Martin Luther King Jr's Impact On Society

The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Peaceful resistance is legal and is also one of our fundamental rights as citizens of the United States. There have been people that have exercised this right and have made immense changes in our country. The peaceful ways of Martin Luther King Jr. changed the ways of life for the African Americans. What King did was speak his mind and do so in a peaceful way that made people listen and want to support his cause. Though it was not immediate, …show more content…
I think about it this way; if Rosa Parks did not peacefully resist the law, what would African American rights look like now? What would women’s rights look like if it had not been for Susan B. Anthony? There are examples of circumstances that were not peaceful and did not have a positive impact (or a negative one in fact). There are always riots regarding hot topics. However, a more serious example of Edward Snowden gets to be more complicated. What he did was not peaceful resistance, and it did not have a positive impact on the free society. However, what Snowden did was intended to help the U.S. and do the right thing, despite the fact that he would be going against the law and breaking countless rules. Through the many interviews that he went through he explained himself and the choices that he made, in other words, he justified his actions. In the end was it peaceful? That is a matter of opinion, but I do think that peaceful resistance to laws does have a positive impact on a free society, as it has proven to in the past. Though it may not happen right away, a positive outcome does find its way