The Montgomery Bus Boycott: Peaceful Resistance And Civil Rights

Peaceful resistance has been around for hundreds of years and is a productive way to demonstrate an opposing idea without breaking the law. It is possible that this nonviolent way of protesting will not cause the change that people want to see, however, it is more productive than causing chaos. In 1838, Cherokee Indians used peaceful resistance in order to stop the American government from taking their land. Unfortunately, standing their ground did not ensure their homes. Instead troops destroyed homes and forced the Cherokee out of their land (Noble, 2011). Although there is instances of peaceful resistance not ending in the desired way, does this mean the idea of broadcasting your concern in a peaceful manner should be discarded? The Montgomery Bus Boycott’s goal in 1955 was to decrease the amount of racial segregation on buses. White people were to sit in the front of the bus while blacks were forced to sit farther back. If the bus became crowded and a white person needed a seat they would steal one from a person of color who was sitting nearest to the front of the bus. This boycotting resulted in racial segregation …show more content…
For instance, four days of marching and protesting in hopes of president Nixon to end the Vietnam war and stop the invasion of Cambodia did not end how they expected at first. This peaceful protest, called the Kent State Demonstrations, ended in four students losing their lives, nine students injured, and the president not changing his mind. Nonetheless, news of the demonstration and the deaths of these students who were trying to make a difference spread like wildfire and sparked more people to protest what the president was doing. It is believed that the controversy and protests popping up all around the United States may have been a reason for the ending of the Vietnam war (Noble,