civil rights &

political action for change

What does the term "Civil Disobedience"mean to you? Have you ever practiced before? BELL RINGER Civil Disobedience

Refusal to obey a law on the grounds that it is immoral or unjust in itself Appeals to the majority’s sense of justice, in order to get them to reconsider and change public policy. Goal: to put the issue on the public’s agenda, to call attention to an unjust law. Disobedience must be open and public. Roots of the Idea

Henry David Thoreau Jailed in the 1840s for refusing to pay a poll tax. The tax supported the war with Mexico and the extension of slavery, which he strongly opposed. Thoreau did pay his other taxes. Coined the term “civil disobedience” in the title of his essay arguing in favor of non-violent opposition to slavery. Thoreau’s civil disobedience

Key Arguments: Unjust laws require our action in order to work. He advocated resistance: "I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn." Normal legal channels to overturn those laws either do not exist or take too long. Civil disobedience effective: if abolitionists withdrew their support of government, then slavery would end in a peaceful . Examples

In 1955, a black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for the crime of refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. This incident sparked the civil rights movement. MartinLuther King led numerous civil rights marches and activities involving nonviolent . Mahatma Ghandi. Led India’s independence fight from British in 1915

Nonviolent Resistance

Strategies Sit-ins at segregated businesses (esp. restaurants) of segregated buses & businesses Marches Lawsuits Voter registration drives Newspaper ads and articles

Activists were fired from jobs; expelled from schools. Law enforcement used dogs, fire hoses, tear gas against them. Hate groups employed beatings, bombs, house & church fires, and even murder.

Civil disobedience

Public in two ways: Not done in secret but in the open Intended to serve broad public interest, not individual self interest. Historical Examples of Civil Disobedience With a partner brainstorm a list of examples.

Examples source Party Anti-war movements: Viet Nam, Gulf War, Iraq Women’s Suffrage Abolition of slavery- Harriet Tubman Labor laws and Unions. Civil Rights movement Anti-nuclear movement Environmental & forest demonstrations Current examples of civil disobedience

Protestors at the World Trade Organization meetings who march inside areas that are restricted. Anti-abortion protestors who block access to clinics that provide abortions. With a partner brainstorm a list of current issues that Thoreau may have used civil disobedience:

consider a situation in which you might use civil disobedience

Lawful vs. civil disobedience

Only unlawful non-violent protest is civil disobedience. Actions that do not break the law are not civil disobedience. Examples: Boycotts of certain agricultural products led by the in the & 70s (Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta). Anti-war protestors outside Las Cruces City Hall every Wednesday afternoon.

Violent protests vs. civil disobedience

Only non-violent unlawful protest is civil disobedience. Violent actions are not civil disobedience, even when fighting against unjust or immoral laws.

Comparisons: Goals

terrorist civil disobedient ------Destabilize Overthrow Change unjust law thru government or set of laws fear to achieve political purpose

Exit Ticket

“During my early college days I read Thoreau's essay on civil disobedience for the first time. Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I re-read the work several times. I became convinced then that non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. It Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. contributed this reminiscence on September 7, 1962 in "A Centenary Gathering for Henry David Thoreau," a special section in The Review, goes without saying that the teachings of autumn 1962 (IV:I, p. 43). Thoreau are alive today, indeed, they are more

alive today than ever before. Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a What relevance or influence did freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful Thoreau have on MLK? protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus in

Montgomery, Alabama, it is an outgrowth of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice.”