Peaceful Protest In The 1960s

In light of the recent presidential election, many people fear for their freedom as restrictions on immigration, religion, and abortion rights have been proposed. As a result of this, on January 20th, countless citizens banded together across America in “Women’s Marches”, the largest of about 400,000 people at Washington, D.C. (10 Actions). At these protests, advocating for people of all genders, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations, zero arrests were made. These peaceful gatherings gained the attention and unification of many people across the country and motivated citizens to continue to organize events. At the Women’s March on San Francisco, it was said by a speaker that we are “on the right side of history”. As people continue to vocalize their disagreements with the government, change will always be made, though it may be

From Cherokee Indians refusing to abandon their homes in 1838 to the Sit-ins of the civil rIghts movement in the early 1960s, people have been using acts of civil disobedience to stand against injustice they saw in their communities. Although there are many examples of people abusing this benefit and causing more grief and shame than progress, many have used it to their advantage to bring about positive change for the greater good of society, therefore acts of civil disobedience can positively impact a free society if they remain peaceful, respectful, and justified.

Protests riots in the United States has proven to an issue for both the country’s financial strength and the unity of the nation. With the presence of social injustices, combined with the increased impact of social media propaganda, protests riots are beginning to reach an all time high. Protest riots destroy individual communities and businesses, jeopardizes the safety of others and taints the protest’s cause by resorting to civil disobedience. Action must be done in order to prevent these random acts of violence from continuing after every social hot topic. The goal is not to prevent citizens from protesting; in fact, this should be encouraged. The goal is to change the way the protests are handled from both the citizens and authority perspectives, in order to prevent these protests from escalating into something dangerous.

Civil disobedience is possibly the most influential form of protest in order to change of laws. Throughout our nation's history there have been multiple examples where the people would disobey the regular norms of society to force a change in law. Even when we started off as colonist, the people refused to pay unjust taxes on British imported goods just so Great Britain could pay for their costs on the Seven Years' War. The people or the colonist, as I should say, thought it was unfair for the them be taxed as they had no representation in England to represent the people. Another peaceful protest would be the sit-ins at Woolworth. At this event, young African Americans went to a diner and sat at the front counter. This would never happen because

In Fredericksburg in 1960 there was a protest because they still weren't letting African-Americans eat at a restaurant. Here's the story behind this. There were eight students that walked into Woodworths at 1 p.m. They took their seats as quietly as they can and started reading books but did not order. The staff suddenly put up signs saying “This Section is Closed off”. Like what the heck is wrong with those people. They can’t they just let them be peaceful and let them read their books maybe they would’ve ordered if they gave them time. The students went to each store and rotated a lot and as soon as they leave the workers reopened the counters to the whites. Like what is wrong with the blacks? The police took a look at the incident

The 1960s were about progress and community, which is evident by the near constant protests that occurred at the time. In the 70s, there was a push-back against the civil rights progress in favor of returning to a 50's esque society, promoted by the white-working class, which caused many to become frustrated and angry at the state of the country.

The 1960s was a decade full of cultural, political, and social change in the United States that saw activism in the areas of civil right and anti-war ideals. It is remembered in history as a time where many ideas about counterculture permanently changed. It was the decade where African-Americans were passionately fighting for equal recognition, where young Americans who didn’t want to conform to the ideals of their elders created their own culture, and where average Americans began standing up against what they believed was an immoral war. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the assassination of MLK, Jr., the Vietnam War, and the Kent State massacre are often discussed events from the 1960s and early 1970s. However, one area of American freedom and

On January 21, 2017, millions of women, and even some men, joined together in various cities to march for civil rights. According to the March on Washington’s official website, these people exerted their energy in union to inflict liberation, “joining in diversity to show our presence in numbers.” These citizens were unhappy with the acts and rhetoric of our current federal power holders, and they acted. People of all colors, genders, beliefs, and backgrounds joined together to uphold the rights for marginalized people. In fact, in the Women’s March’s mission they state, “defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.” As Americans, these people had the right to protest and spread their beliefs, and generated a historic event. Therefore, peaceful resistance to laws is, in fact, an imperative aspect to a free

During the mid-1960s, various racially driven riots descended upon Northern urban centers and blanketed the cities with violence and destruction. Historians have long debated the cause of these riots and whether they were actually riots, or rebellions against America’s prevalent racial polarization in urban areas. Some historians categorize the uprisings as unnecessary riots that stemmed from the increasing black militancy, ghetto residents lack of responsibility for their own difficulty, and a lack of attention towards the needs of whites. However, this claim fails to acknowledge the deep racial divisions across America and the pervasiveness of economic inequality between blacks and whites. The uprisings of the mid-1960s were a insurgence against decades of brutality, humiliation, and unfairness, rather than a riot. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a rebellion as an, “[o]pen or determined defiance of or resistance to any authority, controlling power, or convention.” The uprisings that occurred during the mid-1960s sought to defy the systematic neglect and exclusion towards blacks in a society that whites largely dominated and controlled. The riots that erupted in the mid-1960s were a rebellion against the tribulations blacks endured, specifically police brutality, de facto segregation, and economic inequality and marginalization.

America is a country that has been ominous as nation that was openly discriminating against the African-American community. The subject on what is deemed right or just was a controversial topic throughout history, mostly in regards to the black community. Peaceful protesting pertains to the setup of a just law and the emphasis in Martin Luther King Jr, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson opinions has shown that nonviolent protest is moral and highly effective.

Civil Disobedience is a practice that's being used as far back as times of discrimination against blacks in the south. Even though slavery had been completely gotten rid of in the United States, the south still hated blacks with a passion. This led to the creation of Jim Crow laws, laws that looked as though they were helping blacks but really hurt them. Blacks had finally had enough and decided they would try and get equal rights one way or another, so they started politely disobeying the laws. In the 50's, a black man named Homer Adolph Plessy sat in a white train car because of the law he heard about, "Equal protection under the law" and he was arrested for doing so. This led to the creation of the "Separate but Equal" law.

Throughout history, the citizens of America have led protests and movements against unjust actions by those in power, laws that seemed to violate one’s rights or laws that seemed to hurt or discriminate against others. These protests have been crucial to shaping the nation into what it is today.

The word resistance holds a negative diction in todays society. Resistance is seen as a taboo thing to many people because it means raising your voice when it is quiet and it is know that many don't like the noise. However, peaceful civil resistance has made a change throughout history. Although many feel like peaceful resistance is detrimental to a free society one cannot avoid the fact that does make a society more aware of issues pending in the country.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s civil disobedience was a major topic in the United States. It was a key in the battle for civil rights of African Americans. There were variations in the methods that were used during that time such as sit-ins at restaurants, freedom rides, and marches (Constitutional Rights Foundation, n.d.). These events alone may not have led to much change. However with more pressure being placed on society through this civil disobedience it assisted in creating a more equal society.

Peaceful resistance is a major part of American history, from the American Revolution to the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement to the Travel Ban protests of today. These instances of peaceful resistance shape American society for the better, as the voices of minorities are heard and unjust laws are ended. Peaceful resistance does positively impact a free society, as supported by Henry Thoreau, demonstrated by the 1960 Civil Rights Movement, and anticipated by protests of today.