While MLK
and the American civil rights movement were not the first to
use peaceful protest and civil disobedience it is one of
the best examples of the methods behind peaceful protest. Peaceful protest
adds power to a movement and limits the options of the people
or ideology being protested. If the protesters are met with a violent
reaction then public opinion will shift to their side. however if the
protesters were using violence to try to achieve their goals then
public opinion will cry out for to stop the movement at whatever
cost. When MLK used children and teenagers in the Birmingham Alabama
protests he limited the options of the police and administration. The
town of Birmingham was limited to only two viable options on how to
deal with the protest. They could allow the protesters to protest
thus appearing weak to the towns white population which could hurt
the local politicians in the next election. Or they could go with
fighting the protest's, which is what they did. By fighting the rest of the
country saw images of kids being knocked down
by powerful fire hoses and attacked by dogs. Seeing these images
turned the country against the racist south and caused a
change in the nation. By challenging
the status quo using peaceful methods they were able
to achieve their goals and provide an example of the power of
peaceful protest for the coming generations.
This would not be the last time the
world saw change through peaceful protest. During the Arab spring of 2010 and
2011 the protesters in Egypt were able to band together and oust an
authoritarian leader and regime. They did this without the use of fighting or
violence. It’s fair to say that without the examples set in the past the
protesters in Egypt would have resorted to guerrilla warfare to accomplish
their goals. The countries in the Arab Spring that did and are using violent
methods to achieve their goals have had to fight longer and harder before the
corrupt leaders were ousted from power. While some countries could not use peaceful
protest the ones that did experienced success faster. As seen in the time line
of the Arab spring Egypt had its first organized protest on January 25th
2010, Mubarak resigned on February 11th 2010. Syria on the other hand started to protest on
around the beginning of April 2010 they are still fighting the government today
with over 5000 people dead.
Time line of the Arab spring
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/16/arab-spring-timeline-_n_1153909.html