What is nonviolent direct action (also known as civil disobedience)? Who championed this technique for advancing civil rights in the United States? Give an example of nonviolent direct action, and describe how it was used during the civil rights movement

Question

How successful were these techniques? How well would these techniques transfer to current efforts to expand civil rights for gays and lesbians?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer:
An ideal response will:
1. Define nonviolent direct action as various forms of nonviolent protest that involve breaking the law in a peaceful way in order to bring attention to the issue and, ultimately, policy changes that enhance civil rights.
2. Discuss the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and/or the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as champions for nonviolent direct action.
3. Provide an example of direct action, and describe how it was used during the civil rights movement. The most common example would be sit-ins where protesters sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave. Other examples might include freedom rides and unlawful marches.
4. Evaluate the success of nonviolent direct action. An ideal response might note that direct action was successful because it built support for the civil rights movement in the North through compelling television coverage. This eventually led to passage of landmark civil rights legislation by Congress.
5. Evaluate whether those currently fighting for gay and lesbian rights could successfully advance their cause through engaging in nonviolent direct action. Answers will vary, but an ideal response could argue that direct action is one of the most effective ways to create media attention and, ultimately, sympathy from the public. Others may argue that nonviolent direct action would not work well for the gay rights movement because similar segregationist laws are not in effect for gays and lesbians.