The Civil Rights Movement

1. According to dictionary.com, passive resistance is resistance by nonviolent methods to a government, an occupying power, or specific laws, as refusing to comply, demonstrating in protest, or fasting. There are many people in the world who have used passive resistance. Mahatma Gandhi is an example of someone who used this method of protest when he used it in the fight to gain India’s independence from the British. It was used throughout the United States during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s by Martin Luther King and many other African-Americans fighting for their rights. It is even still being used today in many parts of the world today.

2. This photo was taken during a protest in the 1960’s. You can see that the protesters are sitting there on the sidewalk, not putting harm to any one, yet the fire-fighters are spraying them with a high-powered hose. This is just shocking for me. It amazes me that people that are supposed to be protecting us, are harming to ones who just want to stand up for what they believe in. It seems so ridiculous that the firemen used this force to break up the crowd of “sitting” protesters.

This next photo is a more recent one I found. This is an example of the discrimination people in the United States face today. Muslims are discriminated against, mainly because of what happened on 9/11/2001. But this is what American’s need to understand: not all Muslims are responsible or agree with what was done that awful day in American history. We can’t go around blaming everyone of the same religion, gender or race for someone else’s actions. It is wrong and unjustifiable. 

3. I do believe that there is still discrimination found in our community today. Even though there are many laws to protect citizens against it, there is still many examples of discrimination that go overlooked. For one example, I find that many people in California discriminate against Hispanics. There is a large population of Hispanics in California that have immigrated from Mexico and many of them are blamed and discriminated against for taking jobs away from the other California citizens. I think that this is just a way of putting blame for the horrible unemployment rate that California has. Everyone seems to need someone to blame, and Hispanics are the target for this blame. 

4. My next essay is going to be about how insurance companies discriminate against people. Insurance companies discriminate against people who have preexisting conditions. I, for example, was under the same insurance company for an entire year before I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. They are trying to make me pay for all my tests, treatments, etc. saying that I have had this issue since before I became insured by them. In my essay I will use pathos by bringing in examples of people much like myself, trying hard every day to fight with an illness and having to deal with the insurance companies not wanting to help me pay, even though I pay them a lot of money per month to be there for me when I need them to be. I can use logos in my essay by bringing in facts and statistics on how many people are denied insurance based on their illnesses and/or preexisting conditions. And I can use ethos in my essay by reaching out to the insurance companies and giving examples on how they can better themselves.