Preview

How Does Peaceful Protest Affect Society

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
500 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Peaceful Protest Affect Society
Peaceful Resistance can be defined as such, a practice of achieving goals through significant protests. These protests are to promote a social change and are non-violent. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. lead many peaceful protests in the 1960s. One of the most famous protests, the March On Washington, was lead by King. This symbolic protest was where King gave his acclaimed "I Have a Dream" speech.

One of the key factors to obtaining a free society is freedom of speech. This gives members of a free society the right to voice their opinions and peacefully protest. Peaceful protesting has positive impact on a free society. Without peaceful protesting, a free society would not truly be free. Peaceful protest has showed a tremendous impact on our country. The peaceful protests have done more
…show more content…
They believe that peaceful protests can easily turn violent. An example of this is the Baltimore Riots in 2015. The protests that turn violent are often started because of a violent event. Baltimore riots occurred when Freddie Gray was violently pulled into a police van. This protest was not meant to be truly peaceful. This also happened with the Ferguson unrest in Missouri. Michael Brown, an African American man, was shot by a white police officer. These protests may have turned violent, but the ones that stay peaceful are symbolic. Without peaceful symbolic protests, our country could still be segregated. Protests were a vital component in the Civil Rights movement.

Peaceful protests are known for their effectiveness. They may take longer to achieve the desired goal but are much more effective than violent protests. True non-violent protests are designed to avoid turning violent.

A free society is built on protesting. America's history has justified this. Even if it turns violent, the protest calls attention to the subject. Peaceful protests shape our society and are crucial in a free

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Peaceful resistance to laws does positively impact a free society. The Boston Tea Party of 1773 and the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1st, 1955 are both great examples of that. The british continuation of placing taxes on tea was the reason the Boston Tea Party first began. Angry colonists chose to dress themselves as Mohawk Indians (to not get recognized as they got on british tea ships) to dump thousands of pounds of tea down the Boston Harbor. Even though they were unfortunately punished after this by the british, it resulted in being one of the main reasons why America wanted independence from Britain and in the end were gladly able to achieve that! This brings me to the next point, Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was arrested for not approving…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Martin Luther King led his followers, he taught them protest with respect and dignity. Martin Luther King once said, in regard to his nonviolent approach, “Violence, as a way of achieving racial justice, is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.”(Cassutto, 2008). Martin Luther King grew up in a religious family. He comes from educated parents that taught him to be…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against racism during the Civil Rights movement in order to fight for equal rights for every race and end discrimination against African Americans. During the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), there were many acts of civil disobedience, which led to violence and even deaths of the protesters. There were also many nonviolent protests, such as sit-ins, marches, and speeches, to get people’s attention so that their voices would be heard and their desires fulfilled. Martin Luther King believed in the nonviolent approach to gain the rights he desired because in his opinion, it was the most powerful weapon against any enemy. In the midst of a nonviolent protest on August 28th, The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes a very memorable rhetorical appeal in front of millions of people for an end to discrimination against blacks and segregation of people with different skin tones.…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It depends on certain situations whether peaceful resistance to laws can have a positive impact or have a negative impact on a free society. Majority of peaceful assemblies can give the group of activist their freedom of speech and views towards something they believe in. Famous public figures like Claudette Colvin and Rosa Park's civil disobedience had a powerful effect on the world. Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move her seat for a white men while sitting on a segregated white bus in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1st, 1955. Similarly, Claudette Colvin found herself in the same predicament and she was declared the first woman to have that sort of refusal or peaceful resistance towards bus regulations back then. Even though they both knew their views were going to get them into serious consequences with the Jim Crow Laws, they spoke their views and truths about the world during that time. In Rosa Park's situation, fortunately her civil disobedience was a "peaceful resistance towards the law." Nothing seriously got out of control, too violent, or too extreme and to foreshadow when it did; the people of the African American community just stood back up and refused to let the world shut…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr.’s protest was unwise and untimely. This is untrue due to the fact that it was necessary to protest peacefully against an unjust law. According to the passage “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in lines 36-38, Dr. Martin Luther King JR. says, “ I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what is happening in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This proves that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s protest was not unwise and untimely because if injustice is not served it affects everyone and their equality. Also, as it states in the text “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in lines 141-145 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says, “For years now I have heard the word “wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with parsing familiarity. This “wait” has almost always meant “never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists that “Justice long delayed is justice denied.” This also proves that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s protest was not unwise and untimely, because by justice being denied it made African Americans take action into leading a peaceful protest against racism and discrimination. Also in the passage “Speech at the March on Washington” society believed that it was normal to discriminate against African Americans. Despite what society believe it is iniquitous to discriminate a person because of their race. Furthermore, as it sates in…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The definition of a protest is a statement or an action that expresses disapproval or objection of something. Of the three that we went over in class; Socrates, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X, the one whose position is the most effective in protesting and showing that he does not approve of the current way of living, is Malcolm X. Malcolm X has a no nonsense attitude about what to do with an unjust law or situation. He uses the “any means necessary” approach to the situation where he believes that you not only can, but also must do anything and everything you can possibly do to get what you need as opposed to the other means of protesting from Socrates, persuasion, and Dr. King, non-violent direct action. The views from each of these…

