Answer to Question #302370 in English for Kelsey Jand

Question

Directions: Using reliable sources (not wikipedia), research the following four iconic protests. Then, answer the questions provided. Using those questions, analyze if the protest meets the 5 key elements of civil disobedience.  Make sure to answer in complete sentences for credit.

Basic Requirements of Civil Disobedience

1. A law is broken
2. They are protesting for a moral or ethical reason, or believe something to be unjust
3. Draws the attention of others/Public
4. The punishment is accepted without resistance 
5. It is ideally non-violent (unless all other options have been exhausted)

Rodney King Riots, 1992

Describe the Event:

Was a law broken? If yes, what law?

Was the protest about something unjust or unethical? Describe.

Did it draw attention? How?

Was the punishment accepted without resistance? Describe

Was it violent?

Is this an example of civil disobedience?

Website Used:

Answer 1

Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law rather than a rejection of the system as a whole. The civil disobedient, finding legitimate avenues of change blocked or nonexistent, feel obligated by a higher, extralegal principle to break some specific law. It is because acts associated with civil disobedience are considered crimes, however, and known by actors and the public alike to be punishable, that such acts serve as a protest. By submitting to punishment, the civil disobedient hopes to set a moral example that will provoke the majority or the government into effecting meaningful political, social, or economic change. Under the imperative of setting a moral example, leaders of civil disobedience insist that the illegal actions be nonviolent.

A variety of criticisms have been directed against the philosophy and practice of civil disobedience. The radical critique of the philosophy of civil disobedience condemns its acceptance of the existing political structure; conservative schools of thought, on the other hand, see the logical extension of civil disobedience as anarchy and the right of individuals to break any law they choose, at any time. Activists themselves are divided in interpreting civil disobedience either as a total philosophy of social change or as merely a tactic to be employed when the movement lacks other means. On a pragmatic level, the efficacy of civil disobedience hinges on the adherence of the opposition to a certain morality to which an appeal can ultimately be made.

The philosophical roots of civil disobedience lie deep in Western thought: Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry David Thoreau all sought to justify conduct by virtue of its harmony with some antecedent superhuman moral law. The modern concept of civil disobedience was most clearly formulated by Mahatma Gandhi. Drawing from Eastern and Western thought, Gandhi developed the philosophy of <em>satyagraha</em>, which emphasizes nonviolent resistance to evil.