Examples Of Peaceful Resistance

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I strongly believe that peaceful resistance to laws can negatively impact a free society. Martin Luther King Jr., is one example. Such things as the march from Selma to Montgomery on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965. The people marching were non-violent, and peaceful. They were met with violent force from state and local authorities. The first march on March 7, 1965, was called "Bloody Sunday.” When the authorities wanted to take them in, they did not resist. When they were beaten, they did not fight back. They would sit in jail for days. One man, James Reeb, was killed by segregationist. They killed him for marching with the others. He was beaten to death. He was a white man, who was killed by white men for standing up for blacks. The march …show more content…
Another example of peaceful resistance being negative is Gandhi's peaceful protest in March of 1930. This protest was based on the taxation the British put on salt. It was called the "Salt March." The British repeatedly used force to stop salt production from the seawater of in the coastal village of Dandi. Although the people in the march were peaceful, the British used force which was violent. My point is, peaceful resistance could be a good thing, but the authorities are not going to react nonviolently. People are killed every day for disobeying the law. I believe that civil disobedience is not an attack on our laws, but a way to give the people a voice. It is not right to break the law, but they must be heard somehow. For example, Martin Luther King Jr., was a very inspiring minister who sometimes disobeyed the law. He did not disobey it to be hateful, he disobeyed it to take a stand. Sometimes, people aren't disobeying for this same reason. Martin was always peaceful, he didn't believe in fighting the law with fists or guns, he believed in fighting with his voice. Malcolm X, was the complete opposite. Yet, both men were