    • 1978 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Peaceful resistance to laws is a positive impact a free society because for example like Rosa Parks she helped the colored people a lot. She fought for what she thought was the right thing to do because the colored people were being pushed around without having their ideas spoken out. She was taken out the bus she was riding in because she didn't want to move from the seat she was sitting in and she was pushed out the bus and was told a lot of bad racist things that I don't think any one deserve to hear. A lot of people back then were being pushed away because they were from color and like the blacks they had to go to different schools then the white, they had to drink from a different water fountain, or had to go to different restrooms. The…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mahatma Gandhi employed a campaign of peaceful resistance in the first half of the twentieth so that India could be independent from Great Britain and possess institutions that protected the rights of Indians. Some years later, American civil rights organizations continued this approach, organizing sit-ins and marches to force governments to change policies that discriminated against African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that civil disobedience,“seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue”. It uses the power of the people to force institutional action. Civil disobedience tactics can be just as effective today, just look at Cedric Herrou a French farmer who illegally transported African migrants into France for humanitarian reasons.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout our history as a free society, countless nonviolent protests have arisen as a means to try to create change. Peaceful protest is not a new concept, even in America. Henry David Thoreau, a Transcendentalist writer in the 19th century, refused to pay taxes because he did not support the Mexican War. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau claims that so many men today blindly follow the government’s wishes and that “in most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense.” Peaceful protest is a way for men to “be men first, and subjects afterward,” expressing their opinions and acting as a catalyst for change in a free state. Without peaceful resistance, there would be little diversity of ideas; the government would control all policy without much regard to minority opinion, and scant progress would be made. Peaceful resistance is a means in which citizens are able to influence the laws and encourage progress. From Thoreau’s time to now, civil disobedience, to put it in Mr. Thoreau’s terms, has played a positive and necessary role in…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful resistance is impossible, especially in this modern society. Peaceful organization turns to riot even when good intentions are present. Inaction and guiltmongering do nothing to help society. It is sad to see people who believe they are doing all the good in the world turn to these methods and use violence though convinced it is really peaceful. "Peaceful" protest accomplishes nothing. American government is predicated on this. The only things that change are violence and political action. Asking nicely saved nobody, and the American Revolution is proof of this. The colonists asked for a long time for fair representation in Parliament but no change came and, in fact, increases in taxes and injustices happened. It was not until the injustices came to a head in gunfire that there was a change, which was an overthrow of the British Empire and the Americans took control of their own lives and governed themselves. Peaceful resistance did nothing.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although there are forms of violent demonstrations that are Constitutional, such as flag burning, and acknowledging that it is a protected liberty, they can still easily escalate and become disorderly. An argument for riotous protests can include that they establish dominance and show strength. Even if that is true, marching down a street chanting a statement is much safer than trying to fire a gun and dodge bullets. Another argument might state that using force is the only way to get recognized by the media. This can be refuted with the recent events regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline protests that resulted in the halt and relocation of the project. This outcome was made possible because of the peaceful activists who chose to show their disagreement without the use of violence. The attempt to show force is a vehement and zealous mix of disaster, guaranteed to end in…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Peaceful resistance to laws certainly has a positive impact on a free society. There are many examples of when peaceful resistance has positively impacted a free society from the past and even some events that have happened recently. One of the most famous instances is obviously Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight for Civil Rights. He lead by example and lead by his beliefs. In the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" he questions many southerners on how they could be Christian but turn a blind eye to how African Americans were being treated. Once he was out of jail he often preached this message as well. This changed the mind of many white southerners and helped Martin Luther King Jr. get more support.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful Protest

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Peaceful Protest and civil disobedience have been a hallmark of change from the early 20th century onwards. Though nonviolent efforts, multiple civil movements have peacefully broken a law in order to protest an injustice of said law. Usually done in a coordinated manner by a large group of people, these protest have been strikingly effective in bettering the systems they have set out to change. Peaceful resistance is therefore one of the most effective ways of protesting and correcting unjust and broken laws, and is a staple of free society.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some of these protesters went too far and harmed rather than protesting peacefully. Does peaceful resistance to laws positively or negatively impact a free society? The truth is that if the protests are peaceful leaving others unharmed then yes it is absolutely leaving a positive impact. Although some protests, such as the one after the election, have only left more negativity and harm than intended to have, resistance to laws can either be positive or negative depending on how the situation…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To wrap it up, I believe that peaceful civil disobedience is beneficial to society. My reasoning being that the peaceful disobedience generates headlines about the injustice the group is protesting, and leads to discussion about the issue that would have otherwise went unknown to the public. Even if the government does not change, the public still deserves to know. However if the disobedience becomes violent, then it has the opposite effect and the public sides against the…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays