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Social Protests And Its Impact On Society

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Over the past centuries, social protests have played a key part in American society. Throughout these past recent one hundred years there have been social protests for gender equality, racial equality, voting rights, education rights, and human rights. As society is evolving, social protesting has become a major part of our lifestyle among younger and older generations, and are beginning to happen quiet frequently. With these constant protests, like the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Anti-Abortion Movement, comes the ever present issue of violence and non-violence, and whether violence in protests is beneficial or completely unnecessary. In order for a protest to be effective, a non-violence approach is necessary, because violence diverts attention away from the main claims of the social protests themselves. Violence can be defined in many different ways. The Oxford Dictionary defines violence to be “behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something”. However, I don’t necessarily agree with this definition entirely. I believe violence is a combination of acts against someone or something that induces physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering. This means that violence doesn’t always have to be physical. Violence can be abusive words and threats, that used consistently can harmfully damage someone’s mentality and emotions. In many instances where violence in protests have occurred, physical force is usually the main source

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