Blind Obedience

Essay # 9817

African-American Studies > Civil Rights
Ethics
History > Leaders

Blind Obedience

A discussion of why blind obedience to the law is not always justified.

2,022 words () | 9 sources | MLA | 2002 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines leaders such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau who have questioned and even disobeyed certain laws for the good of a greater cause and who recognized the value of peaceful protest. It analyzes different types of protests and evaluates whether they are justified.

Outline

Introduction: Theories on the Origins and Nature of Protest
Violent Political Protest
Urban Riots
Assassinations
Revolutions
Terrorism
Peaceful Political Protest
Picketing
Sit-ins
Boycotts
History of Protest
Laws Against Protest
Peaceful Leaders
Martin Luther King
"I Have Been To The Mountaintop"
"Montgomery Bus Boycott" (Time Magazine)
"Civil Rights and Social Wrongs?" (AA Review)
Mahatma Gandhi
"The Story of My Experiments with Truth: An Autobiography"
"Community, Violence, and Peace"
Henry David Thoreau
Civil Disobedience
Definition
Applicability to Modern Society
Just Cause, Civil Protest and the Law
Theories on and Approaches to Conflict and its Resolution or Management
Evolution of the Concept of 'Just Cause'
Alternative Means for Achieving Social-Political Change
Non-violence
Is it Effective?
How has it evolved?
Civil disobedience
Legal/Constitutional Restrictions on Breaking the Law for "Just Cause"
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"While there is certainly no legal or moral justification for violent acts for the sake of change, there are legal and peaceful alternatives to questioning authority available, such as picketing, sit-ins and boycotts. One of the most famous boycotts in protest history was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which constituted the official beginning of the Civil Rights movement. The protest occurred when the black community of Montgomery, Alabama decided that they would boycott the city buses until they were no longer required to give up their seats for whites."