Civil disobedience is not anything new in the
world. It has been around for
centuries
and it’s still going on. Civil disobedience can happen in many ways. It can be
peaceful,
violent and
destructive. Some good examples of civil disobedience are Malcolm x, Caesar
Chavez,
martin Luther king junior, Rosa parks and many more people. Many of the civil
disobedience
these men or women committed were to defend their human rights. Most of
them did it
by giving speeches or simply refusing peacefully to do something that they
didn’t
think was
right. Civil disobedience can be done to
do good or bad. Some civil disobedience is
done to
commit crimes and some are to proof a point on history.
An excellent example of
civil disobedience would have to be Malcolm x.
Malcolm x
was an African American male who was sentenced to prison for a robbery he
committed.
When he was sentenced to prison Malcolm x did not know how to read or write.
While he was
in prison Malcolm x took advantage of his time to learn how to read and write.
6
years later
Malcolm x was released from prison. By the time that Malcolm x prison term
finished he
had written around 1 million words in 6 years. When Malcolm x was released from
prison he
became an activist. He was also became a minister of temple number 4. He gave
many
speeches to help support human rights for African Americans. Malcolm x speeches
helped many
African Americans fight for their rights. In one of his speeches he said “ if you are
not free
should you be allowed to have a life”. Malcolm x movie. This quote means
that why
have a life
if you cannot use it, enjoy it, and live it. Part of Malcolm x anger comes from the
death of his
dad. The kkk’s killed his dad because he was African American. The police ruled
it
as an
accident even though everyone knew it was a murder. As part of making a point and a
serious
statement Malcolm x changed his last name to x. in a speech Malcolm x said “we
don’t
know our
last name. Our last name was given to us
by our slave master.” Malcolm x didn’t
know his
last name but only the one that the slave master put to one of his ancestors. He
decided to change
his last name to x. Malcolm x also talked a lot about racism that was direct
towards them.
Many African Americans received unfair punishments, prison terms and even
death.
Malcolm x fought for rights even after being in prison. Malcolm x is an example
of civil
disobedience
because he didn’t just sit and let everyone treat African Americans bad. He stood
up and gave
speeches, protest and he gave many good indirect protest/ strikes. He made a
difference
in a society that denied them everything.
Another perfect
example of civil disobedience is Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez
grew up in a
poor family. He also became a poor farmer who eventually got tired of poor
treatment
and very low pay for workers. “ all my life, I have been driven by one dream,
one
goal, one
vision: to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm
workers as if
they were
not important human beings” pg 53 the commonwealth of California. This quote is
very
important because it shows what Cesar Chavez really felt and what he wanted to
do to
relief his
anger. Cesar Chavez did many strikes and a few speeches in favor of farm
workers
rights.
Cesar Chavez was putting his life and his freedom at risk because of what he
was doing
with
immigrants. Many authorities had warned them and especially Cesar Chavez that
it might
cost him
allot or even his life. “ tragic events forced farm workers to declare a new
international
boycott of
California table grapes”. This is one of all the many boycotts Chavez made to
earn
the rights,
wages and respect his fellow worker friends deserved. This also controlled to
earn
his people
rights and respect. Cesar Chavez did not use violence in any of his strikes,
boycotts or
types of
protest. Even though everyone used violence against Cesar Chavez and the
protesters
they never
fought back with violence. They fought back with speeches and boycotts that
cost
the
companies more and gave Cesar Chavez more power and reputation of being no
violent.
Another
example of civil disobedience is Martin Luther king Jr. Martin
Luther King
Jr. fought for African American people’s rights when they decided to separate
things.
Those for black those for white. “ We don’t belong in gangs, we don’t have
guns, we
don’t do
drugs, we want to go to school, we want to be professionals, we want to work
hard,
and we want
to have families.” Pg 49 from remarks to the convocation of the church of
Christ in
god. This
quotation shows what Martin Luther king Jr’s point of view is. We want to do
good
and not evil
. In this peaceful and great speech,
millions of people attended to support the African
American
rights in the society. He also wanted to restore peace between white people and
black. White
people hated the black communities but Martin Luther king jr. refused to sit
down
and let the
poor treatment continue. He didn’t care about the authorities being against him
and
his
speeches. All he cared about was to get his vision of black and white
communities to get
along across
the nation.
Civil disobedience can be good or bad. The
examples I showed were about
good causes
in the community. Malcolm x, Cesar Chavez and martin Luther king jr. were
perfect
examples of
civil disobedience because they were a minority that was not accepted at the
time.
But they did
not care if they were risking there life, getting in dangerous situations or
breaking
a law
because they fought for what they believed.
