Civil Disobedience And The Civil Rights Movement - 881 Words

In Thoreau s essay Civil Disobedience he makes the point that bystanders are just as bad as criminals and that people should stand against unjust crimes even if it means going against the law. And to some extent I do agree because in the past people have broken unjust laws and have created change. A well-known example would be when Rosa Parks sat on the bus in the White-only seating area, which lead to important events that helped push the Civil Rights movement forward. But I think that it depends on which laws they choose to break and how far they choose to go with it. Honestly though, I would not want to break the law even if it were unjust unless it was greatly affecting my family or the people I care about because I would rather not risk going to jail or losing everything that I have. There s also the fear of losing respect and not being able to find a job. In Henry David Thoreau s essay Civil Disobedience, he says, I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trus ted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only... (Civil Disobedience, 12). After going to jail he had lost the people around him, they no longer treated him the same. He did not commit a violent crime, he just refused to pay his taxes and was labeled a criminal. If his friends could treat him differently because of that, then imagine how employers would look at him. But, if there were ever a time when I needed to break a law to protect my familyShow MoreRelatedCivil Disobedience And The Civil Rights Movement867 Words   |  4 PagesDuring the Civil Rights Movement, King and many of his followers and fellow activists deeply followed the path of non-violent protest, otherwise known as civil disobedience. After being arrested during the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, King received a series of critiques from fellow clergymen stating their disapproval of his actions. Of course, King addressed a letter, now more commonly known as â€Å"Letter from Birmi ngham Jail†, to his critics as well as the nation in order to defend his ideology. ThoughRead MoreCivil Disobedience And The Civil Rights Movement1099 Words   |  5 PagesWhat does it mean to be civil disobedient people have many different interpretations of it? To be civil disobedient is to refuse to follow certain laws or to not pay any taxes or fines. It is a form of peaceful political protest you are trying to get someone s attention, in this case, the government. You are trying to make them listen to you and when they do not listen you do not do what they say. That’s what Thoreau did he grabbed their attention the only way he knows how he criticized their policiesRead MoreThe Role Of Civil Disobedience And The Civil Rights Movement1503 Words   |  7 PagesRanging from peaceful marches to powerful acts of civil disobedience, not only in the United States but in Central American countries such as Nicaragua. This being said, civil protests and peaceful demonstrati ons were not necessarily more successful in exuding change than pieces of legislation but moreso acted as a catalyst for social change, leading towards legislation that would positively impact those who protested. The concept of civil disobedience and peaceful demonstration acting as a catalystRead MoreWhat Makes A Breach Of Law An Act Of Civil Disobedience?1383 Words   |  6 Pagesact of civil disobedience? When is civil disobedience morally justified?† These are the basic questions that are asked when dealing with civil disobedience. According to John Rawls, civil disobedience is a nonviolent breach of laws by the public in order to reform or change laws or government policies. But Rawls’ concept of civil disobedience is too narrow. This raises many questions. Why should civil disobedience be non-violent? Why does the public play a large role in civil disobedience? This paperRead MoreThe Need For Civil Disobedience Essay1287 Words   |  6 PagesTo grasp the meani ng of Civil Disobedience one would have to say that it means the refusal to obey the civil laws so that the government can change the policy or legislation, characterized by the use of. I have read Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience and the obligation that your conscience mind follows and in reading this it states that people should not let the governments overrule or atrophy their consciences and that we as people are obligated to not allow the government to make them agentsRead MoreAffirmative Case : Civil Disobedience1328 Words   |  6 PagesAffirmative Case: Civil Disobedience Mahatma Gandhi once stated, â€Å"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.† Because I agree I must affirm the resolution that reads, â€Å"Resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified.† Affirming achieves the value of ‘morality,’ defined from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary as,† The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct† My value criterion is a legitimate government for all. A democraticRead MoreEssay on Civil Disobedience1532 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Civil disobedience is the term assigned to actions taken by individuals to sway public opinion about laws that individuals deem unfair or unjust. Actions taken are usually nonviolent, and can include sit-ins, mass demonstrations, picket lines, and marches. Citizens are acting on their consciences, demonstrating highly advanced moral reasoning skills. Generally, these advanced skills fall into Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development, Stage Five and Six in particular. Characteristics ofRead MoreCivil Disobedience And The Apartheid1428 Words   |  6 Pages Throughout history, civil disobedience has been used to bring about change across a wide variety of civil rights issues. In India, Mahatma Gandhi used civil disobedience to nonviolently protest against the British Raj and, after a thirty-year struggle, earn independence both for himself and his people. In the United States, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. employed civil disobedience to overcome both the Jim Crow laws that had oppressed the African-American minority and the systemic racism that wasRead MoreCivil Disobedience: Cost of Change1469 Words   |  6 Pages2013 Civil Disobedience: The cost of change More than 40,000 strong activists from the Sierra Club protested at the White House to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal. They protested because they the extraction of tar sand oil and moving it from Canada to Texas will pollute the groundwater in the surface (Hammel). Civil disobedience is â€Å"the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power† (Civil Disobedience). ThroughoutRead MoreBreaking the Law or Civil Desobedience Essay example1642 Words   |  7 Pagescreate a just, moral change. Whenever a law is deemed unjust, there is good reason for breaking it to achieve justice. Civil Disobedience will never be legal and those who employ it should be willing to accept the penalty that comes with breaking a law. It has been shown through historic cases, modern examples, and the core values of a democratic society that show Civil Disobedience not only works, but should be used as a tool to demonstrate the moral objectives that are being sought. Considering some