Protesting Research Paper

What Does It Mean To Peacfully Protest?

“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permeant.” -Gandhi

Violence is not the answer to solving problems. Violence will hurt your enemy, but that enemy’s family will grieve forever.

The 14th and 15th Amendment state that everyone is equal and have the right to vote. In the South, there was a “law” that made sure that white people have more privileges than African Americans. Here are some examples of segregation:

• African Americans had to take tests to register to vote, while white people could register to vote without taking a test.

• African Americans had to pay taxes that did not benefit them, i.e, an African American person pays taxes, that then fund a white school.

• If you even could get work as a African American, you would get a lower pay than a white person.

Since African Americans did not like these laws, they would protest against it. In the South, buses were segregated. There were a group of people called the Freedom Riders, who would ride buses throughout the South in protest of segregation. African Americans and white people would join together on these bus rides. They would get off at different stops, almost always attacked. White people would be violent against the Freedom Riders.The Riders had to train for bad things to happen. The violence was way more than the riders were trained for. The buses were lit on fire with the doors forced shut, only opened when the bus was thought to explode. The Freedom Riders fought for whats right, no matter the circumstance.

President Kennedy tried to ignore the outrageous laws of the South. Protests and marches would be on TV, and it was too hard to ignore. President Kennedy sent the National Army (yes, the National Army) to the South. Meanwhile, in the South, Gov. George Wallace and the police were

preventing African American people from entering the University of Alabama.

On Febuary 1st, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina, 4 students from the North Carolina A&T University walked into Woolworth’s to buy some school supplies. After shopping they sat down at the lunch counter, a place to grab a quick bite. In the ‘60s, the lunch counter was only for white people. An African American could buy anything from the store, but could not be served at the lunch counter. While sitting at the counter, white people poured sugar, food, and drinks on the 4. These protests were all over TV. In just 6 days an estimated 1,000 protesters filled Woolworth’s. Just like what happened with the Freedom Riders, change happened. 54 other cities had these peaceful protests. On July 26, 1960, Woolworth’s was desegregated, almost 6 months after it all began.

In the South white people seemed to “rule” over everything. Doing simple things like voting was a hard task for African Americans. People held protests to have equal rights. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr and other people who did not like “white rule” tried to make voting equal for all races. They marched for their freedom. The Selma to Montgomery Marches were three protests in 1965, where people marched to have voting rights. Police prevented two of the marches from happening. No matter what the police did, King told everyone to not fight back. The protesters marched a total of 54 miles! They went from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. These marches were just like Gandhi’s Salt March against salt taxes. Both Gandhi and King believed that civil rights would one day be achieved. The peaceful protests eventually brought equal rights to everyone.

Ganhdi was sometimes called “The Father of India”. In Gandhi’s time, Great Britain ruled over India. Great Britain also ruled over South Africa. When Gandhi visited S. Africa, things were different then he expected. Just like in the South, ( in the U.S.A) you would be treated differently because of the color of your skin. Gandhi stayed in S. Africa trying to get rid of this law. A few years later, a law was passed to make it harder for non-white people to vote. Gandhi peacefully protested against this law. (Gandhi was born into a Hindu family, so he belived in nonviolence.) Many Indians living in S. Africa were put in jail. After staying in S. Africa for 20 years, Gandhi went home to India. In India, there was a tax on salt. There was also a law that stated that you could not get your own salt from the ocean. Gandhi and other Indians protested against this tax. Gandhi led a march, The Salt March, that was a 240 mile walk to the ocean to get salt. Gandhi’s march started with a few dozen people, that then increased to 60,000 people at the end of the march. All 60,000 protesters were jailed. This protest led to Great Britain leaving India. Gandhi’s peaceful protests inspired Martin Luther King, Jr and Nelson Mandela, and many people for years to come.

Quakers; you probably haven’t heard of them (you also probably heard them worship*) They are a society of religious people who call themselves Friends. Quakers are against discrimination. They believe everyone is equal under God’s eyes. Quakers also believe in nonviolence, just like Gandhi (He was Hindu). When there was a war, Quakers would refuse to fight. Many Quakers went to jail. When slavery was still legal, Quakers would boycott slave-made goods. Since no one was buying their goods, slave owners stores went out of business. Quakers like Lucretia Mott and John Woolman spoke to slave owners about God. They told slave owners that God did not want people to own slaves. Quakers have the same beliefs that Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, Jr had, that everyone has the right to be free.

I have read a book called Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. It is about a African American family (the Logans) in the 1930s. The book takes place after the Civil War and Reconstruction. Reconstruction was when soldiers from the North bought land from Southerners to sell to the freed slaves. That was how got their land, from Reconstruction. Things in the book that happen are not totally true, but they are things that actually happened in real life. WARNING: SPOILERS! For example, the character T.J, was hanging out with 2 older white boys who ended up beating him up. It is just like the story of Emmet Till, who was oblivious of the Southern “laws”. With both stories, the white men who attacked them weren’t punished. Another connection to Roll of Thuder, Hear My Cry is boycotting. As I have said before, Quakers boycotted slave made goods. Southerners boycotted buses. In the book, the Logans boycott a store run by a mean family.