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The Nonviolent Protest: The Civil Rights Act Of 1964

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While sitting in jail for nonviolent protest, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King). This message of civil disobedience defined the American Civil Rights Movement: when the law is unjust, nonviolent action becomes morally and fundamentally required. Through boycotts, marches, and other forms of peaceful resistance, the American Civil Rights Movement ultimately lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (The Civil Rights Act of 1964), a key piece of equal rights legislation that outlawed discrimination based on sex or race. Peaceful resistance to laws is the cornerstone of progress in a free society, and it is fundamental to democracy and equality. …show more content…

Constitution); Americans enjoy freedom of speech and expression, the right to assemble, and the right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Constitution). Within legal limits, Americans have the inalienable right to protest injustice and inequality. This right to protest peacefully has served as the basis for furthering democracy in America; from the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and early 1960s (The Civil Rights Act of 1964), to the recent Women’s March on Washington (Hartocollis), peaceful resistance has served as a wake up call for reform and justice. Fundamental to a free society is the ability to right wrongs, democratize, and fight tyranny, and peaceful resistance has become the go-to catalyst for this kind of positive change in

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Confront Injustice Martin Luther King Jr. was an ordained minister and one of the best known civil rights leaders. He worked very hard to end segregation and injustices in the south. While participating in a program of sit-ins at luncheon counters, the famous theologist was arrested. In consequence King wrote, “a Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which he addressed to a group of white clergymen in an attempt to demonstrate the justices of his views. Within the letter King describes an unjust law as, “a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself” (259).

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On July 02, 1964 , Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited against people discriminating against another because of their skin color , so everybody was treated equally. L.B.J he became president after John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963 and L.B.J took office the next day. He finished what J.F.K wanted and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Political means some did it for votes or for something and principle means the person did something because it was the right thing to do. Why did L.B.J sign it was, it a political decision or was it a principle decision?

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¨Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”(King 582). Martin Luther King Jr was a civil rights activist who fought for civil rights; he wrote to eight white clergymen in jail. King got arrested for fighting for African American rights. King was very passionate and emotional about civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. suggested the idea of people having a moral responsibility to infringe on unjust laws.

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Based on “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., king state that “A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the laws”. This shows that unjust law that it’s justifiable to break because unjust law impact an minority’s right. Thus, show non-violence can achieve true freedom in society.

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In the article “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. responds to clergymen who described his civil rights activities as “unwise and untimely”. Dr. King argues that while just laws should be obeyed, unjust laws aren’t binding because they go against decent morality and they degrade human lives. He explains the three-hundred-year struggles by African Americans to gain their basic rights and responds to criticism of being an extremist for trying to force change on this matter. Ultimately his reasoning is that those attempting to find a resolution to the injustice and unequal laws of the land should not be punished if they are doing so nonviolently, even if they break some just laws. I argue in favor of this idea that unjust laws

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Johnson believed in the civil rights act of 1964. Using what he had witnessed before he became president he knew the civil rights act needed to be activated. Civil rights were a legal entitlement to the people of the United States which granted everyone: the right to vote, no segregated schools, freedom of press, etc. Why did LBJ sign the civil rights act? Many believed Johnson signed the act because of politics, but in reality he actually signed it because of principle, he witnessed kids who were discriminated against, logic even says LBJ was pushing towards integration just right, he believed in the act from the beginning, only, he wanted the states to have a say.

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“It does not matter if these people are different genders, races or have different religious beliefs. As long as they are citizens, they have equal rights.(What are Civil Rights)” This quote shows where people would like to be somewhere in the near future. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 were several events that lead to the end of segregation of African Americans. The Civil Rights Acts were acts to show people that it doesn’t matter your skin color, or ethnicity, but that everyone should welcome each other as equals.

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Prior to 1865, the United States was a country laden with slave labor, and after Lincoln’s death had come an end to slave labor with the ratification of the 13th amendment. Before the amendment was passed, however, nearly half of the United States had legally allowed slavery and the slaves, African-Americans with a history tracing back to capture, shipment, and sale during the slave trade, were considered less than human. For the almost 200 years since colonists had first started to inhabit the United States as a dependency of Britain and nearly 100 years since the country had gained independence, the social structure of the United States had granted African-Americans no right other than to be property, traded as slaves, and forced to do labor. This social structure had been ingrained in American society and this ingraination had not simply disappeared with the abolition of slavery. The Civil Rights Movement worked as a “struggle for social justice” (“Civil Rights Movement”), especially during the 1950s and 1960s, for African-Americans to gain justice in the country, whether it be against legal, social, or economic discrimination in American society.

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