Argumentative Essay: Peaceful Resistance And Open Assembly

620 Words2 Pages

Without reservation, I believe that peaceful resistance and open assembly are imperative to the success and general prosperity of a fully-functioning democracy. Attempts to suppress the peaceful voice of the public is an infringement of their fundamental rights to free speech, assembly, and petition, rights that are guaranteed to all citizens in the first amendment of our Constitution. To inhibit or prohibit these acts of opposition would be entirely counterproductive to our society and would jeopardize the freedom that this country has celebrated unconditionally for over 200 years. In today’s politically tumultuous environment, acts of peaceful resistance and civil disobedience are, to say the least, copious. Marches for minorities and protests against injustices have become prolific. Incendiary Facebook posts reach millions of likes in a matter of minutes. Twitter discourse between popular political figures is retweeted at an incredible rate. We are a …show more content…

Throughout history, social dissent has been an integral catalyst in the progress of humanity. One need only to think back the Women’s March, merely two weeks ago, when millions of women, men, and children gathered in cities around the world to call for equal rights and to protest against discrimination founded on gender, gender-identity, race, religion, sexuality, or disability. In a particularly moving speech from the event, J. Bob Allota, Executive Director of Astraea, said, “We may be here because of someone or something we did not choose. But today, we did choose to show up, to stand up, to march, to gather together. And that is what this time is about – what we are going to choose.” Not unlike the Women’s Suffrage movement of the 1920s or Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, this act of peaceful resistance was one of great

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