Protest Movements In America

The demographics of protesters are widely varied, representing the racial breakdown of the country almost perfectly. Those that are engaged in the public outcry but are not directly affected by the recognized public issue are likely to be engaging in social solidarity. Social solidarity refers to the ties in a society that bind individuals as one group. Émile Durkheim defines it as a social cohesion that is based on the dependence individuals on one another (Durkheim 133). Durkheim further classifies solidarity into two types, mechanical and organic. Mechanical solidarity is largely based on social cohesion stemming from the homogeneity of individuals. People form bonds through having similar lifestyles, and those lifestyles are often based on the kinship ties of familial networks. This would be the type of solidarity more likely to be undertaken between members the African-American community in this situation. Organic solidarity is generally found in more complex and less homogenous social circles. In this type of solidarity bonds are formed based on interdependence among complementary members of a social circle as opposed to homogeneity. This is the type of solidarity that can be seen most readily among the outraged public as a whole. We see many different demographics represented during these protests. Suburban

The activists feel like this disruptive protest is needed in order to disturb not only the public but to disturb politicians and people in high places. They feel like in this way they will grab the attention, sympathy, and support of citizens and will force politicians to face these issues and propose solutions to them like police reform and will also remind the police force and all other authorities that they are aware of these injustices and that they are never ignored (Mather).

Protests have long been an essential part of American life, employed to to draw attention to critical issues,events, and injustices. Ranging 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 demonstrations 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 catalyst can be examined mainly through the protests during the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and the Sandinista

The idea of civil disobedience is one that has fascinated human beings and American culture specifically for generations. The idea of brave men and women going beyond the bounds of the law to fight whatever injustice stands in their path is one that has been frequently romanticized. However, today many are beginning to become disillusioned with the idea of civil disobedience, questioning whether or not today’s social activists are capable of any real change, as many issues such as widespread poverty or race relations seem to go unredressed. The distinction between the political protests in history that are idealized and those seen today which seem relatively ineffective is simply the ability to communicate. Movements that effectively communicate

Protest in the Austin area is very intense right now. Many students from schools in East Austin, have gone to protest in name of all immigrants. To prove their point, that they believe that immigrants have a great impact in the United states. Students from Del Valle High School, LBJ High school, Manor High School and a few other school’s walked out of their school and walked down to city hall to protest. And they did it , to prove that they too have a voice and a choice in the things that happen in society in the future. Immigrants,and Citizens from all over the U.S have united together to prove what “ a day without immigrants” looks like. All over the nation they have united and protested “USA, No racism, No KKK, No trump”. This includes citizens whose parents are immigrants. Parents who brought their children to this Country for a better future are all of a sudden being discriminated and treated poorly. And it has brought together citizens that support the hard wolk of immigrants and many have been protesting. On february, 16, 2017 a lot of jobs went on strike to

Now is the time the nation needs to come together, but the people are separated. People are too busy arguing over the Republican and Democratic parties and race. Kneeling for the national anthem because they want to make a statement that not all lives matter, but black lives matter and their president are, “not their president”, is disrespectful to the people who fought and who died and their family. The NFL football players should not have the right to protest during their job, they should protest on their own time.

It is said that there is strength in numbers. This statement shows a lot of truth, as it has been probed time and time again throughout history that more can be accomplished together rather than separately. One way that people can work together to make a difference is through protesting.

“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority” (Benjamin Franklin). Protesting is a popular way people in society question authority. It is questionable whether or not questioning authority improves a society. Many people believe that questioning authority enhances society , while others think that it may lead to the complete opposite.Society is enhanced when people question authority by protesting because it has the power to raise awareness on issues in order to provoke changes in legislation, but others think that by doing so people only create disruption and violence.

Some may disregard the protests to be pointless and worthless, but this type of activism initially created the country over two hundred years ago and continues to be a core idea that Americans should value. Past demonstrations such as the March on Washington or protests for women’s suffrage show success both socially as they spread awareness but politically as well. Making that distinction is essential in order to show people the importance of why protests should be respected. If protests currently make a social change, it is difficult to see at the moment until people reflect on the era in history. On the other hand, political change represents the thoughts of the people in a more substantial manner that causes others to consider the issue

Protest can take many different forms, including expression, conversation, reflection, removing oneself from a situation, and the form most often illustrated, explicitly fighting against something. All forms, however, engage in the same goal: confronting an authority, whether it is a system, a certain ideal, a person, a group of people, etc. All forms are platforms in fighting against something/someone (the two are usually intertwined) in power. Derrick Bell protested against a bigoted and unlawfully undiversified Harvard law faculty by taking a leave of absence and inevitably removing himself from the institution all-together, Grace Lee Boggs confronts authority through creating an open platform for others to converse, express and reflect,

In recent years, a wave of activism has swept across the nation in volume unheard of since the 1960s. Peaceful resistance has become somewhat of a rite of passage for young people, with protesting for or against various causes being treated as vogue in a similar vein to other more traditional youth activities such as attending nightclubs and going to concerts. Strikingly, the youth culture has both normalized protest and come to encourage it, similar in peer-pressure to smoking or underage drinking. Older adults who are undeniably disconnected from most of the youth culture partake as well, albeit to a smaller degree. This scenario raises the question: is this societal shift towards peaceful resistance and activism a positive one? The answer

Politics has become an aspect of our daily lives with the heavily charged political climate that we experience nearly every day in the recent years. Social media, news, and other sources of information has become more accessible to most people that live in the United States, with this access of information as well as easy access to neighbors, or local members of cities and states, protest or marches have become more easily managed and organized. Already we’ve seen several major protests and marches that have spread across the country, including Anti-Trump Marches protesting his inauguration, the most recent March for Science to promote scientific research, and the Women’s March for equal rights. These movements have been sparked with recent

People want to participate in protests to be united, defend their opinions, make society better for all citizens. Protests are most effective when they don’t discriminate and stand up for themselves.

The groups who fought the early battle for recognition and treatment of AIDS formed a protest movement similar to those involved in the fight for women’s suffrage, and for civil rights. The consensus of authors like Herbert Spires and Mirko Grmek is that a strong, organized civil disobedience protest movement was necessary to combat the general apathy towards AIDS from both the government and from the medical community. However, there was some disagreement about this civil disobedience from people like John W Toomey. Additionally, the protest movement itself was divided into two factions, gay men on one side, and women and minorities on the other. Each had disparate experiences with that AIDS community, and each disagreed on the focus of the movement. In the end, both factions’ utilization of mainstream protest methods, along with civil disobedience, had a major effect on AIDS research and lead to life-saving changes in the treatment of individuals living with AIDS.

The second sociological concept I will use to analyze the protest is collective conscience. Collective conscience is a functionalist view of the society. This concept was introduced by Emile Durkheim. It is defined as a group of people of a society who shares religious beliefs, ethics, and attitudes (Keirns, et al., 2016). An example of the concept collective conscience being evident in the protest was when the people in Sacramento, California came together as one to protest, sharing the same beliefs, attitudes, to aim for change and justice. If the people in the movement did not share the same belief or attitude, they all would not have been at the Golden One Center interlocking their arms, or on the five freeways protesting holding up signs.