’t very long until a new project took action. A march across highway 80 from Selma, Dallas to Montgomery was the plan. It took a great deal of courage and determination for them to go through with it, especially since the people of the white race caught them and forced them to halt multiple times, making them end their march. Alabama state troopers confronted the people of colour at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, during their first attempt to march “The troopers began to push them back; marchers
Martin Luther King Jr. once stated that, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Dr. King, a strong leader during the Civil Rights Movement, heavily enforced civil disobedience to defy racist Jim Crow Laws through sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and many other operations. Many of these actions often led to bloodshed and violence. One particular group, the Black Panthers, manifested their ideals through committing harmful actions. They carried arms on themselves whilst patrolling areas looking for instances of police brutality.
Martin Luther King Jr once stated, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” in his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. He was invoking the principle of civil disobedience. He wasn't justifying breaking laws just because, but instead, meant that you break the law and accept your punishment, in hopes that people will come to see that the law is unethical. Civil disobedience plays an important role in how our society has been shaped up until this point.
Once the citizens start to feel oppressed, a change in the law becomes essential to preserve their freedom. To do so, citizens must rally together and protest until the issue has been remedied. The process of peacefully and nonviolently resisting laws considered unjust in order
I remember that day in Selma, Alabama. I was 12 years old. I watched my parents get beaten with night sticks, and strawn out on the ground, laying there being trampled. Equal rights was all we wanted, all we have ever wanted, so we all took a stand.
Peaceful protests challenge and demand change from society’s injustices in a nonviolent manner. Injustices provoke the responses from average citizens to set forth a new era of equality. Conducted in a nonviolent manner, peaceful protesting seeks the unification of communities to battle injustices. The unwarranted treatment of African Americas in America prompted the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement provides some of the most memorable demonstrations of peaceful protesting.
The wise Martin Luther King once said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” (“Martin” Brainy). Martin Luther King was a very persistent person that saw all of the effects of racism, and was well know for his civil disobedience activities that helped him change the way others looked at racism. Martin Luther King, Jr’s involvement in civil disobedience was due to personal influences, he chose to participate in civil disobedience to protest racial inequality, and he did achieve success using this controversial method of standing up for what he strongly believes to be right. Civil disobedience is when a person or group protest a law
Many movements from the eighteenth to twenty-first century have proven that civil disobedience can be an effective method to garner support in an attempt to come closer to true justice and equality so that, eventually, all will be equal as intended..
The Power of Emotions “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This is a well-known quote is the artwork of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. whose speech at the “March on Washington” in 1963 rang throughout the United States of America. At the time, society had disregarded Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to end segregation, continuing on with hatred and oppression aimed at those of the Black community. However, Martin Luther King refused to accept being a bystanding within the minority and created a movement to change the course of history forever. His goals were simple; freedom, unity, equality, but his determination
The expression ‘civil disobedience’ was created from Henry David Thoreau. He used this term to refer to his choice to escape paying a state tax that would supply a war in Mexico. It would also carry out the Fugitive Slave Law. This essay is commonly referred to today.
Peaceful civil disobedience can be traced back to the abolitionist movement. Specifically, the American-Anti Slavery Society denounced slavery as a sin that must be abolished immediately; and endorsed nonviolence while condemning racial prejudice. Consequently, their acts positively impacted a free society. Even during the country’s infancy as a democracy, President Abraham Lincoln understood that the basic principles of democracy existed because “it is the people, not the government, who are
Civil Disobedience Shaping our Society: Then and Now Civil Disobedience has shaped not only the society we live in today, but all around the world. According to Thoreau’s essay called “Civil Disobedience,” he describes “That government is best which governs not at all.” Citizens have acted in different ways to try to make a change while accepting the consequences that come with it. Civilians have a chance to act voluntarily and to have a chance to make a change in their free society that will have an effect on future generations. Civil disobedience is necessary and it is a positive impact because it changes laws that are unjust, it has proven to be successful in history and modern times, and it forces the government pay attention.
Civil disobedience can change the world in this day and time. By definition, civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws and to pay taxes and fines in a peaceful form of political protest. In the past, revolutionists and abolitionists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Harriet Tubman have used civil disobedience to advocate for change in their communities. Civil disobedience is an important action to change the world today because millennials have the available resources and willpower to do so, a law can still be considered immoral, and there is a history of success when this method is used. This act of protest can still be used effectively in today’s time if used for the appropriate reasons.
“One Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” powerfully concludes the American pledge, an oath declaring to the globe our unique commitment to uphold these righteous ideals. Unfortunately, as a result of human error, even a government founded upon these righteous principles may waver from the administration of justice and require redirection by its citizens. Through amendment of the Constitution, the founders allowed for this avenue of change, but unfortunately, historical events reveal this process often remains inaccessible. Consequently, individuals express their legislative discontent through two methods: Violent Revolution or Civil Disobedience. To avoid both regression into barbaric anarchy and maintain the principles