• Sundial
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    2 days ago

    They were a part of American society and worked within the law to improve it and advocate for better rights (for the most part, I don’t recall if they broke any laws intentionally).

      • Sundial
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        2 days ago

        It was non-violent civilians disobedience. They weren’t fighting, they were protesting. Which can be argued as legal, given the rights afforded in the US constitution.

        • Z_Poster365 [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          2 days ago

          Non-violent civilian disobedience is a euphemism for breaking the law, what do you think it is they are “disobeying”? The constitution does not protect blocking bridges, stopping public transport, etc.

          They were breaking the law, and that’s the only reason they were effective. They didn’t try to get elected to congress and change the laws, they took direct action themselves outside the structures of the state to force concessions using their leverage.

          And as an aside, the “constitution” is a dogshit rag written by slavers and white supremacists and afforded no rights whatsoever to the enslaved chattel. Every one of those “rights afforded by the constitution” was a right explicitly forbidden by the constitution until they were forced at gunpoint to concede. The rights we have earned are in spite of the constitution, not because of it.

          • Sundial
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            2 days ago

            It is technically breaking the law but doing so in an effective manner. You’re right in that sense. At the end of the day protesting is to yell and scream to make your voice heard and sometimes, not always, you have to make disruptions to have your voice heard. It’s very situational and not an easy question to answer.

    • blobjim [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      They got some improvements. They didn’t fundamentally change or fix anything. And that still required a massive movement. It also involved global political pressure caused by the US attempting to “compete” with the USSR morally (the US needed to improve its image during the Cold War so they could keep doing what they were doing). But I don’t think you can easily compare the civil rights movement with someone hired for a job to “change [their job] from the inside”. Usually if you don’t do your job, you get fired (or fined, or imprisoned, or worse). And then you’re not on the inside.