Nonviolent Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement: Fostering Change Through Public Sentiment

Nonviolent protesting was a method of rebelling against the systematic racial oppression caused by the government during the civil rights movement; it proved to be the superior method due to its intentions of gaining positive public sentiment, which delivered gradual, positive change to the country. The civil rights movement occurred in the country from 1954-1968, during which the ultimate goal was to abolish the legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the United States. Although the reconstruction amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) seemingly abolished all racial laws within the country, shortly after the ratification of these amendments, the government had found ways to work around this. The Jim Crow laws, begun in the 1870's, quickly turned the country evil once again. The Jim Crow laws segregated black Americans from white Americans in an "equal" way, which meant that whites had areas that blacks were not allowed in and vice versa. Although these laws were technically equal and abided by the reconstruction amendments, they were executed unfairly. For example, Rosa Parks, a black American activist during the civil rights movement, was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white person, even though she was legally allowed to be in the seat she was in. This story struck the front pages and started more campaigns against racial discrimination in the United States. Along with the Jim Crow laws, the government also found a way to work around the 15th Amendment that protected voting rights. The U.S. enacted laws that required poll taxes and literacy tests to vote. This law was intentionally introduced to disenfranchise black voters indirectly.

Although these disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws were inhibiting black Americans from living a normal life, many campaigns and organizations were made to defeat the system. These organizations included the SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and the NAACP. Although these organizations had different strategies to achieve equality, they all had one thing in common: they advocated for nonviolent protesting. Nonviolent protesting was used to attack the system rather than the individuals who were influenced by the system, as well as to gain positive public sentiment. Violent protests would have given the impression that black Americans were not orderly and chaotic. Leaders of these organizations, such as Dr. King, one of the most prominent leaders during the civil rights era, did not want this but rather wanted to create a loving community between the oppressed and the oppressors. In the long run, this would eventually change the people's views on black Americans. Dr. King believed that the public's opinions were the most important thing to change, as shown in a letter from Dr. King himself: "Public relations is a very necessary part of any protest of civil disobedience. The main objective is to bring moral pressure to bear upon an unjust system or a particularly unjust law… In effect, in the absence of justice in the established courts of the region, nonviolent protestors are asking for a hearing in the court of world opinion" (16). By protesting nonviolently, these organizations could pressure the government without gaining a negative connotation. With non-violence, the public began to flock towards these organizations, slowly starting to believe that the black Americans involved were orderly and actual people. Public sentiment has been proven throughout history to be extremely influential over the government.

Dr. King had these same views and knew he had to gain positive public sentiment. In the long run, this non-violence would allow the country and the government to adopt these positive views, causing change. Dr. King had attempted to sway the government by gaining public support in multiple ways, yet attempts that stood out were the nonviolent marches. During the civil rights movement, multiple marches were held to protest against the disenfranchisement and segregation caused by the systematic racism of the country. These marches were held to "fill the jails" (16). This proved effective as with no place to put the arrested protestors, officials would have to find other places to put them. Typically, this overabundance of arrests would cause a national uproar. People saw that the protestors were protesting in a nonviolent way, yet getting arrested anyway. This caused not only people to be angry but also public sentiment to change around black people positively. Certain marches would get important figures arrested, such as Dr. King himself, which would cause the most national upheaval. Some marches also included children getting arrested, which in turn had a similar effect. An example of one of these marches in action, arguably the most important, was the Edmund Pettus Bridge march. Dr. King led a group of 2,500 peaceful marchers onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a prayer.

From one report, marchers sang the freedom song, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" (3). These protestors came off as completely civil and obedient to the laws, yet law enforcement was there to stop them. The public had seen this peaceful march, and the law was stopping them. This again caused public outrage and changed even more views on the matter, including the president himself. These nonviolent protests and marches were extremely successful and arguably the best way to eliminate the racial bias within the country by slowly persuading the public sentiment of the country.