Civil Disobedience
Before considering whether civil disobedience should or should not be justified, we first have to look at its relevance to today’s world and exactly what it demands. For an act of civil disobedience to be considered right in the eyes of the people it must meet these standards; justice intentions, non violence and the desire to communicate the proposal. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey government demands and non-resistance to coherent arrests or consequences. Throughout history, the most memorable acts of civil disobedience have been about the pursuit of freedom and equality. A specific example would be Martin Luther King Jr., King used civil disobedience as a means of influential governmental change through his speeches about freedom and equality. Ultimately, civil disobedience should be allowed.
In the speech ” I Have a Dream”, by Martin Luther King Jr, King saw colored people in southern areas of America being prosecuted based on their skin tone. He knew that if there was a way to stop all the chaos and discrimination, it would be by using the power of his words instead of violence. In which he spoke;
“Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation”.
The law has been established by the controlling elites to serve their purpose and sometimes these purposes are unjustified. Therefore, civil disobedience should be justified. It was difficult to imagine the change King brought about in their time. His civil disobedience corrected a big injustice at the time when none of the politicians took his speeches seriously.
In the graphic novel, “Persepolis”, by Marjane Satrapi, Marjane takes us back to her childhood growing up during the Islamic Revolution. The people had marches almost everyday, protesting against the Shah because the laws he proposed were adjudged to be unfair by the people of Iran. For example, he resorted to segregation, splitting the once co-ed classes into separate classes for boys and girls. He also made hijabs a requirement for all women to wear. Those who chose to rebel against these policies were to face consequences. Because of these ongoing, unnecessary laws, civil disobedience should be justified. Civil disobedience is a way of acting out against laws the people feel are unfair. These are reasonable reasons as to why protests have broke out. The authority is against their right of social association and dress code therefore it should be okay to disobey.
Civil disobedience should be justified and should not be looked at as something negative. In life people will always disagree with something or someone whether it be about blacks having equal rights or having to wear hijabs. Civil disobedience should be allowed because some laws unjustly restrict the freedom of people and our opinions should be heard. By justifying civil disobedience, you are giving the people their chance to finally be heard.
