What happens when a government passes an unjust law? Must the people succumb to that law forever? No, there is a very practical, nonviolent way to overturn an unjust law: civil disobedience. Civil disobedience positively impacts a free society by overturning government injustice efficiently and effectively. Government injustice is seen throughout the world. Even in America, one of the freest countries, unjust laws are passed. What is an unjust law? According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law… …Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (King). Laws that degrade human personality naturally infringe on natural human rights, such as the right to life, liberty, property,
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This idea of changing the government’s unjust laws is imbedded in American culture; it is what led America to attack Britain’s unjust government and create its own nation. When America starts to pass similar unjust laws to what Britain passed, it threatens American culture and beliefs. It is the duty of the American people to overturn and change these unjust laws to protect American culture. The problem then remains on how to overturn these unjust laws. The answer is through nonviolent action, including civil disobedience. A good example of this is in the Civil Rights Movement. Before Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil disobedience, citizen’s voices were not heard. People fought vocally for desegregation, but they did not give any direct action. This is why many citizens’ voices were not heard. Violent action did not work either. “Many whites… …similarly objected to …show more content…
The movement for woman’s suffrage included peaceful protest from many groups supporting women’s right to vote, but the National Woman’s Party (NWP) was particularly effective in drawing attention to the need of the female vote. The NWP used civil disobedience that invited political discussion. After parades and picketing, many NWP members were imprisoned for their civil disobedience. However, this imprisonment just made the NWP stronger. While imprisoned, “NWP activists emphasized that their assembly on city sidewalks and their silent and peaceable picketing had been conducted entirely within legal grounds” (Library of Congress). By becoming imprisoned, the political activists brought attention to unjust legal bias against their cause. The attention brought to these injustices then caused more attention to be brought to the NWP. In the end, this attention “compelled President Wilson to support a federal woman suffrage amendment” (Library of Congress) and “led to congressional approval of the 19th amendment” (Library of Congress). This is another example on how civil disobedience effectively led to a national correction of unjust
This idea of changing the government’s unjust laws is imbedded in American culture; it is what led America to attack Britain’s unjust government and create its own nation. When America starts to pass similar unjust laws to what Britain passed, it threatens American culture and beliefs. It is the duty of the American people to overturn and change these unjust laws to protect American culture. The problem then remains on how to overturn these unjust laws. The answer is through nonviolent action, including civil disobedience. A good example of this is in the Civil Rights Movement. Before Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil disobedience, citizen’s voices were not heard. People fought vocally for desegregation, but they did not give any direct action. This is why many citizens’ voices were not heard. Violent action did not work either. “Many whites… …similarly objected to …show more content…
The movement for woman’s suffrage included peaceful protest from many groups supporting women’s right to vote, but the National Woman’s Party (NWP) was particularly effective in drawing attention to the need of the female vote. The NWP used civil disobedience that invited political discussion. After parades and picketing, many NWP members were imprisoned for their civil disobedience. However, this imprisonment just made the NWP stronger. While imprisoned, “NWP activists emphasized that their assembly on city sidewalks and their silent and peaceable picketing had been conducted entirely within legal grounds” (Library of Congress). By becoming imprisoned, the political activists brought attention to unjust legal bias against their cause. The attention brought to these injustices then caused more attention to be brought to the NWP. In the end, this attention “compelled President Wilson to support a federal woman suffrage amendment” (Library of Congress) and “led to congressional approval of the 19th amendment” (Library of Congress). This is another example on how civil disobedience effectively led to a national correction of unjust