The Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights movement began as a rumbling in the heart of America, and grew into fire that fanned across the nation. This struggle for equality, freedom, justice, and visibility in the American public for African-Americans is one of the greatest examples of civil disobedience in the history of the United States. Henry David Thoreau's ideals of a people unintimidated by the government, and resistance against laws that were unjust or unnecessary found a hold among the people who opposed segregation and Jim Crow laws. The leader and enduring symbol of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., capitalized on these ideals of Thoreau in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:
"One may well ask: 'How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?' The answer lies in the fact that there are two kinds of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." (208)
King, along with the supporters of the Civil Rights Movement, believed that the systematic injustices committed against African Americans and supported by the government were fundamental violations of human rights. This firm conviction lead to many demonstrations of civil disobedience: marching, restaurant sit-ins, and the famous bus boycotting. Rosa Parks, upheld as the respectable symbol of the bus boycotting movement, became the figure that galvanized the first mass protest for civil rights in American history. Later known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, it lasted more than a year. The success of this boycott allowed for even larger protests, such as the Birmingham Campaign to be victorious. It signaled a new age of American freedom: the right to protest unjust laws by breaking those laws.
The Effects of The Civil Rights Movement
Workers strike, citizens protest, and thousands march. Yet, in the end, what does this do? These massive events with thousands of people working together, have significant, often subtle, consequences. Although commonly discarded as a waste of time, civil disobedience has many long term effects.
"The events in Birmingham... have so increased the cries for equality that no city or state or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them." -President John F. Keenedy ("The Birmingham Campaign")
Humans naturally want to avoid the problems of the world. Yet, when confronted with the experiances and emotions of real, relatable countrymen, we are forced to address the crisis and to actively seek out a solution. All the boycotts of Martin Luther King, all the protests of Rosa Parks, and all the marches of the millions of disgruntled African Americans can not truly create change. Rather, through this means of expression, they force their countrymen and their leaders to react and to change the world. Civil Disobedince is merely the beginning; yet, without a spark, change is impossible.
Sources
African-Americans kneel on sidewalk outside City Hall in Birmingham, Alabama protesting racial segregation. 1963. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/98515235/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.
Harrick, Gene. Untitled. NPR, www.npr.org/2015/11/30/457533368/ in-montgomery-rosa-parks-story-offers-a-history-lesson-for-police. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 1963. 50 Essays A Portable Anthology, edited by Samuel Cohen, 4th ed., Boston, Bedford-St. Martin's, 2014, pp. 203-20.
Martin Luther King Jr. Being Fingerprinted in Birmingham Jail. History.com, www.history.com/news/kings-letter-from-birmingham-jail-50-years-later. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
"Montgomery Bus Boycott." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
Police struggle with African American female civil rights protester reacting to death of fellow demonstrator, minister Bruce Klunder, struck and killed on the scene by a bulldozer, Cleveland, Ohio. 1964. The National Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2001695487/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
Protest against Racial Integration in Schools, at the Arkansas State Capital in Little Rock. 20 Aug. 1959. Shmoop, www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement-birmingham-campaign/#. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
"The Birmingham Campaign." PBS.org, Public Broadcasting Services, www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement-birmingham-campaign/#.WCy_N-ErLeQ. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
African-Americans kneel on sidewalk outside City Hall in Birmingham, Alabama protesting racial segregation. 1963. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/98515235/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.
Harrick, Gene. Untitled. NPR, www.npr.org/2015/11/30/457533368/ in-montgomery-rosa-parks-story-offers-a-history-lesson-for-police. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 1963. 50 Essays A Portable Anthology, edited by Samuel Cohen, 4th ed., Boston, Bedford-St. Martin's, 2014, pp. 203-20.
Martin Luther King Jr. Being Fingerprinted in Birmingham Jail. History.com, www.history.com/news/kings-letter-from-birmingham-jail-50-years-later. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
"Montgomery Bus Boycott." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
Police struggle with African American female civil rights protester reacting to death of fellow demonstrator, minister Bruce Klunder, struck and killed on the scene by a bulldozer, Cleveland, Ohio. 1964. The National Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2001695487/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
Protest against Racial Integration in Schools, at the Arkansas State Capital in Little Rock. 20 Aug. 1959. Shmoop, www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement-birmingham-campaign/#. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.
"The Birmingham Campaign." PBS.org, Public Broadcasting Services, www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement-birmingham-campaign/#.WCy_N-ErLeQ. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.